Vaudevillain

Chapter 156: Limiting Options

Dylan kept his eye on his foe despite the worry building in his heart. Despite knowing Cass and Mabel were creations of Dr. Zlo's making, Dylan couldn't help but grow attached to them. He wanted to chase after the falling minions and try to rescue them, but Dr. Zlo would never think of that. Cass and Mabel were pawns, pawns he could create again with a bit of work.

So Dr. Zlo hovered in the air near his foe. He stared down the hero that had stripped the villain of almost all his cards. Now, Dr. Zlo only had his monocle, three more button bombs, his cane filled with his various substances, his teleporter watch, one or two self-destruct patches, and his rocket shoes. Dylan had to decide how to go about this carefully, lest he lose in an anti-climatic fashion.

There was no question about it in Dylan's mind. He had to lose to this hero. The difficulty was losing in a way that kept Dr. Zlo's image. Initially, the villain planned to use his Zloppelin for that. The destruction of his gigantic weapon could send Dr. Zlo running off with a, "You haven't seen the last of me!" But that ship had sailed when Dr. Zlo decided to land on the coast and announce his presence.

The way Dylan saw it, he was currently in his second form. The Zloppelin was the initial phase, with the rush up to the observation deck a mix of bullet hell and fighting. With the destruction of his invention, the villain appeared in his second form. They fought a bit, then at half health, Dr. Zlo unleashed the rest of his minions. Finally, they were in the final phase, but how to make that more exciting than the rest?

Matt-att's voice carried through the air, "Are you done moping? I don't mind sitting around for you to compose yourself, but I'd rather not finish this by a surprise attack."

"Spoken like a true hero, for once," Dr. Zlo replied. "I was merely trying to decide on the best way to kill you."

Matt-att barked a laugh, "Ha! I'm not about to fall to someone with a curly mustache."

"How dare you mock my magnificent facial hair!" Dr. Zlo boomed. "I'll have you know I spend hours every morning in front of the mirror to get the swirl just right."

"Sounds like you need better hobbies," Matt-att joked.

"You'll pay for your mockery!" Dr. Zlo exclaimed. "Have at you!"

With those words, the villain thrust his cane out like a sword, aiming straight for Matt-att's chest. The hero rolled his eyes and blocked the blow with his conjured shield, halting all of Dr. Zlo's momentum.

"A bold move coming into melee range," the hero said.

Matt-att brought his other hand around to grab Dr. Zlo's cane. The hero knew he couldn't keep his shield up while using his disintegration, but there was still a small window open. The rod wouldn't hit him for a second at most, and Matt-att knew he could activate his power before the weapon struck.

The move was what Dr. Zlo was waiting for. Right when Matt-att's hand reached for his cane, the villain yanked his weapon back with one hand and slapped the hero's in one move.

"The h*ll?" Matt-att questioned.

Dr. Zlo's attack hadn't hurt at all, was it meant to mock the hero? No, Matt-att knew the villain wasn't one to make useless gestures. That meant Dr. Zlo had a reason to hit him.

The streamer looked down at his hand, and sure enough, Dr. Zlo had placed a patch of some kind on his hand.

"What the f*ck is this?" Matt-att said as he grabbed at the thing with his shield hand.

"A distraction," Dr. Zlo declared.

Matt-att looked to see the villain toss a small button his way. The hero immediately realized; it was one of Dr. Zlo's button bombs! Matt-att instantly conjured his shield to block the blow.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Dr. Zlo taunted. "That patch has about five more seconds."

"F*ck," Matt-att cursed.

Was the patch a bluff? Was it a distraction? Or was it the true attack all along? There was no way for the streamer to tell, not unless he made a gamble.

Matt-att thought back to all of Dr. Zlo's fights from before, remembering all the trickery the villain pulled off. The first fight with the cloth teddy bear, the second fight in the warehouse, and the fight at the mansion came to mind. It all spoke to one thing, Dr. Zlo utilized everything he could in a battle.

Gambling on that thought, Matt-att launched away from the button bomb, dropping his shield and peeling the patch off his hand. The button detonated a moment later, sending twinges of pain through Matt-att's body and accelerating the hero's launch. The streamer got the patch off a moment later, throwing the thing away from him and conjuring a shield.

For a moment, the patch fluttered in the air like a butterfly. Then, it exploded, sending a wave of force and fire three times larger than the button bomb. Matt-att grinned as he absorbed the energy.

"F*cking called it!" the man cheered through the explosion.

The fire dissipated a moment later, revealing Dr. Zlo once more.

"You gotta do better than that," Matt-att said, beckoning the villain with his hand.

"Oh, we haven't even begun to dance!" Dr. Zlo answered.

The villain blasted forward on his rocket boots again, thrusting his cane like a fencer. Matt-att blocked the blow, but before he could grab the walking stick, Dr. Zlo slammed the button on the knob and unleashed a foamy adhesive. The white gel stopped at the nozzle; its momentum stopped by Matt-att's power.

"Try dropping your shield now," Dr. Zlo said.

Matt-att grunted, using his flight pack to maneuver to the side. Twisting his hand, the hero deflected the stick away from his body. He smirked as a white liquid foamed out of the cane and fell to the ground.

"Careful. No one likes a quick shot."

"What an inelegant remark," Dr. Zlo sniffed. "How the likes of you became a hero, I'll never know."

Matt-att swiped at Dr. Zlo, forcing the villain to fly back. The hero tried to follow up the strike but had to stop when another button bomb fell in front of his face. He quickly conjured his shield as the explosion rocked the area, absorbing all of the energy.

As the fire receded, Dr. Zlo was nowhere to be found. Quickly, the hero scanned the area, finding the villain rising towards the sun. Immediately, Matt-att gave chase, activating his flight pack while sending a beam of disintegration toward the villain.

Dr. Zlo looked back to see the white static climbing toward him and abruptly adjusted his course to avoid the blow. But the movement slowed his ascent, allowing Matt-att to catch up.

"I'm curious," Dr. Zlo said as the hero arrived. "Why don't you use the beam more often?"

"Why should I tell you?" Matt-att grunted as he swung a fist.

"Come now, there's no need to be suspicious," Dr. Zlo said as he activated his watch to teleport away. "I'm merely wondering why. Wouldn't it be more effective to use the beam?"

"The beam doesn't guarantee a hit," Matt-att said, twisting around to face his foe. "Plus, it moves rather slow. It's only good for big targets or static ones."

"Yes, I see your point," Dr. Zlo said. "A pity. I was thinking of upgrading my monocle with the ability after this."

"You talk like you're getting away," Matt-att responded.

Dr. Zlo bemusedly looked at Matt-att, "Of course I will. After all, you cannot hit me. It's only a matter of time before I find a chink in your armor."

"That ego will be your downfall," Matt-att said.

"Hardly," Dr. Zlo replied.

The villain followed up his words with a laser blast, rushing in with his walking stick again. However, instead of trying to spear Matt-att like a fish, the villain instead turned the knob on his cane and unleashed a cloyingly green mist. Matt-att backed away from the cloud, keeping his shield up to stop any stray gas.

"Another trick countered," Matt-att said. "It won't be long before you're out of options. Besides, you should know poison gas doesn't work on me."

"Who said it's poison?" Dr. Zlo rebutted.

Matt-att watched as the villain spread more of the mist around the area. The sickeningly green smoke started to clump together, forming into clumps that settled around Dr. Zlo like stars around the moon.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Dr. Zlo said. "Much better than what I'd imagined."

"It looks like a bunch of sour apple hard candies," Matt-att replied.

"I'll admit, it does need something of a color change," Dr. Zlo said. "Green is not my color. However, I think it would fit you perfectly."

The villain flicked his cane, which sent the green clumps rushing toward Matt-att.

"I don't see what this will do different," Matt-att taunted as he brought his shield up.

That wasn't to say the hero wasn't wary of the stuff. There had to be some reason Dr. Zlo pulled this out at the end. Matt-att confirmed his suspicion when Dr. Zlo flicked his cane again, sending the stream of green to Matt-att's left, where it circled around the hero.

"It's unfortunate your shield doesn't wrap around your body," Dr. Zlo said as he pointed his cane at his foe.

"You forget, I have another power," Matt-att said. The hero dropped his shield and brought his other hand up, swiping at the green clumps surrounding him.

Dr. Zlo flicked his cane up and around, directing the clumps to dodge Matt-att's hand. The hero swiped only air as Dr. Zlo tightened the net. A moment later, Matt-att grunted in frustration as Dr. Zlo's green gas wrapped around the hero's attacking arm and locked it in place.

"The f*ck is this stuff?" Matt-att growled.

"That, my heroic foe, is a mixture of nanites and, of all things, 'combat taffy,'" Dr. Zlo replied.

"The f*ck is that?"

Dr. Zlo flew forward, "A beautiful design, isn't it? I came up with the idea after a fight in the woods where I couldn't use my flames. Tiny nanites, connected to my cane, are adhered to a sticky taffy. Granted, I wanted to use something else, but I was out of expensive glues and used what I had on hand. Luckily there was some leftover taffy from an earlier heist. I combined it together, and voila!"