“Yo and the others are still out there co-ordinating disaster relief,” Hatman reported over the borrowed comm-link from the SPUD air cruiser. “S/he asked me to fill you in on what happened.”

“Wakandybar is still gone?” Amber St Clare checked.

“Yeah, last time we looked,” Hatman said. He was exhausted and a little impatient. “SPUD has the Yurt in custody, and they’re hoping they can get him to the safe before he wakes up. Trickshot’s insufferable.”

“Yes, but we want new information,” Hallie told the capped crusader.

“Everyone who was in Mad Wendy’s garden of earthly delights is rescued now?” Asil checked.

“Yes. Although not everyone thanked us for it.”

“And Wendy herself?” Sir Mumphrey demanded. “Is she still in the Happy Place?”

“Yo left her with Yi, the guardian of the Happy Place,” Hatman explained. “It’s going to be an interesting conversation.” His face darkened. “We’re still no nearer to finding out about what happened to Wakandybar, though. The whole over-the-rainbow thing turned out to be a response to the devastation, not the cause of it. And there’s nothing to find now at the centre of the basin.”

“I’m afraid we do know what happened, Mr Boaz,” Sir Mumphrey Wilton answered. “Or at least we can make a shrewd surmise.”

“What then?” the capped crusader wondered.

“Think back to the Legion’s oldest files,” Mumph advised the tactical advisor. “We’ve seen somethin’ similar before.”

Hatman’s face paled as he made the link that Lisa had earlier. “Oh crap! One of our earliest cases, when whole Earth cities were being dragged away! Before my time, or Dream’s…”

“Absolutely. Same thing now, but on a somewhat grander scale, what?”

“Those cities were being taken by our most powerful, most deadly adversary in those early years,” Hatman recalled. “They were taken by a man in red armour who had the power to carve up worlds. They were taken by the Parody Master!”

Sir Mumphrey Wilton nodded and rose briskly. “Seems the easy part’s done with now, Mr Boaz. Let’s get to work!”

Next time: Nitz has a few hard decisions to make under pressure. More on the real estate kidnapper. Nats vs Hell. Vizh and Yuki vs Daimon Soulshredder. Xander vs the alphabet. The Hooded Hood’s new ally. And the debut of a new Prince of Fibs. That’s in Nats Must Die!, coming soon to a Parodyverse near you.

Link to UT#225: Untold Uninteractive Tales of the Lair Legion: Dangerous Paths for those who would prefer to read the chapter in a more normal narrative format

Those wishing to read the script in its original format (with all the text for all the pages) should click here.

Those wishing to refresh their memories on the Parody Master’s previous plot of this kind are referred to Lair Legion: Year One, part 5 – Who stole Birmingham and other bits of questionable real estate and why the League of Regulars had to get a new name.