"Standard strike!" Mao Mao shouted as he attacked the swinging obstacles that occupied the Dojo. In between every strike, the black cat narrowly dodged the other targets as they were barreling towards him. Beads of sweat blanketed his black fur as he continued his training in the late-summer air.

Mao Mao - at this point - was entranced in his training. He often dedicated his weekends to strengthening his combat skills in order to keep himself in heroic shape. Although today was like any summer afternoon, the sheriff felt strange. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt more fatigued than usual. As his training continued, he slowly began to realize that his muscles were aching - something that never happened to him. At first he brushed the pain off, only thinking of the rigours of training that was strengthening his muscles. "A hero never slacks, even when the pain is unbearable!" he thought.

As his training continued, however, his situation began to deteriorate. The feline began to sweat excessively, his black fur becoming drenched in a sheen of moisture. His movements began to get sloppier and less agile, slackening the combat techniques that Mao Mao had honed. Mao Mao growled angrily as he began to miss his targets more frequently, striking blindly into the air with his blade.

By the time he began to turn to strike the next batch of targets, it was already too late. The obstacles in front of him barrelled into his heroic form, sending the black cat flying across the Dojo and onto the sticky, hardwood floor.

"Hah, must of been a fluke..." he panted, struggling to pick himself up off the floor. After a minute of flailing around helplessly on the wooden floor, he realized that he did not have the strength to move his body at all. As the realization of this situation manifested within him, tears began to well up in Mao Mao's bright, green eyes. "A hero, a hero should always get up, no matter the situation, no matter the danger..." Mao Mao whispered before he finally blacked out. The late-summer breeze brushed over Mao Mao's slickened fur as he lay unconscious on the floor of the Dojo, vulnerable and defenseless.

"Ha! I beat'cha!" Adorabat yelled gleefully as she flew happily in the air, admiring the victory screen in the fighting game that she and Badgerclops were playing in the living room.

"Grrrr!" Badgerclops growled, throwing his video game controller onto the other side of the couch. "This is the fifth time in-a-row! How'd you get so good at this game Adorabat?"

"Practice!" Adorabat squeaked, pride radiating outward from the wide grin on her face.

"Wow! Wait, you've actually been practicing this game just so you could get better?"

"Yeah!"

"That's dope!" Badgerclops praised, patting Adorabat on the head with his robotic arm. "What made you want to practice?"

"Well, it was two things," Adorabat began. "The first was because I wanted to beat you since you always beat me when we play these games."

"Makes sense, but the other thing?" Badgerclops asked.

"Mao Mao!" Adorabat responded. "He's always so cool and pretty when he's fighting monsters! I wanted to know how he fights so good, so I asked him how!"

"Of course, figures." Badgerclops said, rolling his eyes but with a grin on his face, "And Mao must of said something along the lines of, "A hero always-"

*Smash!~*

*Clang!~!*

Silence filled the living room as the ominous noises echoed throughout HQ. The two deputies froze in their spots, looking at each other with wide stares.

"You heard that, right Badgerclops?" Adorabat asked, her smile wavering. "Yeah, sure did." Badgerclops responded, wide-eyed.

"It kinda sounded like...Mao Mao's sword..."

Adorabat gasped.

"Mao Mao never drops his sword! Maybe he's in trouble!" Adorabat panicked, beginning to fly towards the source of the noise.

"Wow, wow, wow, let's not just jump to conclusions just yet." Badgerclops responded, grabbing hold of Adorabat with his robotic arm and pulling her close.

"I'll go check out what's going on with Mao, you stay here, okay?"

"Okay." Adorabat responded meekly, plopping herself on the couch cushion while twiddling her wing-flaps.

Badgerclops crept over to the Dojo's opening, and stepped through into the area. The humidity of the summer afternoon hit the large badger like a brick wall as he surveyed the Dojo. He observed the training bags that were strewn across the other side of the room, badly beaten and scratched. Badgerclops bit his lip, "He always puts those things away when he's done training…"

"Mao? Mao Mao? Are you here? Is everything cool, man?" he shouted into the silence of the room. He began to walk to the other side of the room when he felt something hard yet fluffy hit his foot.

"Yeowch!" Badgerclops winced as he felt the pain travel up his leg. "What the heck was that…?"

Badgerclops' eyes widened when he looked down and saw he had just hit the side of someone's head.

"Mao Mao!"

When Badgerclops re-emerged from the Dojo, Adorabat could only stare as her hero lay motionless in the badger's arms.

"Adorabat, quick, get me the thermometer!" Badgerclops said, motioning towards the hallway. In a matter of seconds, the blue bat swiftly flew to the bathroom and back into the living room, handing her friend the device.

After gently placing the thermometer in their friend's mouth, Badgerclops and Adorabat waited for the reading to come in, beads of sweat forming on their heads. After a moment, the device beeped, and Badgerclops quickly snatched it into his paws, looking at the temperature.

"How bad is it?" Adorabat asked.

"It's real bad, he's burning up." Badgerclops said, showing her the thermometer, which read one-hundred and five degrees. "We've got to hurry if we want him to make it out of this, can you help me get a few things while I set him up on the couch?"

"Sure...anything to help!" the bat replied, determination painted across her face.

"Alright, I want you to grab the ice packs from the kitchen and the tub from the garage." the badger replied, "Once we have those I'll be able to cool him down."

"Got it!" Adorabat said, flying out of the living room and beginning her quest to save her hero. After she left, Badgerclops quickly adjusted the pillows on the couch, and laid his friend down on the soft surface.

As Badgerclops observed Mao Mao, he began to choke up. He had never seen his friend in such a horrible state before. The black cat was breathing heavily, twitching and murmuring softly in confusion and pain. As Badgerclops began to stroke his head, he felt the heat of Mao Mao's body radiate into his own, reminding him of how dire the situation was.

"Don't worry," Badgerclops whispered in the silence of the living room, "We've got you bro, you'll make it out of this."

"I'm...back!" Adorabat yelped, struggling to drag the large tub behind her. She gasped before finally setting down the tub on the floor. She quickly flew over to Badgerclops and perched on top of his shoulder.

"Could-could you drag it the rest of the way, Badgerclops." she panted.

"Sure." Badgerclops responded, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "And by the way, the next time I ask you to get something heavy, make me to get it."

"Okay, okay, I got it! Let's just help Mao Mao!"

"Right!"

Without any further delay, the two deputies began cooling down their sheriff. Adorabat carefully removed Mao Mao's cuisses and his cape and placed them on the side of the couch in a pile, while Badgerclops placed the ice packs all over his body. After a few minutes of cooling with the ice packs, Badgerclops took the small cat and placed him into the tub, which was now full of cool water. The cat shivered unconsciously as his body was enveloped by the icy cold liquid.

After about twenty minutes, the two checked the cat's temperature again, seeing that it had returned to normal. The two both sighed in relief.

"We saved Mao Mao!" Adorabat exclaimed.

"We sure did, and I couldn't have done it without you." Badgerclops replied, stroking Adorabat's ears gratefully.

"That's why we're a team!"

After their short celebration, the two refocused their attention on Mao Mao, who was still shivering in the ice bath that they had created.

"He's starting to look pretty cold now, let's take him out and get him dried and warmed up." Badgerclops said, handing Adorabat the towel that he had retrieved from the bathroom, "You want to dry him off while I hold him?"

"Sure!" Adorabat replied, readying the towel in a battle stance, "Towel attack incoming!"

Badgerclops gently lifted Mao Mao out of the tub with his robotic arm and held him in place so Adorabat could begin her assault. The sound of laughter could be heard echoing throughout the headquarters as the duo both dried the feline, while he instinctively purred from the gentle touch of his friends.

When Mao Mao regained consciousness, the only thing the small black cat could feel was the warmth in the darkness of his vision. It was an enveloping warmth that encompassed the entirety of his body. It radiated from his toes all the way up to the tips of his ears. He had never felt so comfortable, so safe, in his entire life. But for some reason, Mao Mao recognized this warmth - he had felt it before. It was so familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. As the uncertainty of the situation that he was currently in washed over him, Mao Mao began to struggle in the darkness.

"Hey, hey. Relax, it's okay." a soft voice whispered to him through the silence, the warmth around him becoming tighter and more comforting.

"Who-who is it?" Mao Mao mumbled, trembling. "Where am I?"

"It's me, man." the voice said warmly, lifting Mao Mao's head out of the darkness and into the light of the living room. Mao Mao's eyes adjusted as he focused on who was in front of him. It was Badgerclops. Perched on top of his head was Adorabat, who was sleeping. The three of them were all snuggled up on the couch, with a couple of old blankets wrapped around them.

"Badgerclops, what's going on? what happened?" Mao Mao asked, his cheeks flourishing with a hue of crimson as he realized that he was hugging Badgerclops tightly along his belly.

"Uh, dude, what happened was I found you unconscious in the Dojo." Badgerclops said, with a frown on his face. "I thought something real bad happened, so I brought you here and checked your vitals."

Mao Mao was silent.

"Turns out you were in the middle of having a heat stroke."

Mao Mao scoffed in defiance, "Impossible, a hero never succumbs to-!"

"Dude, when you were training, were you drinking any water at all? Did you even take a break?

"Uh, well, a hero doesn't need-"

"Dude come on! You can't do that to yourself!" Badgerclops shouted, shaking some sense into his friend. "That's unhealthy AND dangerous. I had to cool you down the entire rest of the afternoon just to make sure you'd be okay!"

As the badger shouted to his small friend, Adorabat awoke from her peaceful slumber. "Badgerclops, why are you so loud." she grumbled, before realizing her hero was awake and okay.

"Mao Mao!" she yelled in joy, flying over to her hero's shoulder and wrapping her wings tightly around him in a deep hug.

"I'm so happy that you're alright! I thought you were a goner!" she said, with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry Adorabat, nothing can defeat me!" Mao Mao declared, lifting one of his arms out of the blanket and stroking Adorabat's ears. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You better not!" Adorabat said, hugging her hero tighter. Badgerclops extended his robotic arm around the both of them and brought all of them closer together in a tighter hug.

"With me around, that's never going to happen." Badgerclops said, grinning devilishly at Mao Mao.

"Badgerclops!" Mao Mao meowed angrily, burying his face under the blanket to hide his own embarrassment.

It was night now in Pure Heart Valley. The cool summer breeze that had enveloped the town during the day had now turned into a full on gust, racketing the forest's foliage with incredible force. Dark plumes of clouds floating in the sky dropped copious amounts of rain around the numerous dwellings within the valley, including the Sheriff's Department HQ.

"Goodnight, Adorabat." Mao Mao whispered as he tucked his deputy into her bunk, tip-toeing away with great precision and closing the bedroom door behind him. With a soft sigh he entered the living room, where he found his friend sitting on the couch with a large bag of Cheesy Paws and watching a sappy romantic comedy. Crumbs blanketed his stomach as he took a pawful of his snacks and shoved them into his mouth.

"Hey Badgerclops."

"Gah!" Badgerclops shouted, throwing the bag of snacks into the air, causing them to spill all over the couch.

"Dude, you can't keep doing that!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that." Mao Mao said, with a serious expression on his face. "Honest."

"It's alright, man." Badgerclops mumbled, sweeping the remnants of cheesy snacks off of the couch cushions. He patted the couch cushion that was next to his own and motioned with his claws. "Come, sit and watch this stupid movie with me. It's soooo saucy." Badgerclops said sassily

Mao Mao's cheeks once again turned a hue of crimson. "That's alright Badgerclops, I think I'm going to go train some more..."

"Oh, no you're not!" Badgerclops chided, reaching over and grabbing the black cat with his robotic arm. In a matter of seconds, the large badger had pulled him into another tight hug trapping him on the cushion next to him.

"Unhand me you fiend!" Mao Mao growled, kicking his feet in an attempt to get away from his captor.

"This fiend isn't going to unhand anybody, especially someone who decided that he wanted to turn into a souffle in the summer heat!"

The two were silent for a moment as they dwelled in the awkward situation they had put themselves into. The pouring rain from the outside became more audible as the silence continued. The sound of the raindrops pattering against the leaves mixed with the buzz of the television in front of the two, creating an odd, uncomfortable ambience that encompassed the living room. As Badgerclops' grip loosened from his waist, Mao Mao scooted onto the other couch cushion so he was arm's length away from his friend. As the two sat quietly, they knew that one of them would have to break the silence.

"You know." Badgerclops started, "Adorabat was watching over you the entire time you were out. She really thought that you might've been done for."

Mao Mao let out a pained whimper as he processed the words of his friend's statement. "Adorabat was worried about me?" At this point, the sheriff knew that he had screwed up big time, and there was no excuse out of it this time.

"B-Badgerclops" Mao Mao choked out.

"Yeah man?"

"I'm- I'm sorry for making you two worry about me, especially Adorabat. You must think I'm a horrible role-model to her, and a horrible friend."

"Dude, don't be too hard on yourself, it's alright." Badgerclops reassured, "You just gotta realize your limitations. You can't just be pushing yourself over the edge so often. It's okay to not do everything at one-hundred percent all of the time."

"Are you sure? What if I get weaker because I'm not pushing myself to the limit?"

"So what if you get a little weaker? To be honest, I think it's okay to be a little less strong on the outside if it means you'll be strong on the inside."

"I- I guess that is a fair point." Mao Mao admitted, focusing his attention on the movie on the television screen. He watched the two characters - presumably lovers, talking happily and then embracing each other.

"They look so happy." Mao thought, thinking back to his own friendship with Badgerclops. Mao Mao, again, began to lose himself within his own thoughts. "I wonder, is it even possible for us to be-."

"You okay, man?" Badgerclops interrupted, "You look like you've got something on your mind."

Mao Mao rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I'm fine Badgerclops." he responded, "It's just that, um, do you mind if we talk about, uh, something that's kind of stupid?"

"Is it about something that's bothering you? Because if it is, it's not stupid." Badgerclops said, cutting through the Sheriff's facade like a knife. For a moment he was quiet.

"Yeah…" he murmured, shuffling his gloved paws in place and avoiding eye-contact with the badger.

"Of course dude, I'm all ears." Badgerclops reassured, placing his fleshy paw on Mao Mao's back, caressing it gently.

Mao Mao recoiled from the sudden intimacy. "He knows that I hate being coddled." the cat thought, beginning to adjust to the gentleness of Badgerclops' touch. As Badgerclops continued his stroking, Mao Mao's shoulders slowly began to slacken, and his muscles began to relax.

"But, this does feel nice."

Mao Mao took a small breath and sighed softly.

"Maybe this is okay for now." he decided, finally calming down as he secretly indulged in his friend's embrace.

"And remember, you don't have to be embarrassed about things that are bothering you, it's okay to talk about your problems. Remember how much better you felt last time you talked to me about your business?"

"Mmm-hmm." The sheriff nodded, remembering that night at the lake, how he broke down in front of Badgerclops and how they both embraced each other, releasing all of his true feelings. Warmth spread over his cheeks as he thought of how gentle and patient Badgerclops was as he carried him all the way home to HQ.

"So what's been on your mind, Mao?"

"Well…" Mao Mao hesitated "...what's been on my mind is...my hero persona."

"Hmm?" Badgerclops mumbled questioningly. "You mean, how you act when you're being a hero in front of everybody in town?"

"Grahh, see, this already sounds stupid!" Mao Mao said, covering his face with his paws.

"No, no! Continue." Badgerclops comforted, wrapping his arms around his friend. "Like I said, I don't think anything you say is dumb, just let it out."

Mao Mao paused for a moment. At this point, all he wanted to do was hide from Badgerclops' embrace and curl up into a ball. His emotions always ended up ruining any type of interaction they had, whether it be through anger, frustration, or sadness. They could never have a normal day without some kind of an emotional outburst. It not only affected his and Badgerclops's relationship, but also his and Adorabat's. Mao Mao wished that he could just have a switch to turn off his emotions - to relieve himself of the stress of being a hassle to deal with - but at the same time, deep down, he knew that was wrong.

His friends had always supported him no matter the odds, and he had been the one to shut them away when he needed them the most. The truth was, as much as he hated to admit it, that he hated being vulnerable. That feeling of being open to being hurt frightened him the most - it kept him up at night. Thinking about his painful childhood, thinking about his relationship with his father, thinking about his relationship with Bao Bao. Almost all of his relationships had lead to him being hurt by the people he trusted. The only outlier was the one that was in front of him at that very moment.

All though Badgerclops, at one point, had actually been a villain, he was more of a hero to Mao Mao than any of the people in his past relationships were. He had stuck by his side through thick and thin and never hurt him the way that everybody else had. He had showed him kindness and compassion when he needed it most. Badgerclops actually cared for him.

"Maybe, maybe I could try telling him how I feel." The sheriff thought, "I- I think he deserves to know what I feel." Finally, after a couple of minutes of pondering in his friend's embrace, Mao Mao finally looked up and made eye-contact with the badger.

"I think...," Mao Mao began, "...I think my journey into becoming a hero has stripped me of being an actual person."

"What?"

"Grrr, how do I word this."

"What I mean is, that, due to the fact that I've been trying to forge my path to legend, I've tried to inherit all of the traits that all of the great legendary heroes have had - bravery, selflessness, stoicism.."

Badgerclops nodded, encouraging his friend to continue as he intently listened.

"I believed that if I had all of those qualities on the scale of those heroes, I would become a legend myself."

He paused, choking on his own words.

"But, all I have done is taken those traits to the extreme and hurt other people." Mao Mao said, beginning to lose his composure. "And in that process, all I have become is an arrogant fool."

"Hey Mao, that's not-"

"No Badgerclops! I am nothing more than a fake - a child who wears a cape to conceal the truth of the life I live." Tears began to fall down his face.

"The lie that I am a hero, when in reality, I'm no better than a villian. And because of that, I hate-"

"That's enough!" Badgerclops exclaimed, lifting the cat up and pulling his face close to his own.

"I-I won't let you talk about yourself like that!" Bagerclops combatted, tears rolling down his face. "You are so much more than what you think you are! You're kind, you're resourceful, and you're always ready to help people when they are in need! If those aren't the qualities of a true hero, than I don't know what is!"

Mao Mao's eyes widened as the impact of his friend's words sunk into him.

"You are an awesome mentor to Adorabat and an awesome friend to me. You've always got my back, and you're always willing to talk to me when I feel horrible. Now, I think it's time I return the favor." Badgerclops said, hugging his friend as tightly as he possibly could. The sound of Badgerclops' heartbeat echoed through Mao's body, the embodiment of his friend's emotion enveloping his own soul.

"Believe me, Mao, you are a real person. So many people will say that they never made mistakes, but they're lying. They're, they're just trying to hide the truth about themselves. Those are the people who are fake."

Badgerclops took a deep breath before continuing.

"At one point, I was in the same position as you, dude. I…I hated myself for trying to be someone I wasn't. The main difference between you and me, is that I was doing it so people would just like me without having to know me. I was so selfish! I was so obsessed with how other people made feel that I ignored what I was doing to other people. It ended up making me into a monster who only hurt people. And for a while, I thought that was okay!" The badger paused, wiping the tears from his face. "It was so horrible! And at that time, I thought that that was the only way for me to live my life."

"I thought that until the day I met you."

Mao Mao lifted his head up again to look at his friend, the time being greeted with a smile through the tears. "You showed me that, that it was possible to ditch the nasty facade I built around myself, and actually BE myself. And thank goodness I did, because I'm so happy for where I ended up."

The two were silent once again for a moment, letting the words that were spoken ring out in each other's minds. After a moment, the sheriff finally broke the silence.

"But Badgerclops, how am I supposed to be a real hero if I don't have the traits that all of the heroes of legend have?" the cat sniffled.

"You don't need to be like them man," Badgerclops responded, "You can be a hero by being yourself, and you can forge your own legend your own way."

"And, if you get stuck along the way by being yourself, me and Adorabat will be right there, by your side, ready to help you take on any challenge."

"How, how do you always know how to make me feel better?" Mao Mao whimpered, nuzzling into his friend's neck and further into his fluffy embrace.

"Because deep down, you're like me man." he responded, stroking his friend's back, "and what I know is that when someone like me is a hot-mess, all they need is some TLC."

Badgerclops pulled Mao Mao closer to his fluffy form, allowing his friend to be as comfortable as a kitten in the radiating warmth he gave off. They both felt so comfortable and content with one another that they felt like they never wanted the hug to end. The two friends stayed in each other's embrace for a few moments before Mao Mao slowly pulled out of the hug.

"You alright?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll be right back."

Badgerclops watched as his friend silently got up from the couch and tip-toed back into the bedroom, quietly opening the door as to not disturb Adorabat.

After a few moments of searching in the darkness, Mao Mao had found what he was looking for - the large throw blanket that Badgerclops had knitted for him long ago, before they had arrived in Pure Heart Valley. It was the only gift that he had ever received, besides his prized golden-sword Geraldine. It had provided Mao Mao nights of warmth when travelling in the coldest environments he had ever experienced, but since the two had moved into Pure Heart Valley, he abstained from using it due to him thinking it was "unheroic" to due so.

As Mao Mao walked back into the living room with the blanket, the badger grinned as he realized what his friend was going to do.

"Oh, I get it! You only like to cuddle when you get upset and I make you feel better." Badgerclops said, poking his friends buttons.

"Oh, shut up." Mao Mao said under his breath as he climbed on top his friends belly and threw the blanket over both of them. Mao Mao got himself comfy on his new, squishy bed and curled up into a ball. Badgerclops adjusted himself so he could lie down on the couch like it was his own bunk, making himself comfortable on one of the decorative pillows.

Now that their sleeping arrangements for the night were finally complete, Badgerclops stretched out his robotic arm to turn off the television, plunging the living room into a dark blue hued landscape. The pattering of rain outside could be heard as the two relaxed in the darkness.

"Hey, Badgerclops" Mao Mao whispered through the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Thank-Thank you for everything, Badgerclops. I-I love you."

"Anytime dude, and I love you too, sleep tight."

Without warning, Badgerclops gave his friend a quick kiss on the cheek before closing his eyes and returning back to his restful state. A warm feeling panged inside of Mao Mao's heart; his heart was fully soothed from the intimate affection. He snuggled deeper into Badgerclops' embrace as he fully relaxed.

After a few minutes of silence, the two friends were fast asleep, comforted by each other's warmth in the coldness of the rainy, late-summer night.