Carl stood on the edge of the world, high above the bustling life. This was his favorite spot. He could see for miles when there were no clouds. His cape flapped in the wind. He loved the feeling of the wind in fur.
Carl was a llama, but not just any ordinary llama. He was a super llama. A freak llama science experiment accident gave Carl the ability to fly. Kind of like Superman if Superman was a llama.
He vowed to use his powers for good and protect this city that he had never seen or been to before. He had gotten word of an evil genius, a master planner and plotter. No one had seen this evil doer before in the flesh.
Carl made it his mission to defeat this evil thing because he was Carl the flying super llama! He flew down to the street. As he made his way to the seedy part of the city, he got strange looks from passing pedestrians. It's like they've never seen a llama that can fly before.
The part of town where he was heading was where the crime lords were known to conduct their business. It seemed like the perfect place to start his search for the evil mastermind. Night began to fall as he walked and turned the corner onto a poorly lit street. The neon signs mounted along the sides of the street started to flicker on.
Carl decided that it would be best to remove his cape to be less noticeable. He reached around and pulled the cape off and placed it in his backpack. “Much better,” he thought to himself. He continued down a side street, leaving the busy street far behind.
He came across a dive bar that looked like a good place to start. It began to rain. He turned and walked through the front door of the bar. Inside the bar, some sort of rock music was playing. He did not care for it. He was more of an R&B fan himself.
As he approached the bar, he passed a drunken man asleep on the bar top. He attempted to take a seat at the bar one down from the man. Carl fell off trying to situate himself. Clearly these seats were not designed for llamas. He rested his hooves on the bar and motioned for the bar keep.
“What can I get for you son?” he asked
“Information is what I am seeking,” Carl responded “Who is this mastermind that I've heard so much about? I wish to set up a meeting with him.”
“I don't know nothin about no mastermind. I'm just a lowly bartender.” he responded.
“Very well. Thank you sir,” said Carl.
The search was clearly not going well. It looks like it would be better to give up as he will probably never find the mastermind. Carl began to turn to leave the bar and head home, but he ran into what seemed like a brick wall.
Before him stood the previously drunk man he had passed earlier.
“So I hear you are looking for him. He is looking for you,” said the man
“Wonderful! Where can I find him?” Carl asked
“You can't, but I am going to take you there,” he responded
“Bellisimo!” Carl exclaimed “So are we just walking or should we get a …” Carl was stopped mid-sentence as the blunt force of a baseball bat hit him square in the noggin.
The world went black. Carl awoke in a strange place that he did not recognize. It looked like a study of somekind. The shelves were lined with books and a huge mahogany desk with an large executive chair was in front of him. The chair was turned towards the fire. Behind the desk, a mighty fire raged in a large hearth.
Carl attempted to get up from his seat, but was stopped by the restraints tied to the chair.
“It's no use to try and escape. You are in my domain and you are under my control,” said a voice coming from the chair. “You have been a thorn in my side ever since you came to this city. Many of my men tried and failed to defeat you and yet here you are. If only I had known it was this easy.”
“Are you the mastermind that everyone keeps talking about?” Carl asked
A deep, guttural laugh erupted from the chair. “Of course I am!” said the voice. A puff of smoke arose from the chair.
“Can I at least see what you look like?” Carl asked
There was no movement or sound at first, but then the chair slowly turned towards Carl. Carl was shocked and slightly confused by what he saw.
In his claw, was a large cigar that glowed red with every puff he took. He was much smaller than Carl had imagined. He watched as the mastermind brought his cigar down to his mouth very, very slowly. It got closer and closer and finally after what seemed like an eternity took another puff.
“It's surprising, no? To see me in the flesh. Many people do not expect me to look like this. An evil sloth is not very common and an evil sloth that talks and smokes cigars is even more rare,” said the sloth.
“Oh, how rude of me. I never introduced myself. My name is Giggles and I run this city.” he said
“That changes today! I've come here to defeat you Giggles!” Carl yelled
Giggles chuckled again. “Oh my dear friend, I'm afraid you are mistaken. No one can defeat me and it certainly isn't going to start with you. I look forward to the effort though. It's been a long time since I had a challenge,” Giggles responded.
The sloth very slowly brought the cigar to the ashtray sitting in front of him. After what seemed like an eternity, he put out his cigar. “Well this has been fun Carl, but I'm going to have to let you go. I have other business to attend to. My men will see you out,” Giggles said
“Wait a sec…” Carl started to say, but was interrupted when a baseball bat connected with his head. The world went dark…again.
Carl awoke on the sidewalk outside of his apartment. He slowly arose and rubbed his head, thoroughly confused about what had just happened. He walked up the stoop to his door and got out his keys. The morning sun began to rise above the buildings. He unlocked the door and headed inside to plan the downfall of the evil mastermind, Giggles.
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