Vaudevillain

Chapter 124: Recruiting in Bulk

Krampelle looked around the chilly factory, "My, this base is absolutely atrocious. It's no wonder the others can't find you. I'd never be caught dead in such a place."

"Oh, I know," Sweet Dream said, copying the woman's manner of speech. "But one must make do with what they have on hand. Titan is ever so persistent, and he's ruined so much of my kingdom. I decided it would be better to hide away for a moment. I'll announce myself once I've completed recruiting my forces."

"Yes, yes. A grand idea," Krampelle said. "What say we celebrate with some refreshments? Oh, Uther?"

At the villain's singsong call, a shadow appeared from under Krampelle, forming into a dark-skinned man. "Fetch me some refreshments, will you? And some confections for Sweet Dream here."

The man bowed, then dissolved back into shadow. He appeared moments later, holding a tray filled to the brim with tea and cookies. Sweet Dream eagerly accepted the offered treats.

The two villains ate and made small talk for a short while before another group of villains appeared. These three dressed like they were in an apocalypse movie. Leather straps crisscrossed over their chests, and all three wore helmets that masked their features.

"Y'all ready to blow this joint!" one of the villains yelled.

"H*ll yeah!" shouted the others.

"You hear that, Sweet Dream! We're here to blow this joint!"

"Goody gumdrops," Sweet Dream said, with less enthusiasm than usual.

"I say, what boorish people," Krampelle remarked.

"Better than an uptight hag!" one of the leather villains said.

Duchess Krampelle placed a hand over her hear, "My!"

"Can it!" Sweet Dream yelled. "If you get too loud, the heroes might find us. I can't afford that yet. What're your names?"

"Call me Leatherface!" the first of the three said.

"I'm Fleshgrabber!" the second answered.

"Call me Bart," the third replied.

"Right. Well, pull up a chair. I need a few more people before we start."

The three villains obeyed, grabbing one of the few folding chairs scattered around and leaning back into them.

"Mannerless thugs," Krampelle remarked. "Why are you letting those in here?"

"The guild is called Menagerie," Sweet Dream answered. "We take all kinds."

The five players talked as others filed into the room, discussing possible plans and swapping stories. Once she had about ten people, Sweet Dream stood.

"Hello participants. If you're here, you have been called to answer a higher purpose. I require a crack team to help assault the local candy factory."

Murmurs swept through the room.

"The candy factory? Really?" a villain asked.

"Yes!" Sweet Dream shouted. "As you know, Dr. Zlo created a bomb, the Wave Widget. However, it takes a while for the bomb to charge. I have the power to speed up that process as long as I have sugar. Which is why we're assaulting the factory!"

"Seems a bit below me," Duchess Krampelle said. "But if it means wiping out this dreadful place, then I suppose I can suffer for a time."

"As long as we get to blow stuff up, we're good!" Leatherface answered, his two companions cheering with him.

"Anyone else have stupid questions?" Sweet Dream asked. "No? Good! Now, how we're going to do this is simple. Our approach will use the semi-trucks from this factory. We will take these trucks to the candy factory. Once there, we will assault the place and load each truck with as much sugar as possible. Then, we take it all over to the coast, where Dr. Zlo has his bomb. Once we do that, I'll start speeding up the explosion while you all fend off any sour heroes. Anything that goes wrong, we'll deal with on the fly! Got it?"

The villains around the room nodded their understanding.

"Great! Let's go to work."

Titan stood atop the local heroes guild in Thenapolis, watching the streets for signs of activity. Menagerie's event had started, and it was up to the hero to stop Sweet Dream's rampage across town. He scanned the streets below, watching as heroes and villains faced off in desperate fights.

Oro had made sure to separate the heroes and villains before starting the event and informed each side of their general goals. It was something the trio came up with while planning out the match since Sweet Dream's plan involved laying low at the beginning.

The overall plan was a simple assault on the candy factory in Thenapolis. Well, it was more like a candy store than a factory, really. Titan had searched for the place with Sweet Dream earlier. Bumbo's, it was called.

The primary specialty of the store was hard candy, which they made in house. As such, the place held tours and other events for people to experience. That had somehow become the store's main attraction, and now most people thought of it as a factory. It was the perfect place for Sweet Dream to attack.

But having the entire event focused around the one store wasn't fun, so Oro came up with the idea to give heroes and villains a separate task. Villains were given the task to find local stores and steal all the candy, while heroes were told about the upcoming crime spree. Heroes and villains would then get to fight in small skirmishes all around the city, looting candy or protecting the stores. During that time, Sweet Dream would send her new minions out to recruit.

Titan's job was to monitor the situation until he saw the licorice men. Then, he would announce his presence and give the info that Sweet Dream is behind all the looting. He watched the streets with excitement, ready to get started.

The hero hadn't expected that his curiosity with the new VR technology would lead him here. He'd started World of Supers to mess around, then found it fun to roleplay the son of a Titan who wanted to redeem his race. That led to meeting Rampart, which led to meeting Dr. Zlo, which led to creating a guild, which in turn led to planning out this event for players. It was all so much fun, and he was glad to immerse himself in this new world.

Titan caught a black figure, thin as a slide whistle, emerge from the shadows to get a woman's attention. It was time then. Titan tensed and leaped off the roof of the heroes guild, landing in the maintained grass below. Some NPCs gave him looks, but Titan ignored them. Instead, he dashed over to a group of heroes, repelling an armored villain using a spiked ball.

Titan jumped forward and caught the ball as it sailed towards a hero, grabbing it by the spikes. The villain tried to yank the ball back, but Titan was used to games of tug-of-war. He yanked right back, pulling the villain into a waiting fist and slamming them into the ground. The hero didn't let up, punching again and again until the villain changed into motes of light and disappeared.

"Are you alright?" Titan asked the heroes.

"Yeah, dude. We're good," a player answered.

Titan nodded, "I am in need of brave heroes like yourself. I have learned that the mastermind behind this looting is a villain named Sweet Dream, a woman I have had to deal with before. She is resourceful, and I feel this current crime spree is a mask for her true intentions. Will you help me apprehend her?"

The group of players looked at each other, then back to Titan. "You got it," the player said.

"Good. I am in need of four more heroes. If you have anyone in mind, inform me. We shall meet in front of the heroes guild in five minutes' time!"

"Yep," the player replied.

Titan leaped away from the heroes in search of another group. Sweet Dream said she'd recruit around ten to twelve players, so Titan needed to match that. His jump brought him into contact with two more players, a hero and villain who teamed up to take on three other villains.

"Lill, watch the left!" the villain shouted as their common enemy charged like a bull.

"Don't worry, Hex. I got it covered."

Before Lill could act, Titan landed in front and caught the villain by the horns.

"Let's make this fight fairer, shall we?"

"Wha"

Before the villain could finish, Titan shifted his center of gravity and lifted the player over his head. In one smooth motion, he tossed his package in an arc at the other villains. The two prepared to leap of the way, but a shout from Hex stopped them.

"Naparku!"

A black mist shot out from Hex and wrapped itself around the two villains. It only stopped the two for a second, but it was enough time for Titan's thrown enemy to land. The three players toppled over each other, taking a bit of damage in the process.

"Lill!" Hex shouted.

"Already on it!" the hero answered. The player called Lill mimed aiming a rifle at the villains. "Best move out of the way, big guy," she said to Titan.

The hero didn't need telling twice, and he stepped back as the woman recoiled. The sound of gunfire pinged across the street, and Titan blinked as a puff of smoke erupted a few inches from the player's hands. He turned to see the three villains blown back into the wall.

"They're still up!" Hex said. "Do it again!"

"You know I can't use the same thing twice!"

Titan leaped forward, grabbing two of the disoriented villains and slamming their heads together. Both went down and disappeared, their health hitting zero. The hero followed up with a knee to the last villain, striking him right in the gut. The player doubled over from the force of the blow, trying to counter with a wild swing. Titan ducked under the strike and tackled the villain into the wall. Rubble fell on top of the hero's back, along with a couple more desperate attacks from the enemy player. The punches bounced harmlessly off the hero, his durability and the angle of the punch negating any damage.

"Surrender, or I shall take you out like the others," Titan said.

The villain stopped their assault, knowing they were beaten. Titan pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his inventory and wrapped them around the other player.

Hex and Lill came running up.

"Hey, thanks for the help," Hex said.

Titan grunted and turned to the hero. "I'd question why you're working with someone on the opposite side, but that would be hypocritical."

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