The Infinites - Infinite Gauntlet (Comedy, Supers)- IC, Done

[Brancoveanic Transylvania]

Sarah looked around the room as if just realizing where she was. "This isn't the police station," she gasped in awe. "Are we finally stopping a crime?!"

"Well, yes and no..." Zipper Lady said, rushing over and looking to Spotlight, unable to deactivate his powers, as KoKo went over as well, looking towards the two attempting to escape.
"HEY!" She said, before pulling out some ancient relic of plastic and AA batteries. "Don't think you can get away from us, you evil trolls! Take this! Love Train!" She said, before the wand shot out a beam of rainbow-coloured energy that went towards them at neckbreak speeds... though when it hit them, it didn't feel any more damaging than an airsoft pellet.

And a new competitor seemed to join the fray; a certain cartoon projected himself onto the lights Spotlight was casting, playing around after catching himself in one, disguising himself as a Pacman-style black-and-white ghost.
"WOOO! IT'S THE SPIRIT OF FAILURE, AND YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT'S GONNA HAUNT YOU!" Mite cackled, a random door spawning nearby them.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Jim "Warstory" Walker
Jim arrived just after the gas had started dissipating. He had gotten a little sidetracked rambling. He looked at the chaos, and saw the Captain get hit by a flying handgun, and said,"I think I'd better secure that handgun. We wouldn't want someone to get hit with it." As he scooped it up, he started talking,"Ya know, I once took a some shrapnel to th' leg. It hurt like the dickens. I darn near bled out, but I made it." He jammed the gun into a pocket, making sure to click the safety on, and checking that it was unloaded. He looked around, and began rambling on about a night mssion in 'Nam. He hoped he could knock out a couple of crooks.

[Talchyon]

Drivin' on up to the bank
Doc Bur-Ock and Florida Man

As they drove up to the place where the sirens were going off, Doc Bur-Ock parked the wreck of a vehicle they were driving, and looked on the scene with amusement. Sirens were blaring. Smoke of some kind was billowing out of a broken window. Odd blue, red and green lights were going off inside at some random intervals. Some gunshots went off. And some kind of gunk was on the front entrance, with an open door next to it. The gunk was thinnish and the villains could tell some kind of scuffle was happening inside. But who knew what?

Doc Bur-Ock got out, as the rest of the villains did too. "Ok guys. Mischief time! As is covered in subsection 472A of our current villains contract, titled, when you come across a bank in the process of being robbed that you weren't involved in..

"Oh, yeah, and you, too, Hamand. Sure. I'm with you. Fry the bacon and down with cheese, and whatever." He shrugged. He sometimes had to play to the insanities of the villains' roster to get them doing what was in the contract. And it didn't hurt anything.

Florida Man, meanwhile, went into the alley. And finding a car with the key in the ignition and the engine started, he smiled. And reached down and petted his dog Max, who conveniently happened to show up. Opening the door, wouldn't you know it? Max bounded into the running car, somehow closed the door and locked it, and then took off. Max the dog, driving the bank heist robbers' getaway car, started doing donuts in the street, until the dog wrecked the car. The dog was ok, but the car was totaled.

Florida Man's dog locks him out of car, does donuts

[Speyland]

As they rushed towards the bank, being a fair bit behind, and witnessed the defeat of Spotlight, Kokomo, Noelle and Zipper Lady flinched as they watched Comedy Club and the Huckster flee, the trio stopped and looked over at the scene.
"What's going on?" Noelle said in confusion, watching on.
"I don't know... a cluster of pennies just hit our comrade Spotlight... and those aren't soft, if I remember correctly." Zipper Lady analysed.
"Wait, but if coins really are that hard, then how does Scrooge McDuck dive into 'em everyday?" Kokomo asked, Zipper Lady sighing and facepalming in response.

A few blocks away
Doc Bur-Ock

Seeing how long the Grandmaster Yuan was taking to answer their friendly request to hitch a ride, Doc Bur-Ock simply told Diet Cola and Florida Man, "Grab him and let's go."

So the two mentioned villains grabbed Grandmaster Yuan into the damaged, dented car that the Invulnerable Lump owned, that was now in their keeping. And they took off.

Doc Bur-Ock said, "You guys hear an alarm going off? What say we go there and find out what's happening and cause some extra mischief?"

"Hmmm... I guess it wouldn't hurt." DIA said, putting her hands together, Prophetie looking into her comic book as Diana peered over. "What's the horoscope say?"
"Well... according to this page... One day a group of Marie's friends got together to have a bit of mean-spirited fun at the bank. Then, all the sudden, a stranger told a really funny joke. Everyone thought it was so funny, they laughed themselves until they passed out!" Marie said in her traditional French accent.
"Geez... I'm guessing the joke is this whole adventure, right?" Mite said.
"Not quite... the man was covered in yellow clouds! Look, he's even farting one in this panel!" Marie giggled.

"Let me go!" The Grandmaster is struggling to break free but it was no use. "You've made a big mistake!"

[Danubian Peoples]

Sarah looked around the room as if just realizing where she was. "This isn't the police station," she gasped in awe. "Are we finally stopping a crime?!"

"Well, yes and no..." Zipper Lady said, rushing over and looking to Spotlight, unable to deactivate his powers, as KoKo went over as well, looking towards the two attempting to escape.
"HEY!" She said, before pulling out some ancient relic of plastic and AA batteries. "Don't think you can get away from us, you evil trolls! Take this! Love Train!" She said, before the wand shot out a beam of rainbow-coloured energy that went towards them at neckbreak speeds... though when it hit them, it didn't feel any more damaging than an airsoft pellet.

And a new competitor seemed to join the fray; a certain cartoon projected himself onto the lights Spotlight was casting, playing around after catching himself in one, disguising himself as a Pacman-style black-and-white ghost.
"WOOO! IT'S THE SPIRIT OF FAILURE, AND YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT'S GONNA HAUNT YOU!" Mite cackled, a random door spawning nearby them.

The Spotlight, unable to control his goggles and his abilities, was powerless to stop the Mite's fanciful display. Try as he might, no amount of nudging, clawing, pulling, pushing would get them off. Eventually however, the strobing sped up to its fullest, and flashing lights washed over the bank walls.

'Well take that.. you little doodle from antiquity!'

These flashing lights would be enough to daze anyone looking at them, let alone someone dancing through their beams. Cartoon characters, well you don't see them everyday.. thought the Spotlight, wondering if his 'attack' would have any effect.

[Brancoveanic Transylvania]

The Spotlight, unable to control his goggles and his abilities, was powerless to stop the Mite's fanciful display. Try as he might, no amount of nudging, clawing, pulling, pushing would get them off. Eventually however, the strobing sped up to its fullest, and flashing lights washed over the bank walls.

'Well take that.. you little doodle from antiquity!'

These flashing lights would be enough to daze anyone looking at them, let alone someone dancing through their beams. Cartoon characters, well you don't see them everyday.. thought the Spotlight, wondering if his 'attack' would have any effect.

"AYE! THAT'S NOT VERY SENSITIVE TOWARDS OUR EPILEPTIC VIEWERS! THINK OF THE FCC REPRISAL!" He yelled out, before snapping his fingers as nothing seemingly happened. "...However, if I just switch off the colour filter, all I see is just a bright, white light. Hehe, that rhymes... Anyways, I can't really hurt you from here, since you have to go in that door there to attack me... but I can annoy you! And I'm very good at it! Watch this!" He laughed as he put on a set of headphones as suddenly he spawned a dentist drill and a chicken bone and activated the drill. "Annoying, huh!?"

As they rushed towards the bank, being a fair bit behind, and witnessed the defeat of Spotlight, Kokomo, Noelle and Zipper Lady flinched as they watched Comedy Club and the Huckster flee, the trio stopped and looked over at the scene.
"What's going on?" Noelle said in confusion, watching on.
"I don't know... a cluster of pennies just hit our comrade Spotlight... and those aren't soft, if I remember correctly." Zipper Lady analysed.
"Wait, but if coins really are that hard, then how does Scrooge McDuck dive into 'em everyday?" Kokomo asked, Zipper Lady sighing and facepalming in response.

Diana sat back, looking over at him. "No we haven't, I don't think. Right, Prophetie?" She asked, digging into her vampiric fangs with a toothpick.
The French girl shrugged. "Page hasn't been created yet. We just got past the part where we all laughed at a funny joke, so..."
The blonde woman groaned, putting her head in her hands. "How long until the next page spawns."
"Uh... I dunno. I never keep track of it. Heck, I can't even tell analog time yet!" She responded.

[Danubian Peoples]

The loud sounds the Mite unleashed would surely be a fright and an annoyance for many... but not the Spot- wait no, he's.. annoyed. Still emanating flashing lights, the Spotlight let out a sneeze.. which managed to somehow turn his eyes off. Now he was dead set on his 2-dimensional adversary, who was mockingly making some of the worse noises one could hear.

'Now listen here you monochrome maniac, I can get'cha labled as communist propaganda, and I am not afraid to push those buttons. They'll wipe you off the face of this wall-literally.'

A spine-chilling threat, especially for a walking, talking intellectual property.

[Brancoveanic Transylvania]

The loud sounds the Mite unleashed would surely be a fright and an annoyance for many... but not the Spot- wait no, he's.. annoyed. Still emanating flashing lights, the Spotlight let out a sneeze.. which managed to somehow turn his eyes off. Now he was dead set on his 2-dimensional adversary, who was mockingly making some of the worse noises one could hear.

'Now listen here you monochrome maniac, I can get'cha labled as communist propaganda, and I am not afraid to push those buttons. They'll wipe you off the face of this wall-literally.'

A spine-chilling threat, especially for a walking, talking intellectual property.

"Me, communist propaganda!? Please!" He said, before black and white fireworks appeared behind him as his head turned to that of a bald eagle while a 48-star US flag flew behind him. "I'm the most American thing around these parts! I worked with Walt freakin' Disney, for christ's sake! Here, let me spell it out for ya, flashbang!" He said, a loop of annoying, high-pitched laughter playing while the letters U, S and A jumped around on a TV screen, appearing to be on popsicle sticks. "Brought to you by the letter F, for f- wait, I can't say that here. Keep it family friendly for our God Emperor Talchyon and his tight a-" He said before a thud noise was heard, and the letters collapsed as a stamp saying [REJECTED] appeared on view.
"Uh-oh..." He said before going over and peeling it off like a sticker. "That's better... boy, that was weird." The door was still nearby, for anyone to enter...

[Flarbinia]

The Lucky Huckster and his two henchmen ran out the door and headed towards a nearby vehicle, enough of their IQ having returned to not stick around while they argued. "@&*#! That was a close one! Good thing those little league losers are too busy arguing with each other to keep us from just going out the front door." The Lucky Huckster said to his henchman as they continued running from the superheroes inside the bank, only to realize that it wasn't their car, they weren't in Hong Kong, and the sky was the wrong color.

[Brancoveanic Transylvania]

The Lucky Huckster and his two henchmen ran out the door and headed towards a nearby vehicle, enough of their IQ having returned to not stick around while they argued. "@&*#! That was a close one! Good thing those little league losers are too busy arguing with each other to keep us from just going out the front door." The Lucky Huckster said to his henchman as they continued running from the superheroes inside the bank, only to realize that it wasn't their car, they weren't in Hong Kong, and the sky was the wrong color.

They managed to run into a taxi, surprisingly comfy with a cartoonish aesthetic similar to old Disney cartoons - as the entire world was - and teeming with oddities, from a man in striped clothing riding a strange bicycle to a barbershop quartet laying outside a place simply titled "Bessie's Beauty Salon", an anthropomorphic horse wearing Gucci clothing. It was practically the strangest world they could ever have imagined; so much so, it would make anything from the likes of Rick and Morty look like the shopping channel. The door was still on the other side where they exited.
Suddenly, a man turned around, an evil grin going over his face as he displayed a familiar goatee and pencil moustache, otherwise looking somewhat trustworthy. "Hello, boys! Where are you headin' this Christmas Eve?"

[Flarbinia]

"Head down the street, head to the left, and stop at the hotel. We will gladly pay you double if you keep your mouth shut during the trip. None of us are in the mood for conversation right now." The Lucky Huckster said to the taxi driver as he and his two remaining henchmen entered the taxi, gym bags full of loot in tow. The did not trust the strange cabbie, but since he has no other option at the moment, he had to roll the dice. Besides, he is not planning on staying in this pocket dimension for too long, though he would still need to form a plan before doing anything.

[Brancoveanic Transylvania]

"With pleasure!" The man said, tipping his hat to reveal a pair of horns briefly before going to drive along, speeding up and heading down the street and to the left, taking extremely sharp turns as the car bounced while other strange, abstract figures went by, before stopping at a giant, spooky looking hotel.
"That'll be a $5 toll, please!" The man asked, outstretching a hand.

[Zjaum]

Miles "Staple Remover Man" Petersen

A Brit in North Dakota? Hm. Well, traditionally, Canada was a British province. Why it still is considered Crown territory. However, North Dakota was usually considered French. Perhaps there were some border disputes. After all, it was very generally a massive forest from the Dakotas to the tundra. A wandering colonist without access to a map could easily get lost there. Perhaps the French ceded part of North Dakota to British Canada after the French and Indian War? A possible thought. That still didn't explain, though, why that small speck across the lake in Minnesota was United States territory, even though it exclusively bordered Canada... where was he? Oh, yes, Hong Kong...

Staple Remover Man took a good long look around him. Everyone was gone. He was so lost in his musings that he hadn't noticed everyone leave around him. To be quite frank, he didn't even know how much time had passed. He had been a stickler for never keeping time devices on him, in case the government was using them as a spying tool. Not even analog watches. Just in case.

Ah, but what sound was this? Sirens? Gun shots? The police were in need of assistance. Or a weeding out of bad apples... he never could quite tell. That's precisely why the police had such a odd relationship with him. It'd be a coin toss as to whether the file he handed over was of vital intelligence of criminal hideouts or of scandalous footage of a police officer forgetting to wash his hands at the sink after using the bathroom. Of course, that was the way life was in this corrupted, festering city... of Orient, Minnesota. Hong Kong, as far as he knew, was perfectly fine.

Regardless, there was only one option for him! Become a tour gui- No! Get to the scene of the crime, and fast! Staple Remover Man put on his coat of trenches. It was time for action! With the confidence of the United States of America, he proudly stuck out his thumb to hail a taxi.


Henry "Blimp Man" Hinshaw

Promptly following his line, Henry had floated up into the skies to stretch a little. Midair was always the best place to do some stretches. It was like in bed, but without the bed restricting you. Or like regular ground, but without the regular ground restricting you. His hands reached as far as they could, and his legs extended, feet pointing towards the ground. My, what a perfect way to... in fact, he was feeling like a little siesta was in order after a good meal at Tussardi's. He would sleep amongst the stars tonight- quite literally, from a certain literal point of view.

He woke up. He looked down at the ground and began screaming. Then he realized what he did for a job and stopped screaming. He looked out into the horizon. Ooh, those were some funny colored lights coming off from inside that building. Red, blue, and green. The national colors of Namibia. As if on cue, Henry's back fan turned on, and he slowly began to drift forward. He'll regain consciousness by the time he reaches there. Hopefully.


Aubree "Goldilocks" Lincoln

Goldilocks was succumbing to the escherichia duxpretia virus yet again. It was only through the sound of gunshots that she snapped out of her trance. She looked behind her into the bush. She was still going at it. The bush must be very happy; she was putting Sacramento to shame! Though, she didn't quite have the levels of Los Angeles or San Francisco. No matter. That was a different matter entirely. Her friends were gone, and she was now... well, mostly alone. The police had, thankfully, been more preoccupied to pull her aside, but a few native residents were wondering what the heck this American was doing to this bush.

She straightened up and adjusted her clothes. "Um... hi... does anyone happen to have a car? I think my friends might have left me, and I need to go look for them. More importantly, does anyone have any toilet paper?"

[Panira]

Chaz C. Cheesington - The Cheese Wiz

The Lucky Huckster, still laughing, formed the pennies into caltrops and threw them on the floor while Comedy Club sprayed the strange man with a small mist, uttering the word "mediocre" as he, the Lucky Huckster, and his remaining henchman began to flee from the scene. With the HKPD on its way, they did not have the time to gloat or attempt to retrieve the rest of the crew, let alone fight some protracted battle straight out of a comic book with some Little League superheroes.

Apparently, the touching that Chaz had desired would have to wait. One of the dastardly supervillains had sprayed some mysterious mist at Chaz, who had been too busy charging at them to notice it. Before long, Chaz was doubled over on the ground, having slipped on the pennies that had been thrown by the other villain, laughing harder than he'd ever laughed before. Well, except for the incident a few years ago with Hamand and the cheesecake. He knew in his heart that was pure comedy, no matter how much Hamand called it "assault". But he had no time to dwell on the fond memories of the past, for he was hunched over on the ground, trying desperately to not laugh while knowing full well that he couldn't stop himself. The supervillains were long gone by now. But that, and the fact that he was laughing so hard it was starting to hurt, wasn't the only problem he was going to have to face. When he had charged at the villains, he'd removed one of his Monterey Mittens so that he could try turning one of the villains into cheese. That failed miserably, as he had slipped on some pennies and tumbled to the floor laughing. But in all that commotion, he hadn't noticed his bare hand attempt and fail to brace himself on the wall, then slip and graze the bank's floor. As Chaz rolled around on the floor like an idiot, still overcome with laughter and unaware of what he had done, one could only hope that the bank's employees had an appreciation for cheddar...

Hamand M. Cheesington - The Behamoth

"Let me go!" The Grandmaster is struggling to break free but it was no use. "You've made a big mistake!"

Hamand had been one of the villains who had restrained the Grandmaster when he had first been thrown into the Lump's ride. She was a little annoyed with the Grandmaster's attempts to break free. Wasn't he the one who had asked for a ride in the first place?

"Weren't you the one who had asked for a ride in the first place?" she asked.

Doc Bur-Ock got out, as the rest of the villains did too. "Ok guys. Mischief time! As is covered in subsection 472A of our current villains contract, titled, when you come across a bank in the process of being robbed that you weren't involved in..

"Oh, yeah, and you, too, Hamand. Sure. I'm with you. Fry the bacon and down with cheese, and whatever." He shrugged. He sometimes had to play to the insanities of the villains' roster to get them doing what was in the contract. And it didn't hurt anything.

Before the Grandmaster could respond, the vehicle pulled up to the bank, and the villains began to exit the vehicle. Hamand heard Doc Bur-Ock's response and replied, "Finally, a villain with a little bit of sense around here!" As Bur-Ock exited the car, she turned back to the Grandmaster. "Now listen up. I don't know whether you like meat or cheese, and I don't have the time to ask. But suffice it to say, you're lucky that you're alive right now, and if you want to stay alive, then stay in the car and let us villains do our... um... villain things." Without even considering the notion of restraining him, Hamand then jumped out of the car, shut the door and made her way toward the action. She noticed the Spotlight standing around aimlessly, apparently trying to figure out what to do next. A prime opportunity for mischief! She sneaked her way over to the Spotlight, walking as quietly as she possibly could. When she was mere inches away from the clueless do-gooder, she cried out, "Ham slab! Activate!", turning into the 10x10x10 slab of ham that she so cherished being able to turn into. Her hope was that by suddenly occupying the same space in time as the Spotlight, she would either capture him within her ham mass or send him flying forward, depending on how physics worked...

[Danubian Peoples]

The Spotlight

The Lucky Huckster and his two henchmen ran out the door and headed towards a nearby vehicle, enough of their IQ having returned to not stick around while they argued. "@&*#! That was a close one! Good thing those little league losers are too busy arguing with each other to keep us from just going out the front door." The Lucky Huckster said to his henchman as they continued running from the superheroes inside the bank, only to realize that it wasn't their car, they weren't in Hong Kong, and the sky was the wrong color.

Seeing the Mite crushed under the heel of censorship, the Spotlight took the opportunity to turn his head and notice his other adversaries make a run for the door.

'You will pay for this, Lucky Huckster! How dare, how dare you disgrace our all-American, patriotic, Lincoln-bearing penny! You must be stopped!'

And while the door was a tight squeeze in his costume, what really weirded him out was what was on the other side. Entering this new place revealed strange sights-

"With pleasure!" The man said, tipping his hat to reveal a pair of horns briefly before going to drive along, speeding up and heading down the street and to the left, taking extremely sharp turns as the car bounced while other strange, abstract figures went by, before stopping at a giant, spooky looking hotel.
"That'll be a $5 toll, please!" The man asked, outstretching a hand.

And the Lucky Huckster making a break for it! With haste, the Spotlight threw himself at chasing the foe, and began running, running as fast as one conceivably can!

'Ahh! Stupid maladies of old!' cried the Spotlight, his mad dash coming to a mad halt after his back started hurting for no reason. He now stood alone on the street, with persons of unorthodox shape and size walking around him. Long and lanky appendages, big white gloves donned by every hand of every sort, and eyes so large they'd be at home on a dinosaur's face.

'What is this place?' was all he could say, the wacky car he was chasing bouncing up and down on the road, before taking a sudden turn and vanishing into the twisted heights that flanked the street.

[Flarbinia]

"With pleasure!" The man said, tipping his hat to reveal a pair of horns briefly before going to drive along, speeding up and heading down the street and to the left, taking extremely sharp turns as the car bounced while other strange, abstract figures went by, before stopping at a giant, spooky looking hotel.
"That'll be a $5 toll, please!" The man asked, outstretching a hand.

The Lucky huckster checked the cushions before finding a twenty. "Keep the change. You have earned some extra money." The Lucky Huckster said to the taxi driver as he handed the cabbie the twenty. He and his henchmen headed inside the hotel, remembering that they booked the room that overlooked the bank in their own dimesion, universe, whatever. Once inside, they immediately headed to the elevator that did not have an out-of-order label and pressed the button for the third floor.

[Talchyon]

The street outside the bank
Doc Bur-Ock

Frowning, and this time not because of any procedural snafu that went against the minutiae of a contract, Doc Bur-Ock called out to the villains who had been making plans on going into the bank. "Guys, I got a bad feeling about this. Those bank alarms have been going off a long time. The Hong Kong police are probably going to be here any second. I think we need to get out of here, so we don't have to suffer any of that awful Chinese water torture!"

With that, Florida Man sent his dog Max, who had just wrecked the getaway car, to go home. He and the other villains hopped back in the car, and drove off.

On the way, they spotted Blimp Man. And called him to come down from flying. So Blimp Man came down. He hopped in the car, and joined up with them.

And Doc Bur-Ock didn't even have to use a remote control.

Also, on the way, way, way out of the way, they saw Blank State. With a curious, mischievous grin on his face. They pulled over, told him to get in the car with them and join them. So he did. And he conveniently made them forget why they were driving around in Hong Kong of all places.

---

The bank
Captain Calculator

As the Lucky Huckster and his gassy companion darted through the door leading to the cartoon universe behind it, Calculator took a breather. The bad guys were all down. And other than the fact that there seemed to have been a car accident caused by a bad dog driver outside, things were getting back to normal. In Hong Kong, just north of Orient, Minnesota, which was now becoming normal.

He called out to the Infinites, "Good job, guys. We actually did something! We prevented a bank robbery! I can't believe it! Us!" Calculator was beaming. This might have been one of the best days of being a Minnesota Infinite - because there were many days that victory wasn't always as certain. The other Infinites relaxed too. Coathangerman started reattaching the coathangers he was using back to his costume. The Teetotaler undid the rubbery-door-blocking-filmy-obstruction that he had made out of his iced tea from his thermos, and manipulated the tea back in it. Glitch just stood there, and began to launch into a story about some random and completely inconsequential bit of personal trivia involving a time he was beat in a fight by 3 raccoons.

Just then, Aubry showed up to the bank. Calculator beamed at her. "Aubry! Glad you're here! You'll never guess what just happened! We stopped a bank robbery! Us!" But then, since she hadn't been a part of it, and she felt like an unneeded member of the lowest superhero team to exist, Calculator walked over and gave her a friendly and at the same time, impersonal, hug, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. He was a married man, after all. Then she cheered up. Some.

But to Calculator's surprise, Spotlight then decided to dart through the same door that led to the cartoon universe! "Wait!" Calculator called out. "Wait, Spotlight! We don't know if that's safe!" But it was too late. Spotlight made it through the door. And then, to his horror, Glitch followed after him! "Glitch! Stop! It could be a..." And Glitch went through the door, entering the psychotic cartoon dimension controlled by the Mite. And just then, the door suddenly closed! No longer was it open to the real world! They were trapped inside! Calculator finished what he was about to say. "...trap."

The shock of losing two of the Infinites to the perilous cartoon danger was hard to take. Who knew what psychotic evils would happen to Spotlight and Glitch in the Mite's world?!

Sensing that the their fearless leader was now, actually, quite afraid, the Teetotaler came up to his friend. "I say, old chap. You did try to warn them. But at least they'll have each other. Two Infinites against a whole deranged cartoon universe controlled by a villain? I'm not saying they're going to be alright, but cheerio. Glitch has survived the oddest of circumstances. Anyway, old chap, we should do something here. Why don't you find out who was calling you earlier? And the rest of us can start taking the money back into the vault. It would be the heroic course of action, my good man."

Calculator had forgotten about the phone call. He slowly nodded. "Ok. Let's do that. Infinites! Time to take the money back to the vault." So the Infinites all started grabbing the money bags that had been dropped, not to mention any of the spare coinage of pennies that had been left behind by the Lucky Huckster.

Meanwhile, Calculator played the voice message on his phone. His speakerphone was on, so everyone in the bank heard it. The voice was familiar.

"Hello, Captain Calculator. This is Pryce, of the Midwest Infinites. Remember, you helped me a few years ago during that Mindbender incident. And yeah, I know I changed my phone number soon afterward because I didn't want you calling me, but let's forget that. The reason I'm calling is because we may have a code red situation. I'm not sure, but there's a chance Mindbender is back. Somehow. Don't ask me how that's even possible. But we have evidence that he may have already compromised Slipstream. She attacked two of her teammates, a whole host of guards, and you might as well know. That bomb that took out the West Coast Infinites hq? Slipstream herself planted it. If you see her, be very very careful. She will kill you. She was last seen flying from Los Angeles to the northeast, so we don't know where she was going exactly. But Calculator? I know I can trust you. I'll be working on more tech that can prevent Mindbender's powers, just like we had to do the last time. If you need to call me, I guess you can use this number. Darn it, now I have to change my phone number again when this is all done."

Calculator stared at his phone, not knowing what to make of the message. The other Infinites likewise paused when they heard the message, money bags in hand, all staring at the phone and trying to piece together what this might mean. And their possible chances of survival if the worst came to happen.


And as they were all thinking, standing with money bags in their hands, a figure in a crackling purple dimensional energy stood in the doorway of the bank with a deathglare on her face. Purple dimensional energy shot out at all of the Infinites, trapping them in an unbreakable force and immobilizing them all. The glaring woman with the dimensional energy rippling around her was floating a few feet off the ground. It was Slipstream. And if she had eyes that could drill through people by how hostile she looked, let's just say the Infinites she had caught would all be Swiss cheese. Slipstream barked out her words with a loud, sinister voice, "Well well well. Look what we have here."

---

Driving around Hong Kong and not remembering why
Doc Bur-Ock

He was driving. And all the villains were with him. That much he knew. Why they were driving in a car that looked like it had been in the demolition derby, he didn't know. Nor did he know why they were now in Hong Kong, when their home base was in Orient, Minnesota.

But what Doc Bur-Ock also knew was that all of a sudden, a very bright, blinding light shot out of his front pocket. He stopped the car, because visibility was getting to be a big concern. What could be causing that bright light? The light was so blinding cascading out of his pocket, that he couldn't see straight. All the other villains in the car shielded their eyes from it. And not just them. People on the street also covered their eyes. People blocks away covered their eyes. Whatever was causing that bright light from his pockets was affecting the whole area.

So Doc Bur-Ock did what any rational, sensible person would do. He reached in his pocket to find out what it was.

And pulling out the brilliantly glowing Alternative Rock that had been in there, the light got even brighter and brighter. It was so bright, everyone and everything in the world had to shield their eyes from it.

Then just like that, the blinding light was over. Doc Bur-Ock simply held a normal looking rock in his hand, which he soon put back in his pocket.


And that's when it really got weird.

THE END OF CHAPTER ONE

---

[Speyland]

Chaz C. Cheesington - The Cheese Wiz

The Lucky Huckster, still laughing, formed the pennies into caltrops and threw them on the floor while Comedy Club sprayed the strange man with a small mist, uttering the word "mediocre" as he, the Lucky Huckster, and his remaining henchman began to flee from the scene. With the HKPD on its way, they did not have the time to gloat or attempt to retrieve the rest of the crew, let alone fight some protracted battle straight out of a comic book with some Little League superheroes.

Apparently, the touching that Chaz had desired would have to wait. One of the dastardly supervillains had sprayed some mysterious mist at Chaz, who had been too busy charging at them to notice it. Before long, Chaz was doubled over on the ground, having slipped on the pennies that had been thrown by the other villain, laughing harder than he'd ever laughed before. Well, except for the incident a few years ago with Hamand and the cheesecake. He knew in his heart that was pure comedy, no matter how much Hamand called it "assault". But he had no time to dwell on the fond memories of the past, for he was hunched over on the ground, trying desperately to not laugh while knowing full well that he couldn't stop himself. The supervillains were long gone by now. But that, and the fact that he was laughing so hard it was starting to hurt, wasn't the only problem he was going to have to face. When he had charged at the villains, he'd removed one of his Monterey Mittens so that he could try turning one of the villains into cheese. That failed miserably, as he had slipped on some pennies and tumbled to the floor laughing. But in all that commotion, he hadn't noticed his bare hand attempt and fail to brace himself on the wall, then slip and graze the bank's floor. As Chaz rolled around on the floor like an idiot, still overcome with laughter and unaware of what he had done, one could only hope that the bank's employees had an appreciation for cheddar...

Hamand M. Cheesington - The Behamoth

"Let me go!" The Grandmaster is struggling to break free but it was no use. "You've made a big mistake!"

Hamand had been one of the villains who had restrained the Grandmaster when he had first been thrown into the Lump's ride. She was a little annoyed with the Grandmaster's attempts to break free. Wasn't he the one who had asked for a ride in the first place?

"Weren't you the one who had asked for a ride in the first place?" she asked.

Doc Bur-Ock got out, as the rest of the villains did too. "Ok guys. Mischief time! As is covered in subsection 472A of our current villains contract, titled, when you come across a bank in the process of being robbed that you weren't involved in..

"Oh, yeah, and you, too, Hamand. Sure. I'm with you. Fry the bacon and down with cheese, and whatever." He shrugged. He sometimes had to play to the insanities of the villains' roster to get them doing what was in the contract. And it didn't hurt anything.

Before the Grandmaster could respond, the vehicle pulled up to the bank, and the villains began to exit the vehicle. Hamand heard Doc Bur-Ock's response and replied, "Finally, a villain with a little bit of sense around here!" As Bur-Ock exited the car, she turned back to the Grandmaster. "Now listen up. I don't know whether you like meat or cheese, and I don't have the time to ask. But suffice it to say, you're lucky that you're alive right now, and if you want to stay alive, then stay in the car and let us villains do our... um... villain things." Without even considering the notion of restraining him, Hamand then jumped out of the car, shut the door and made her way toward the action. She noticed the Spotlight standing around aimlessly, apparently trying to figure out what to do next. A prime opportunity for mischief! She sneaked her way over to the Spotlight, walking as quietly as she possibly could. When she was mere inches away from the clueless do-gooder, she cried out, "Ham slab! Activate!", turning into the 10x10x10 slab of ham that she so cherished being able to turn into. Her hope was that by suddenly occupying the same space in time as the Spotlight, she would either capture him within her ham mass or send him flying forward, depending on how physics worked...

The Grandmaster frowns. "Of course not, you idiot!"

[Talchyon]

CHAPTER TWO: ELEVEN HERBS AND SPICES

Space. Some distance away but getting closer

As the warlord's ship crossed the galaxy, a surge of data poured forth across the screen. Numbers in a grand pattern undecipherable to the naked eye darted across the screen as they were tracked carefully by the piloting drones. Meanwhile, the warlord on the ship was in a foul mood.

It didn't help that some random group of do-gooders calling themselves the Guardians of the Known Universe had recently tried to hijack his ship. Or that they had almost succeeded. What a bunch of misfits. A guy in a red leather jacket, an Earthling who had bad taste in music, was their leader. Then a blue-skinned girl who was their muscle. Followed by a hulking giant who wielded salad spoons of all things. Followed by a short mutant badger with a few bionic limbs and a foul mouth. And if that wasn't weird enough? They also had some tall, growing bush-creature that also grew cranberries. Cranberries, of all things. And these punks had gotten all the way past his combat drones up to the bridge. They challenged him. Told their sob story of how he had destroyed three of their homeworlds and blah blah blah.

Pulverizing them into powder had been quick and easy, and it had been somewhat gratifying to listen to their whimpers as they turned to dust. But it still left the warlord angry. Didn't these random space mercenaries know he was going to win? Didn't they know the Infinite Gauntlet he wore gave him more power than they would ever have? This was the 8th group of Defenders or Guardians or Protectors this week.

The warlord had power to beat any and all of them. But he knew he didn't have enough power yet. There were two Infinite Rocks missing. And only then, would the Heart Rock open.

Legend had it, that the Heart Rock, while powerful in itself, was actually a shell and a casing for an even more powerful substance that made all the other Infinite Rocks pale in comparison. The stories varied as to what the Heart Rock could do once it was opened. None of them were reliable. Either the ancient scrolls had been in tatters for far too long and could no longer be read, or they conflicted with each other at every point. The warlord knew that there were liars in ancient times as well, liars who couldn't be trusted just because they had a pen and ink. But while the details were sketchy, each account pointed to the overwhelming power that the Heart Rock contained.

And it would only be opened when the set was complete. The set of all the other Infinite Rocks, that is. That is why the warlord had one thing on his mind. Wrestling control of the last two Infinite Rocks to make the set complete. Bringing the keys into the Infinite Gauntlet to open the Heart Rock. And then, his world would be restored.

Which meant that anyone who tried to stand in his way, whether they called themselves guardians, protectors, defenders or anything else, were going to taste the full brunt of the Infinite Gauntlet. Too much was at stake. And they had no power to stop him.

---

The Mite's cartoon dimension
Glitch

Like, the weird door in the bank that Spotlight guy went through? Dude. It was pretty trippy inside. Like I was watching Cartoon Network characters who had experimented with illegal drugs or something. Drugs are bad man. Cartoon characters on drugs are also bad, man. Like dude, that's not the kind of role model I want to be. I'm going to be one the kids look up to, so that they read my comics (in the future when I get my titles and they print my exploits) an' like, they'll dress up like me for Halloween or just any other day. And when they do? I'll tell them to not use drugs and always drink milk. And a bunch of other public service announcements, y' know? 'Cause, they're impressionable. Dude.

But like, Spotlight guy went up ahead and turned the corner. And the door that led back to the bank? Dude. It closed. We were like, stuck here or something. In Toon Town. With no Dip. But like, it didn't matter 'cause we had something no animator could prevent. And that was chutzpah. We had it.

So, when I ran up to Spotlight guy, I caught up to him and said, "Dude. Like, the door closed, an' all. We're kinda stuck here. Wherever here is. So like, you have any idea about like getting home or, something epic along those lines? Dude."

---

The bank
Captain Calculator

Captain Calculator stared in terror at the appearance of Slipstream. Normally, he'd be thrilled that they had gotten noticed by a leading member of one of the normal Infinites' teams. And maybe, Calculator would have offered their friendly assistance to help them (like, by doing their laundry or something while the normal Infinite went out to fight crime).

But with Pryce's phone message warning Calculator and everyone else in the bank about Slipstream, and at the very mention that Mindbender might have returned? Now there was nothing but fear in his heart, as the purplish energy stream immobilized him and all the other Infinites in the bank with him. If Slipstream had been turned to bomb her own base and attack her own team members, well, there was very little he could do to stop her. Her dimensional energy was roughly a million times more powerful than any of their powers. Combined.

He was about to say something to her, maybe make an introduction or at least try to say something to be on her friendly side. Something innocuous, like, "How about that weather?" But he knew that this would be lame, and wouldn't help at all.

They were trapped. With a homicidal maniac who could destroy them instantly if she wanted. And it seemed like she wanted to.

Right then, they were spared by a blinding light. The same kind of blinding light as before, when Hong Kong had been brought to north of Orient. Closing his eyes involuntarily, Calculator gulped, not knowing what might happen now. Would Hong Kong be brought back to where it had been, taking them way out of the country without a passport? The horror of trying to get through the bureaucratic mess that would cause was another worry to put down on his list of worries. After the more pressing ones got done with first, of course.

But when the blinding light subsided, Calculator opened his eyes, and was incredibly surprised to see that he now had feathers. And wings. Because in fact, he was now a chicken. A chicken with a pocket protector. And that everyone else in the bank was a chicken as well! Each member of the Minnesota Infinites had turned into a chicken, as well as had everyone else who had been in the bank. The interesting thing was, Calculator could easily tell who was who even in chicken form. There was something else that came along as a telltale sign that you could easily tell who was who. Aubry, for example, was the golden chicken.
The Teetotaler on the other hand, had a monacle. And on it went. So even though they were now poultry, he could still tell his team apart. And he knew he wouldn't be the only one. Others were recognizing each other, too.

Furthermore, Slipstream herself was now a chicken! With purplish energy crackling around her. She stopped the purplish energy all of a sudden, however, when she saw what had happened. A moment's loss of concentration at the bizarre sight, and she lost the hold on the dimensional energy she had been channeling. Instead, she called out in fury, "What did you do to me?"

Calculator responded, "First, no one here is responsible for this. We are the members of the Minnesota Infinites. And we were helping prevent this bank from being robbed."

The chicken-Slipstream looked confused. "Minnesota Infinites? There is no Minnesota Infinites."

Calculator sighed. "That's because we're not that well known. We try. Our publicity just hasn't taken off. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain Calculator, the leader of..."

Chicken-Slipstream cackled. "Did you say, Captain Calculator? What is your power, number crunching?"

Calculator sighed again. "No, I shoot calculators out of my hands pretty fast and..."

Chicken-Slipstream was laughing. "I can't believe this. I can't believe you guys could rob a bank..."

Calculator got huffy. "We weren't robbing the bank! Like I said, we were trying to prevent the bank from being robbed!"

Chicken-Slipstream glared at him, if chickens can glare. "Where, then are the robbers?"

Calculator sighed. "A villain named the Mite opened the door to his pocket dimension, and the two main robbers went inside. Along with two of our Infinites. These henchmen, though, we slowed down."

Chicken-Slipstream looked at the henchmen-chicken, who tried to straighten up now that they were feeling better after being knocked out. When she asked them if that was true, the way they spoke led her to believe Calculator instead of them. And then, asking the other people in the bank if Calculator and their group was trying to rob the bank, she got basically a good story about them. So she visibly relaxed in front of them. Now she was just more anxious and stressed out, then pissed off and murderous.

Breathing out, Chicken-Slipstream said, "Well, this is a mess. So if you didn't turn me into a chicken, who did?"

The Teetotaler said, "I say. I am the Teetotaler. I can manipulate (but not create) tea into solid objects. But my dear lady, it seems that this is the work of someone else. The same person who moved Hong Kong here. Both times, there was a bright light."

Chicken-Slipstream just stared at him. "Tea manipulation? They actually made you guys Infinites?"

The Teetotaler just looked abashed.

Calculator responded. "Tell you what. How about you don't kill us, and we can try to help you find out who turned us all into poultry. And then, we'll get him to turn us back!"

Chicken-Slipstream looked at them, then at the other chickens, then at them again. "I guess I don't have a choice."

Calculator nodded. "Good. Alright guys, let's make sure these bad guys get caught by the Hong Kong police, and then we'll figure out how to turn ourselves back. Any of you have any ideas what to do first? Or where we should even look?"

---

Doc Bur-Ock

They had just pulled over when the light was the most blinding. When the light was over, Doc Bur-Ock looked and realized he was a chicken. A chicken with bureacratic forms in his hands and a scowl. He could tell who the other villains were in the car, too. The chicken with the outline of Florida on it could only be Florida Man. Prophetie was the little hyperactive chicken with the comic book. And so on.

But he looked at everyone and said, "Chickens?! Really?!" It also didn't help that Blank State had wiped out some of their memories, so they didn't remember why they were in Hong Kong...

[Danubian Peoples]

CHAPTER TWO: ELEVEN HERBS AND SPICES

The Mite's cartoon dimension
Glitch

Like, the weird door in the bank that Spotlight guy went through? Dude. It was pretty trippy inside. Like I was watching Cartoon Network characters who had experimented with illegal drugs or something. Drugs are bad man. Cartoon characters on drugs are also bad, man. Like dude, that's not the kind of role model I want to be. I'm going to be one the kids look up to, so that they read my comics (in the future when I get my titles and they print my exploits) an' like, they'll dress up like me for Halloween or just any other day. And when they do? I'll tell them to not use drugs and always drink milk. And a bunch of other public service announcements, y' know? 'Cause, they're impressionable. Dude.

But like, Spotlight guy went up ahead and turned the corner. And the door that led back to the bank? Dude. It closed. We were like, stuck here or something. In Toon Town. With no Dip. But like, it didn't matter 'cause we had something no animator could prevent. And that was chutzpah. We had it.

So, when I ran up to Spotlight guy, I caught up to him and said, "Dude. Like, the door closed, an' all. We're kinda stuck here. Wherever here is. So like, you have any idea about like getting home or, something epic along those lines? Dude."

---

The Spotlihgt

Franklin Landon-AKA The Spotlight was not exactly amused by his sudden 'confinement' to a weird and wacky plane.. with the only companion being an equally weird and perhaps wackier Infinite. Still, this was no time for petrty feuds about violating natural law by virtue of existing! Now was the time.. for action! And the Spotlight's first action would be to come up with a way to get home!
'Well, the short answer, we wait. If you want the long version, then here it goes. Glitch, statistically you are going to break at least one thing every 5 minutes. Considering the number of minutes in an hour, and the number of hours in a day, that's.. a lot of damage.'

The Spotlight pointed.. rather accusingly at his teammate.

'Ahem. Anyway, if we do the math, that's about.. 288 things that'll break every day on average,'

said the Spotlight as he tapped away at a calculator he'd snagged from Captain Calculator's attack along with the Huckster's coinage.

'Now, we are within some sort of.. plane. And since there only so many rubber-hose looking streetlamps.. and apartment blocks.. and glove-bearing pedestrians.. you get the idea, 'round these parts you are inevitably going to break the laws of physics, which will then probably take us to outside of this plane. Judging by your track record, this is guaranteed to have happened in, hold on, just need to crunch some more numbers..'

*Pzzt

'And it's already started.'

fumed the Spotlight, holding up the now-nonfunctional calculator to Glitch.

[Flarbinia]

Once the Lucky Huckster and his henchmen had arrived at his floor, he headed to this universe's version of his hotel room, ignoring missionaries and the occasional drunk (being a world based on old cartoons, someone drinking out of a jug marked with X's was par for the course) as he walked down the hall. After half an hour, he reached his hotel room and opened the door, seeing a man who looked like the Lucky Huckster if he came straight out of a Mattel commercial and his two similarly costumed goons.

[Talchyon]

The bank
The Teetotaler


"I say, Captain Calculator, old chap. Since no one else was bursting to speak up," the Teetotaler glanced at all the other Infinites who were there. Some of whom were picking their nose (as well as a chicken can actually try to do that, anyway). He continued, "Since no one else was bursting to speak up, I say, how about we go in the direction of that bright light and see where that came from? That could tell us what caused all of us to become in different forms."

Captain Calculator shrugged. "I guess. That plan is better than nothing. Let's head out."

---

Cartoon Pocket Dimension
Glitch

When Spotlight guy started up with his plan, I was like, "Dude." An' I listened, 'cause I didn't have any better plans and he actually might have something. But like. His plan involved like a busted up calculator?

The Spotlight

Franklin Landon-AKA The Spotlight was not exactly amused by his sudden 'confinement' to a weird and wacky plane.. with the only companion being an equally weird and perhaps wackier Infinite. Still, this was no time for petty feuds about violating natural law by virtue of existing! Now was the time.. for action! And the Spotlight's first action would be to come up with a way to get home!
'Well, the short answer, we wait. If you want the long version, then here it goes. Glitch, statistically you are going to break at least one thing every 5 minutes. Considering the number of minutes in an hour, and the number of hours in a day, that's.. a lot of damage.'

The Spotlight pointed.. rather accusingly at his teammate.

'Ahem. Anyway, if we do the math, that's about.. 288 things that'll break every day on average,'

said the Spotlight as he tapped away at a calculator he'd snagged from Captain Calculator's attack along with the Huckster's coinage.

'Now, we are within some sort of.. plane. And since there only so many rubber-hose looking streetlamps.. and apartment blocks.. and glove-bearing pedestrians.. you get the idea, 'round these parts you are inevitably going to break the laws of physics, which will then probably take us to outside of this plane. Judging by your track record, this is guaranteed to have happened in, hold on, just need to crunch some more numbers..'

*Pzzt

'And it's already started.'

fumed the Spotlight, holding up the now-nonfunctional calculator to Glitch.

"Dude, I can tell you straight up. This, is a street. This is not some sort of plane. Planes, like, fly in the sky? Like, with pilots and jet fuel and uncomfortable TSA searches before hand? Like, dude. This is like that channel that shows nothing but cartoons or something. Or like, that space basketball movie, only without Michael Jordan and without any actual copyrighted animated characters who I'm not gonna mention, because of legal reasons an' all."

Glitch paused as three cheery cartoon otters bopped along to pretend hip hop music, and then shrugged.

"An' like, I don't break things. That's like, Breakerman. He's a guy who breaks things. Or Smashmaster. Or like, Captain Destructo. Dude. Any of those guys would break things just like that. Me? Dude, my power is much higher on the epic-ness scale. I like, make things sucky. But... I don't want to be called, "Sucky-Man" or something like that. That would really hose me off, y'know?"

Glitch took the non-functioning calculator. He typed in a few buttons just to make sure the calculator was, indeed, not working. Then, like any other full blooded male who comes across something broken, did the first thing any good repair guy would do. Glitch shook the calculator, and then banged it against one of the nearby lightpoles. Then, he tried the buttons again. And handed the calculator back.

"Works now, dude."

---

Diet Cola

Not remembering why they were in Hong Kong, driving a smashed up car that wasn't theirs, and why they were chickens of all things, Diet Cola got out of the car and said, "Whatever those Infinites punks just did to us, I'm going to make them pay. Who's with me?"

[Pax Nerdvana]

Jim "Warstory" Walker
Jim looked around, and noticed everyone (including himself) had been turned into a chicken. There was an almost look of shock on his face (if a chicken could do that). He said,"I've never seen anything like this." He continued staring, and was virtually speechless. He hoped Slipstream wouldn't be problematic or anything like that.

[Danubian Peoples]

The Spotlight

"Dude, I can tell you straight up. This, is a street. This is not some sort of plane. Planes, like, fly in the sky? Like, with pilots and jet fuel and uncomfortable TSA searches before hand? Like, dude. This is like that channel that shows nothing but cartoons or something. Or like, that space basketball movie, only without Michael Jordan and without any actual copyrighted animated characters who I'm not gonna mention, because of legal reasons an' all."

'Not that kind of plane...' said the Spotlight, hands clenching at the sides of his face.

'But... if you want to use differing terminology then I guess I'll call 'here' some sort of cartoon pocke-'

"An' like, I don't break things. That's like, Breakerman. He's a guy who breaks things. Or Smashmaster. Or like, Captain Destructo. Dude. Any of those guys would break things just like that. Me? Dude, my power is much higher on the epic-ness scale. I like, make things sucky. But... I don't want to be called, "Sucky-Man" or something like that. That would really hose me off, y'know?"

'Glitch, I'm gonna need to back up for this one,' said the Spotlight rather calmly as he walked away from Glitch until he was a very long arm's length away from him.

'Mr. Glitzky..'

Beat panel.

'That. Is exactly. What. Breaking. Is. Do you have any idea how many times you've made things blow up in people's faces? Like that time I was busy tryin'a break ground with an innovation or two and you walk in on me and break the ground I was standing on instead? When you're this old the femur tends to be pretty flimsy y'know.. And what about just now? When you 'suckied' my specially designed goggles and nearly cost us the heist? Granted I did follow the Mite into 'here' and now we're separated from the team.. I guess that's on me as well. And what's the team doing anyway? This wouldn't be the first time they lost track of one or two of their teamamtes? Say, any tour- keep it together.. -I mean-nevermind.'

Glitch took the non-functioning calculator. He typed in a few buttons just to make sure the calculator was, indeed, not working. Then, like any other full blooded male who comes across something broken, did the first thing any good repair guy would do. Glitch shook the calculator, and then banged it against one of the nearby lightpoles. Then, he tried the buttons again. And handed the calculator back.

"Works now, dude."

'Ah, with this I can get back to number-crunching.'

said the Spotlight as he walked back to the Glitch and took the caluclator from him.

'So, on average you should have broken the laws of physics at least once.. by, 20 odd hours. Not too shabby. Now, what do we do in the meantime? I say we go out and search for the Lucky Huckster. Saw him make a break for it on a cabbie. How despicable.'

[Flarbinia]

The Lucky Huckster and his henchmen entered the room, their counterparts turning their attention to them. "Who are you guys? You certainly look different than everyone else I've seen: better drawn muscles, attire straight from the comics of the '30's and '40's, gadgetry from the era of the Comics Code Authority, and your face is more detailed." The Lucky Huckster said to the leader of the hotel room's current occupants, his tone indicating that he was glad to see someone who looked different than the locals he had seen.