Two weeks following Ricky's visit to Mrs. Sweeney as she faced down a bad bout of dysentery, San Alvera City was practically unrecognizable.
Resourceful entrepreneurs were raking in big bucks making full body nets look fashionable, residents were walking around with fly swatters, and bug repellent prices went through the roof!
Ricky now had a reputation as the Bandots Merchandising Company Fly Swatting Hero!
The company went as far as ordering him a custom-made electric fly swatter shaped like Thor's hammer.
Thanks to Tim and his followers, the fly swatter was dubbed The Thundering Destroyer, and Tim's social media channel saw a sharp uptick in views and followers whenever he posted content featuring Ricky and his fly swatting adventures.
The video where he introduced Ricky's fly swatter as a gleaming racket of righteous vengeance went viral, and Minster-Mental was now a household name in San Alvera City.
The dark times made people turn to the internet for comic relief. Tim though, was insistent that he was providing motivation, not comic relief!
***
"Welcome back to Mental Mornings! Today we're training with the Fly Samurai himself – the Fly Swatting Hero ZAP DADDY!!"
"Don't call me that."
Ricky tied a rag around his head, slipped a surgical mask over his face and began.
His battleground was the dumpster behind Grease King Burgers – the sacred ground for flies, where they feasted on leftover fries, burger fragments and rotting bits of lettuce.
Tim followed, camera in hand.
The fly problem in San Alvera City was Ricky's 'refiner's fire'!
As the files got bigger and more aggressive, Ricky realized he had to up his game. Fast reflexes weren't enough to exterminate the new breed of mutant flies.
Also, he had a score to settle….
Those awful pests had to pay the price for messing with Mrs. Sweeney's pies!
That hard-boiled resolve led to daily bouts of early morning training.
He had accidentally let it slip out at work that he was practicing killing flies near the dumpster at Grease King Burgers, so now Ricky had to put up with Tim and his camera every morning.
Ignoring Tim asking him to face this way and that, and the constant background noise of him making commentary on his every move, Ricky diligently trained.
He practiced wrist movements.
He practiced blindfolded swats.
He practiced silent jumps and erasing his presence.
He moved like wind.
He became one with the trash – figuratively and, based on the smell when he finished training, literally.
Tim offered live commentary:
"Observe! The man blends with refuse! The flies can no longer tell man from meal! This is what discipline looks like, people!"
After the intense workout, he looked up at the morning sky and let out a steaming breath of air.
"I have become the scourge of pestilence!" an obviously altered voice whispered to Minster-Mental's viewers.
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Tim, that freeloader, got the chance to monetize his channel because the content featuring Ricky was growing in popularity by the day.
"The scourge of pestilence?!" Ricky growled as he glared at Tim who was showing him the latest video uploaded to his channel.
"I would never say something that cheesy!"
Tim chuckled sheepishly as he dodged Ricky who made a half-hearted grab for his smartphone.
He was shocked when Ricky managed to snatch it in one go. Then he was overjoyed.
"Hey, do that again let me film it!" Tim yelled excitedly rushing to his desk and scrambling to set up his camera.
"Tim, don't you have any work to do?" Marissa chastised with a scowl.
Easily cowed, Tim sat down scratching his head awkwardly.
Ricky tossed his phone over.
As soon as the device was in his hand Tim started a voice recording:
"Zap Daddy's exterminator skills are legendary…."
Shameless…
Ricky shook his head and went back to work, but he couldn't help letting out a smug chuckle under his breath.
His training had paid off.
Now, any fly within a 10-meter radius of the Thundering Destroyer was dead meat!