Vaudevillain

Riptide flew out of the pet store with a new turtle resting on his shoulder.

"You're going to be my new minion, dude," he told the reptile.

The turtle snapped at his ear, missing as Riptide tilted into a spin. Riptide laughed at its antics.

"We got a feisty one!" the surfer laughed.

Riptide grabbed the little reptile and tossed it from his shoulder to the front of his board. The turtle landed on all fours right at the surfboard's tip.

"Have a front-row seat!" the surfer said.

Riptide kicked his board into the air and shot off into the sky like a rocket. The turtle, unable to grip the surfboard, flipped head over end into Riptide's torso. The surfer let the animal hit him, then grabbed it by the shell.

"I'll need to get you a harness, little dude," Riptide said.

The turtle snapped at his fingers.

The turtle didn't listen, once again snapping at Riptide's fingers. Frowning, the villain shifted his grip to hold the animal at the back of the shell, where its beak couldn't bite him. With that settled, Riptide cut back on his surfboard and shot back down to the ground where G.W. waited.

"We need to get going," the shark minion stated.

Riptide held up his free hand, "Hold on a sec, dude. Surf rats!"

Dr. Zlo's little mice swarmed around the pet shop at Riptide's call. Paws went to work, and a short time later, a picture of a cruise ship plastered the front of the building.

"Perfect, dudes!" the surfer said.

The mice gave Riptide another thumbs-up and sunk beneath the streets once more.

"Can we please head to the docks now?" G.W. asked.

"No problem, dude," Riptide answered.

The surfer jumped back onto his board and kicked off in the direction of the coast. G.W. kicked up a tornado under itself and Jaws and followed after their leader. The trio hung low to the ground to keep out of sight of any heroes. But stealth wasn't Riptide's style, and the villain spent half his time shooting into the air to ride some air current or perform some trick.

Because of his tomfoolery, Riptide didn't catch the hero sneaking up on him until it was too late. A blast of yellow energy connected with the surfer's back, sending him tumbling through the sky. The surprise hit caused him to release his hold on his new pet, and the snapping turtle flew off into the clouds.

"Snapper, no!" Riptide shouted, wincing a bit at the hit. He barely noticed his health dropping a few points, his armor taking the brunt of the blow. Instead, Riptide lamented the loss of his new pet for a half-second before moving on. After all, it was only a turtle, and a fake one at that.

Riptide righted himself with a quick tug on his board and rolled out of the way of the next blast. The villain turned to see a man dressed in yellow and riding a disk of yellow energy. Riptide glanced at the player's wristband and saw the white flash signifying a hero.

"It's my lucky day," the hero said. "I get to take you out all by myself and show how much of an asset I'll be."

"Dude!" Riptide yelled back. "That was an awesome attack! Too bad it barely hurt."

"Bold words for someone in firing range," the hero replied.

Riptide rolled away from another shot and looped behind the building Jaws and G.W. moved behind at the fight's start.

"No you don't!" the hero yelled. He leaned forward on his energy disk and rocketed forward in chase.

The hero rounded the corner and came face to face with Jaws throwing a punch. Reacting on instinct, the hero erased his energy disk and dropped under the blow. His momentum carried him forward into the tornado holding the minion aloft, which hurled him away after a quick spin-cycle.

"Dude, I was sure I had you!" Riptide chirped. "What's your name?"

"Hardlight," the hero replied, using the time to get reoriented. "And you shouldn't talk so much in a fight."

"That's no fun, dude," Riptide chided. "Games are all about fun."

"Winning is fun," Hardlight replied.

Riptide laughed, "True that, dude. But I gotta get going."

"Oh no you don't!" Hardlight shouted. He created a cage of energy around the surfer, trapping the villain.

"Woah, cool!" Riptide responded. The surfer pushed his board over to one of the glowing bars and tapped it with a finger. A shock ran up the digit and into his arm. "Yeow! That's got some kick."

"Wait till you see what I can really do," Hardlight responded. The hero made a grabbing motion with his hands, and Riptide saw the cage bars edge closer toward him.

"You can shrink it too? That's pretty sweet, dude," the villain said.

"It sucks that I'll end this before anything big happens," Hardlight replied.

Riptide laughed, "Dude, you forgot one thing."

"Doubt it," Hardlight said. He flicked his eyes over to Jaws, who hung onto the side of the nearby structure. The minion growled but wasn't in striking distance. It would have to leap off the building for that. Hardlight still kept his eyes peeled for any villains showing up. But he still wasn't ready for the attack that came.

A tornado of air whipped around Hardlight, spinning the hero in place then shooting him into the sky. The cage of energy snapped to pieces as the hero lost his concentration. He fell through the air, crashing into a nearby apartment building. Debris kicked up a cloud, and the screams of unaware NPCs echoed through the streets.

Riptide pushed the pedal down on his board and made his way to G.W., who was resting on a roof nearby. Jaws slowly but surely climbed up the side by digging his spiked arms into the wall, and soon the three were together again.

"Dude, G.W., that was radical!" Riptide said. "I didn't think we'd pull it off."

"We should hurry," G.W. replied. "These heroes don't stay down for long, and we're attracting attention."

G.W. tilted its head down toward the street, where passersby pointed up to the cloud of smoke.

"You got it," Riptide said. "But I still have one more place in mind before we make our way to the harbor."

G.W. sighed, "Of course you do."

Riptide slapped his minion on the back, "Cheer up, dude. You're going to love this last one. You could even say it's all you can eat."

Merla heard the sounds of fighting before she saw the cloud billowing in the sky.

"We must be close," the heroine said. "Are you two ready?"

The two behind her nodded. Merla activated her magic, calling a flight spell up to envelop everyone. A shimmering light, like dust floating in the air, landed on the three players. Once it settled, Merla bent low and sprang into the air. Her two followers mimicked her action, and the three came upon a cloud of debris billowing from an apartment building.

A painting a few blocks down caught Merla's eye. A white cruise ship on a blue ocean covered the street below, attracting NPC onlookers.

"Over there," the heroine said.

The three heroes landed near the painting.

"Why in the world did he leave this behind?" the player asked.

Merla knew, but the point was to let the others create their own assumptions. That was partly the point of this, after all.

"Why do you think?" Merla asked.

"He's either trying to throw us off or leave a clue," someone said.

Merla looked up towards the voice to see the hero from before hovering on his energy disk.

"Well, hello again," Merla said.

"Hey," Hardlight answered.

"Why would he leave a clue?" one of the players asked. Spook if Merla remembered the name right.

"Because this is a recruitment," Hardlight answered.

Merla shook her head, but not enough that others would notice. Hardlight sounded as stiff as his name.

"The whole point is that Menagerie wants us to show our skills," the hero continued. "All our skills. So that means searching, fighting, the works."

"So if the cruise ship is a clue, we should check the harbor," the final player, a hero named Rewind, said.

"Who draws a cruise ship like this for a harbor?" the other player countered. "It's obviously a logo for something."

"Why make it that complicated?" Hardlight said.

"Uh, to test our skills? Like you said?"

"You said you knew Riptide," Spook said. "Can you give us a clue?"

Merla smiled, "He loves to surf and tends to prioritize that over other goals. If we're looking to catch him quickly, heading to the area he's supposed to head to won't work. It'll take him a bit to get there."

"Well, I'm all for that," Hardlight said. "We can plan a trap."

"Harbor it is then," Rewind said.

"Not if we have something to say about it," a voice said.

The four heroes turned in the direction of the noise, only to see an empty street. Merla's eyes widened, and she quickly cast a shield over her. Hardlight did the same, recognizing the trap. An explosion ripped through the street below the heroes, sending chunks of asphalt into the air.

The explosion rocked against Merla and Hardlight, but the two heroes held against the assault. The force kicked up a cloud of dust in the air, blinding everyone for a moment. When it settled, Merla was surrounded by four cloaked figures, Spook and Rewind nowhere to be seen.

"For Overlord Zlo!" the cloaked group yelled. "May he rule forever!"

Black wristbands glinted in the light, signifying these player's participation in the event.

"Look sharp," Merla said to Hardlight.

"I don't need your advice," the player replied.

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