NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Golden Bee" data-source="post: 9518357" data-attributes="member: 7041055">Stretch and pan!I’m not bad...Another week, another great guest star. The group (Devika, Lala, and Rafe Lancaster) were dining at the Brown Derby with a man who felt the need to introduce himself to the waiter.Sadly, the Brown Derby didn't have adequate security. The four diners were interrupted by someone who claimed to be an old show business friend of Lala’s, the truly insufferable Ernie Cohen. His cousin, former animation kingpin George W Cohen, went missing. In Atlantic City. Months ago. And he wanted to hire the detective agency, not that he had a lot of money, or any money at all, and he didn’t have a picture, just George’s self-portrait. But family was important.The quartet finally agreed to take the case, if only to shut Ernie up. Rafe and Lala were squabbling over dessert, so nobody made an effort to stop the bouncer from bouncing the still-talking balaganer client off of Wilshire Boulevard.  (Our beloved heroes were smart enough to get the address of the studio and Ernie's contact information before having him ejected. but it's reiterating how annoying this guy was.)Over in Atlantic City, the studio was… disgusting. Food was rotting in plain sight, dust and grime covered everything. Devi and the mother-she-adopted searched filing cabinets for clues. There were a few leads about financial information, ones that would be difficult to follow up with considering how long ago the company had gone bankrupt.Of course, when you are millionaire industrialist Rafe Lancaster, rules are really more of a starting point. He suggested that they go to the bank, talk investments with the manager, and mention casually that they wanted to follow up on an old friend.This plan went swimmingly, with Devi acting as the super-eager mentee, while Mr. Lancaster leaned back and glowered wealthily.It turned out George was part owner of a road house 20 miles south of the city. The gang called Ernie (whose mother picked up the phone), filled him in on the details, and got some background … And enough confidence to drive to the middle of nowhere, New Jersey.The roadhouse was nearly empty and freezing. The bartender, the only person around, earned the gang’s suspicions. Apparently he had thin noodle arms underneath his coat… And when Lancaster offered thousands of dollars to buy it, the man fled into the back room and punched the pursuing Teoslav in the face with a ten foot long arm!The creature seemed to have animated hands, but the fearsome foursome responded with mental pressure. Lala used some harsh words in a Betty Boop voice, Devi filtered her mystic gaze through some dirty shot glasses, and Rafe used his specialty: money.The barkeep broke under the pressure, throwing off his coat and revealing that he had eight spidery limbs. Before the crew could investigate further, he tossed down a black circle and dove through!Lala tried to go through after him, but it was just a stain on the floor. A search of the roadhouse led the gang toward a nearby hobo camp. But instead of a typical man camp, the woods contained an idyllic clearing! The place was gorgeous and animated. Wait a minute, animated? Yep, there was an entire technicolor town with rubber-hose buildings that bounced to the beat! And at the center of the town was the Pen ‘n Ink Club!The only entrance was a big steel door, and while the gang had some clever ideas ( like editing the marquee so their names were on it), the only technique that worked was name-dropping.The heavy steel door opened.Now, Teo was an accomplished satirist. To distract the doorman, who was in this case an 8 foot tall gorilla,  he snuck to the nosebleed section of the Club and drew a very rude picture. Then, the Polish Painter returned to the front and demanded a refund for being put in the "vulgar gorilla doodle" section, distracting the ape long enough to let the other three in.The club had a great show, with magic and dancers, but the finale was something else. The star was a spitting image of the guy the heroes were here to rescue … Except with red skin and devil horns!Old Scratch ended the show and came over to the table, but refused to identify as the person in George’s self-portrait. Teo pounced.Somehow, the demon turned even redder. He was about to call on furious hellfire… When Lala asked him to dance. The lonely host agreed! (When battling cartoons, use cartoon logic.)Rafe and Teo used the opportunity to destroy a suspicious backstage device, ending animation’s domination and returning the clearing to a sad hobo camp in New Jersey.The illustrator, despondent, looked up at the Pole. “You ruined everything! Who are you?”</blockquote>

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