Vaudevillain

Chapter 164: Revving Up

Dylan left Skyline City Market with a spring in his step and a plan in his mind. He would use the time waiting for Vert to create his Zlomobile, stealing the pieces he needed as he went. He could even make it another event if he wanted, though the idea didn't interest Dylan. Right now, he wanted to go on a solo mission with Dr. Zlo to get back into the spirit of things. Collaboration was all well and good, but Dr. Zlo needed to be on the center stage.

A few more players tried stopping Dr. Zlo as he made his way back to his hideout, each one getting knocked out of his way with the Airblaster. It got to the point where Dylan stopped paying attention to whoever came up to him, leading him to almost blast Riptide out of the way.

"Woah, hold on, dude!" the surfer said, twisting out of the Airblaster's bubble in the nick of time.

"Ah, sorry about that Riptide," Dr. Zlo said. "I've had a terrible amount of interlopers today."

"No problem," the player said. "You want to go mess up some apartments in Ultra City? One of the new guys wants to put graffiti all over the buildings."

"As tempting as that is, I have other plans," Dr. Zlo said. "I'm devising a set of schemes to create my newest invention, the Zlomobile."

"Oh, right on," Riptide said. "You want any help?"

"When I get down to business, yes," the villain answered. "Until then, you know where to find me."

"Yep, see you later," Riptide said.

Dr. Zlo nodded goodbye to his friend, then made his way back to the underside of Skyline. On the way back, Dr. Zlo looked up, or in this case down, to watch the continent below breeze past. Cities of all shapes and sizes sat scattered around the continent, set up in small clusters with large swathes of wilderness between them. Some of the wilderness was already seeing changes, eager players creating their own lairs or fortresses.

No-one stopped Dr. Zlo on his way back to his base, giving the villain time to contemplate. He would need a variety of materials for the Zlomobile, and all of them would have to be top of the line. He couldn't have his getaway car destroyed.

The villain's mind instantly went to that hero he'd faced during the tsunami bomb event. How would he counter a power like disintegration? From the look of it, the ability worked through touch or a slow-moving beam. So as long as the power didn't make contact, the Zlomobile would stay safe.

That meant Dylan needed speed, which he admitted he needed anyway. A getaway car wasn't a getaway car without a fast engine. Dr. Zlo mentally added the engine to the top of his list.

Second on the list would need to be something that halted attacks, like a force field. And it needed to be bigger on the inside so that his minions could all fit when running away. Though, that might make the car seem too clownish. He didn't want to clash with the classy image he had for Dr. Zlo. Although, the thought of a group of villains dressed in suits diving into a sleek automobile made for such a good image Dylan might need to make it happen just to see people's reactions. He added the two ideas to the list.

What else did he want inside the Zlomobile? Oh yes, he needed a teleporter, or something that let him get his car back up to Skyline without trouble. Jack and the other craftsmen had created personal devices for people to use, but nothing for a vehicle at the moment. He decided that would be the second item on his list, dropping the force field and hammerspace down the list.

Weapons were a given on the car as well, but the types of weapons were entirely up in the air. Perhaps Dr. Zlo could make the weapons system modular, changing what gets used depending on the crime he committed. For example, he could have a net gun attachment for kidnapping cases. Of course, he'd still need to have a default list for general situations. He put weapons on the bottom of the list. It was doubtful Dr. Zlo would steal anything for those items.

Dr. Zlo pondered what else he needed as he walked back inside his base, Cass appearing next to him as he walked through the door. The butler dutifully produced a drink for his boss, Dr. Zlo grabbing the glass without glancing at it. He walked back down into the garage, muttering as he descended. The Jacques gave him looks as he passed, stacking on top of each other to peek behind test tubes and beakers.

"I'll need a strong metal for the car, too. Something that won't break under stress," the villain said.

"What's that, hon?" Mabel asked, the minion coming down the stairs.

"Oh, nothing. Just going over everything I'll need to make the Zlomobile," Dr. Zlo said.

"Make sure it smells nice inside," the minion said.

"Why's that?"

"If I bring a date along with me, the car can't smell. Can you imagine what they would think of me if it did?" Mabel explained.

"Alright, I'll make sure the car doesn't smell," Dr. Zlo said.

Mabel smiled, heading back up the stairs now that her request was complete, "I'll leave you to it, hon."

Dr. Zlo nodded, then walked over to the workbench sitting near the wall. Pulling out a pen and paper, the villain started to enter what he needed into his power, listing out common materials.

First was the engine. It would have to be powerful, with nitro boosts and other attachments to make sure the car make a swift getaway. Dr. Zlo fiddled around for a few minutes, finally settling on a design he liked.

Dr. Zlo's (patent pending) engine! Using the power of Science, this engine can accelerate a car from zero to sixty in two seconds no matter the vehicle! A distinctive nitro boost that injects PURE POWER into the engine gives it that extra oomph to outrun any enemy, except maybe speedsters.

Nitro Coffee (1 liter)

Jet Engine (2)

Fusion Reactor (1)

Fuel Cell (5)

Five by Five Steel Sheet (3)

Fluorescent Corundum (1)

Piston (5)

Alienite (2g) or Sciencium (16g)

"Looks like I need to find a fusion reactor," the villain said. The other items were somewhat purchasable, though he might set up other crimes for the materials if they were rare enough.

Dr. Zlo went to the next item on his mental list, creating the teleporter he wanted to install.

This handy dandy device instantly takes what it's attached to (and everything inside it) to a beacon that continually updates its position. Strong enough to take a semi-truck all the way to the moon if needed.

Quantum Jump (Box Set)

Quartz (3 crystals)

Quicklime (100g)

Strobe Light (1)

Diesel Engine (1)

Alienite (5g) or Sciencium (40g)

"I guess we could steal the diesel engine?" Dr. Zlo said, scratching his head in confusion. "Or maybe the Quantum Jump box set? I'm sure it's sitting in some collector's home."

Marking the items as maybes, Dr. Zlo went back to designing. This time, the villain tried to make the metal for the car's frame.

An alloy created by the brilliant Dr. Zlo! Zlonium is the wonder metal for all ages, used in everything from pots to spaceships! Just add the liquid Zlonium to whatever metal you want and watch as it bonds, forming the strongest protection the world has ever seen on common metals! Get your Zlonium today! Watch out for the explosive finish, though!

Gallium (100g)

Magnet Numbers (1 set)

Gum Arabic (25kg)

Green dye (1 bottle)

Shield (1)

Suit of Armor (1)

Sciencium (5g)

"Guess we go for the suit of armor here," the villain said. "Take it from a museum or something."

That left the forcefield. Dr. Zlo decided not to create a hammerspace device. He'd only ever need enough room for his main minions anyway; the Jacques could try to find their own way home. The villain quickly entered the force field into his power.

A handy device to keep pesky heroes from touching your stuff. Repels all harmful materials, gases, energies, and lights from what it envelopes. Nothing can get through once the device activates. Except for maybe magic, but Dr. Zlo won't admit to that.

Bubbles (1 bottle)

Lightswitch (1)

Polycarbonate (5 by 5, 6 sheets)

Air Scrubber (1)

Acrylic Glass (5 by 5, 6 sheets)

Alienite (10g) or Sciencium (80g)

"We'll get the Polycarbonate for this one," Dr. Zlo said. "Any name that long must mean it's important."

With his list done, Dylan ordered the rest of his materials, sending them to the same place as the rest, and walked upstairs to collect the Jacques. He had a fusion reactor to find. He stopped just before he made it up the stairs.

"I almost forgot."

Dr. Zlo quickly entered Mabel's request into his power.

Who says that a villain has to smell bad when painting the town red? With Dr. Zlo's evil Air Freshener, no villain will ever get accused of polluting the atmosphere with their stench.

Pine Cones (3)

Balsa Wood (1 plank)

Lilacs (1 bouquet)

Lavender (1 flower)

Sciencium (1g)