Vaudevillain

Chapter 21: All According to Plan

"Hey! What was that!" Dana said.

"Well, if you really must know" Dr. Zlo turned and fired the gun at Dana.

The purple light blasted Dana directly in the face and started the process of changing her. The player's muscular arms and legs grew larger, adding even more muscle. The woman's torso bulked up, removing any semblance of femininity and stretching the leotard even more. The changes raced up her face, squaring her jaw and adding a thin line of stubble before shortening her hair. The leotard changed from hot pink to a sky blue as Dana Dozer's transformation finished.

Unfortunately, the transformation had the added effect of making Dana taller. The taut elastic adhesive stretched even more, then snapped under the force of Dana's growth spurt. The heroine stepped out of the foam and looked down at herself. "What did you do to my outfit?!" She roared in a deep voice. "And oh my god my voice!"

Dr. Zlo stared at the released heroine turned hero. "I might not have thought this all the way through."

A fist sent him flying backward into a rail car, taking fifty percent of his health in one blow. The villain rolled out of the dent in the train car and then kept rolling. Dana collided with the car a second after, ripping the metal box in two with the force of their blow. Dr. Zlo turned. He ignited his rocket boots and flew off into the sky, glancing over at the monorail in the process. Stonewall was still tied down and the train had made it halfway around the loop.

"You better hurry heroes! Or your precious Stonewall will be ground into pavement!"

A bolt of light connected with Dr. Zlo's right boot, sending him spiraling out of control. He landed on the ground with a thud, taking a bit of falling damage in the process. Hans had taken out another three Jacques and made enough space to slip away towards Dextra. With the Jacobs occupied Dextra was free to fire their pistol at Dr. Zlo.

The villainess continued firing as Dr. Zlo fell, forcing the villain to take cover behind another train. Heroic chose that moment to scream.

"AM I A F*CKING GIRL?" The sound of his new shrill voice caused another round of screaming.

"YOU B*TCH! YOU TURNED ME INTO A GIRL! I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

But Heroic didn't get a chance to act against the doctor. The train mech kicked out, hitting the distracted player and launching them into the air. Heroic sailed over the trainyard and past a few buildings, smashing through the roof of a nearby warehouse.

"Give me back my outfit!" Dana yelled. She grabbed the railcar Dr. Zlo was hiding behind and lifted the entire thing off the ground. Thinking quickly, Dr. Zlo switched to his frictionless gel and shot it under Dana's feet. With no footing the player fell to the ground, the railcar following after. Dr. Zlo then aimed his cane in front of his feet and fired. He then ran forwards and started to skate, releasing the gel in front of him.

With the speed he gained, Dr. Zlo arrived at Mabel's position in seconds. Mabel's minions were down to four Jacobs that had taken cover behind a railcar past Hans and Dextra. "Zlo Hon I don't know why but they ain't listenin' to Momma."

Dr. Zlo peered over at Hans. Dextra's bodyguard was currently pulling knives from his jacket and flinging them at the four minions. The minions blocked the knives with their canes but were forced to fall back under the onslaught. As Hans turned Dr. Zlo saw earplugs of some kind in the man's ears.

"Mabel it seems they've found a countermeasure to your silky smooth voice."

"Oh hush you charmer. But if Momma can't make that fine man stand down she won't be able to finish off that plain woman."

Dr. Zlo leveled his gun and fired at Dextra. The villainess was ready for the attack and dodged out of the way. Dr. Zlo was ready for this and fired his monocle laser in the direction they dodged. Purple light connected with the black limousine and the red light of Dr. Zlo's laser hit Dextra in the shoulder. The limousine seemed to shrink slightly and what looked to be eyelashes appeared over the headlights of the car.

Dextra spun from the force of the laser, hitting the ground hard. Hans stopped firing at the Jacobs and leaped to cover his charge. "Good, he's distracted. Now call your minions over here and we'll regroup at the mech." Mabel nodded in affirmation as she called the last of her minions over.

All things considered, the fight was going rather well for Dr. Zlo. A little more work and there's a good chance he could have won the fight. But that wasn't what he was going for, he needed his character to be foiled. Honestly, he'd expected a few more heroes to join the fight, maybe even a few villains looking for a quick reputation boost.

Dr. Zlo and his crew arrived at the mech just as Dextra and Dana recovered from their blows. Dana threw off the railcar and jumped up in annoyance. She turned to Dr. Zlo as Dextra was helped up by Hans. The villainess still had a hand on their laser pistol. The air filled with tension as each waited for another to make a move.

A high pitched whining cut through the silence. It sounded like the noise was coming from up in the sky. Dr. Zlo looked up, stepping behind the mech's leg to ensure he wasn't shot at. A golden figure was falling through the air towards the doctor's location.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Heroic screamed, his voice filled with pure rage.

The hero fell to the ground like a meteor, colliding with Dr. Zlo's train mech. The steam engine torso buckled under the force of the blow. And then Heroic punched through it altogether. The golden hero emerged from the other side and slammed into the ground, creating a small crater.

Dr. Zlo stared. The train mech he'd created had been hollowed out. Sparks shot across the mech's open torso as the rest of the machine slowed to a halt. With a groaning, creaking sound the mech fell to the ground. By some stroke of luck, the machine landed right between Stonewall and the oncoming train.

Dylan was giddy. It had happened! He was going to be thwarted! "I-IMPOSSIBLE! How could you destroy my most ingenious creation!"

Dr. Zlo reeled back in exaggerated surprise. "You've even calculated where my invention would fall so you could save the mayor's daughter! No! It must have been some stroke of luck!"

Heroic jumped out of the crater towards the sound of Dr. Zlo's voice. "YOU'RE NEXT MOTHERF*CKER!" The hero's hands glowed white-hot with energy.

Dr. Zlo turned the knob on his cane and released the entirety of his smokescreen. "You may have won this round heroes! But mark my words, Dr. Zlo will have his revenge!!!" In a whisper, Dr. Zlo addressed his minions. "Quickly now, to the museum."

Cass, Mabel, the four Jacobs, and a lone Jacques that had miraculously survived, all followed Dr. Zlo into the ruined museum. There, Dylan turned the knob on his cane again and sprayed the bottom of everyone's shoes with the green bounce gel. "I always wanted to try this," the villain said. Leading the way, Dylan stepped and bounced high into the air.

The rest followed and soon Dr. Zlo and his minions were hopping across rooftops at dizzying speeds. Momma Mabel clutched her purse but otherwise looked composed. On the other hand, Cass was flailing around, trying to keep themselves from landing headfirst. The minions seemed to be doing the best, performing a few flips and spins as they moved.

As Dylan soared through the air he opened up his logbook.

For beating another player in combat, you have been granted reputation! Your current reputation is now E. Your reputation will increase to D after 1 more escapade(s).

For beating another player in combat, you have been granted reputation! Your current reputation is now D. Your reputation will increase to C after 5 more escapade(s).

For beating another player in combat, you have been granted reputation! Your current reputation is now D. Your reputation will increase to C after 4 more escapade(s).

For beating another player in combat, you have been granted reputation! Your current reputation is now D. Your reputation will increase to C after 3 more escapade(s).

For failing to complete your villainous crime, you have been docked reputation! Your current reputation is now D. Your reputation will increase to C after 4 more escapade(s).

The group continued their escape to the gothic mansion, coming to a stop in the yard next to the house. It seemed the bounce gel only worked for so long, which was great since Dylan had no clue how he was going to stop. As he reached the front door, Dylan turned to his minions. "Friends, we may have lost today, but I already have another plan in the works. Those pesky heroes won't thwart us again!"

Cass clapped once Dr. Zlo finished his speech.

As the smoke cleared around the trainyard Dextra looked around at the destruction. Railcars of all shapes and sizes had been dented, rent through, crushed, and even mangled throughout the fight. The train museum had almost been broken in half by Dr. Zlo's mech and a part of the monorail had been utterly destroyed. In the distance, the player could see two heroes yelling in anger.

"Where the f*ck did he go?! He's so reported! You can't change a player's avatar like that! I spent a lot of time making this character!"

"He needs to give me back my pink outfit," Dana grumbled. "I liked that outfit."

"Who cares about your f*cking outfit! You're a guy now!"

Dana shrugged. "Big deal. I play guys in videogames all the time."

Dextra ignored the rest of their argument and turned to Hans. "Did you get the tracker on him?"

"Yes, Ms. Black. Placed it on one of the vested mannequins. Should I call the syndicate to exterminate him?"

Dextra dusted the dirt off their dress. "No, I think we might be able to find a use for a villain as creative as this Dr. Zlo. For now, send someone to watch him. Maybe Shizuka."

Hans bowed, "Understood." He moved to open the limousine's doors and paused at the entrance.

"What is it?" Dextra said.

"It seems the interior has changed Ms. Black."

The seats of the limousine were now a rose pink leather and the carpet hot pink. A glittering disco ball sat suspended over the seats, twinkling in the dim light.

"How gaudy. Hans, remind me to order a new limousine."

"Yes, Ms. Black."

Dextra turned back towards the ruined trainyard. The monorail had completed its journey around the tracks and collided with the mech. The train flipped over the broken machine and sailed high into the air. The railcars behind broke away from the main engine and rained down. Both Dana and Heroic were hit by the falling train.

Dana was fine, her super strength giving her high durability. However, Heroic still had their energy powerset and was unprepared for the crash. The car crushed the hero underneath, killing the avatar and forcing a respawn. The golden hero reappeared back at the hero base, where it promptly disappeared as the player logged out in anger.

Perhaps the most unfortunate one was Stonewall. The trains fell around the heroine, trapping them inside. Both Dextra and Dana had no thoughts about saving the NPC, so the character was left tied up on the tracks. The NPC was forced to wait until dawn when a cleanup crew arrived and found the bound hero.

Out in the ocean, well past Haven City's harbor district, mingled a group of heroes. They had been called here by the head of the moon base herself to deal with a grave threat to all sea life on earth. Heroes of all shapes and sizes stood (or hovered) on a platform resting on top of the ocean.

The head of the moon base, the heroine Eagle, appeared above everyone in a hovercraft. "The earth is in dire peril. A monster of some kind has been unleashed in the oceans of our fair planet and it is devouring all life under the sea. We have tracked this creature with the help of Aguakid and other sea-dwelling supers. However, the threat is too great for us to face alone. That is why I have called upon you heroes. Together, we shall fight this menace and prevent it from doing any more harm!"

A few cheers sounded from the crowd but most were standing in eager anticipation. This was the first true raid in World of Supers, which meant it had a lot to prove. If the game had boring content it wouldn't matter how cool the graphics were. The players would drop it like yesterday's news if they didn't have any fun.

Eagle directed Aguakid to lure the monster above the surface. The ocean hero dove down and called the monster with his power. The response was a rumbling that disturbed the tranquil sway of the platform. Players fought to keep their footing as the monster arrived.

The monster appeared, blasting out of the water as it tried to snap at a fleeing Aguakid. A giant turtle covered in wicked black spikes surfaced above the ocean. Immediately heroes blasted the thing, only for its shell to deflect the blows. Players smiled, it looked like this would be a proper raid boss.

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