Vaudevillain

Chapter 165: One Last Invention

"Cass!" Dr. Zlo shouted as he ran up the stairs. "Get ready to go out! We've got crimes to commit!"

"Coming, boss!" Cass shouted.

The villain made his way out of the lab, stopping in front of the door to collect his minions. Mabel walked in, a cadre of Jacques behind her dressed in their Sunday best.

"Ah, I see you've created your Jacobs again," Dr. Zlo said.

"Thanks to you," Mabel answered. "All the extra Jacques lying around means I can keep me some toys waiting on me hand and foot."

"As long as you don't overdo it," Dr. Zlo said, grabbing his cane.

"Now, hon. When have I ever overdone anything?" Mabel said coquettishly.

Cass appeared a moment later, more Jacques coming in behind the man and crowding the front door.

"Minions, I have our next crime!" Dr. Zlo said. "Head to the briefing room!"

The Jacques looked at each other in confusion.

"The dining room," Dr. Zlo elaborated, the pep in his voice deflating.

The Jacques nodded, moving past Cass and Mabel to the doorway on Dr. Zlo's right. The villain followed once everyone walked in, a confident look on his face.

The briefing room matched the rest of the house in that it dripped opulence. Two solid wood tables with gold lining sat in the center, silver-lined chairs surrounding the furniture. More ornate cabinets, filled to the brim with fine china, sat on the walls, and a small trolley cart rested near the door to the kitchen.

"Sit down!" Dr. Zlo commanded the Jacques as he walked into the room. The Jacques, a few of which were reaching for the cabinets, retreated as if slapped. They made their way to the chairs, fighting over who would get the closest seat to Dr. Zlo. Once the Jacques established the hierarchy, the minions turned to their leader, hands under their chins in looks of rapt attention.

"Our next crime has been decided!" Dr. Zlo started. "We are going to steal a fusion reactor."

The Jacques looked between each other with a look of, "Is he serious?"

"I'm completely serious," Dr. Zlo said. "It has come to my attention that I need a source of power greater than what I possess if I want to create the Zlomobile. A fusion reactor reaches the levels of power that I need, so it is critical we find one. I shall set the mice on the task immediately, but until then, you will all stand ready. Understood?"

The Jacques saluted.

"Excellent. Now, dismissed."

The Jacques jumped from their seats, scrambling out of the dining room and back through the house. Dylan watched them go, chuckling under his breath. He wondered if he would ever get tired of his minion's crazy antics.

Speaking of minions, it was about time for Dr. Zlo to head to Resource Hill and claim his materials. Quartet would be vital to this next mission, or at least a useful pawn. And Dylan could pick up the rest of his materials for the Zlomobile.

"Cass, prepare for our departure," Dr. Zlo said.

"Where to, boss?" the butler asked.

"We need to pick up a few things at Resource Hill," the villain said.

"Is it going to be parts for more Zlobots, boss?" Cass asked. "I hope not. I'd get confused."

Dr. Zlo blinked. He'd forgotten about the Zlobots, what with planning the tsunami bomb event and all.

"Thank you for the reminder, Cass," Dr. Zlo said. "I'll keep that in mind."

Cass half-smiled. On the one hand, his boss thanked him! On the other, it meant more Zlobots that all wanted to command Cass.

Dr. Zlo paid no attention to his butler, bringing up his power to remind himself of the Zlobot cost.

Dr. Zlo's greatest creation to date, for what could be greater than an imitation of himself! The Zlobot is gifted with all of Dr. Zlo's mannerisms but lacks the innate genius required to create its maker's incredible contraptions. That isn't to say these machines are worthless at their job. No, Zlobots have an innate understanding of engineering and physics that allows them to craft some genuinely terrifying contraptions.

Picture of Dr. Zlo (1)

Top hat (1)

Monocle (1)

Suit (1)

Cane (1)

Mustache Cream (1)

The Theory of Everything (1)

It's All About Me (1 song)

Bad Guy (1 song)

Ego (1 song)

Mannequin (1)

Computer (5)

Graphics Card (5)

Wire (2 m)

Of course, that was for one Zlobot. Dr. Zlo needed a way to make a lot of Zlobots without having to pay attention to them. That meant a factory of some kind. The villain entered the idea into his power.

Dr. Zlo's expansion of his greatest creation, the Zlobot! Using his gifted genius, the criminal mastermind has devised a way to make more of his Zlobots without the need for his supervision!

3D Printer (25)

Zlobot (1)

Robotic Arm (4)

Phelbotinium (1g) or Alienite (13g) or Sciencium (100g)

It was a simple device, but one Dr. Zlo knew wouldn't cut it. He remembered his old factories, each one still requiring materials for the minions to get created. That wasn't what the villain wanted for this, so he went back into his power and revised the description.

Dr. Zlo's expansion of his greatest creation, the Zlobot! Using his gifted genius, the criminal mastermind has devised a way to make more of his Zlobots without the need for his supervision! The factory also makes sure to produce the materials needed for a Zlobot when it can, even going as far as to scrap other materials.

3D Printer (50)

Zlobot (1)

Robotic Arm (4)

Disassembler (1)

Sciencium Storage Box (5)

Phelbotinium (1g) or Alienite (13g) or Sciencium (100g)

He was getting there; Dr. Zlo knew it. The additional requirements would make it so he didn't need to pay attention to the factory and let it run independently. But then Dr. Zlo remembered the headache of a time he had with the other Zlobots. Each one believed itself to be the real inventor, and that wasn't something Dr. Zlo would deal with every time a Zlobot got created. No, he would need the factory to move under its own power, stopping at cities to produce when it had the chance. With the new idea in mind, Dr. Zlo changed his factory's description for the last time.

Dr. Zlo's expansion of his greatest creation, the Zlobot! Using his gifted genius, the criminal mastermind has devised a way to make more of his Zlobots without the need for his supervision! The factory also makes sure to produce the materials needed for a Zlobot when it can, even going as far as to scrap other materials. To keep itself from getting discovered by the forces of good, the factory is always on the move, hiding whenever it can and leaving Zlobots behind.

3D Printer (50)

Zlobot (1)

Robotic Arm (4)

Disassembler (1)

Sciencium Storage Box (5)

Robot Leg (6)

Chair Wheels (12)

Swiss Army Knife (4)

Phelbotinium (2g) or Alienite (25g) or Sciencium (200g)

There, that should do it for the factory. Dylan ordered the parts needed, then collected Cass and Mabel. Along the way, he grabbed a few Jacques to accompany him and readied his gadgets. After all, Resource Hill still had periodic attackers, whether they were NPCs or a few enterprising players looking for quick loot.

Gear collected and minions ready, Dr. Zlo stepped out of his base and made his way back topside. Again he ignored the few gamers looking to get his attention, stopping to shoot them only when they got in his way. Luckily, the number of people requesting things of him was starting to die down, only the more tenacious still holding on.

Inwardly, Dylan sighed. Didn't they know that Dr. Zlo would come to them if he wanted something? The villain didn't need all these people trying to work under him. Besides, Dylan wasn't the type of person who could meet many new people at once. He needed a bit of time to acclimate, but all the requests made it hard for him to do that. It was starting to get more annoying, and Dylan hoped the number of requests would keep shrinking.

Dr. Zlo arrived at the teleporter room without much issue. Again Dylan looked up to admire his handiwork. When designing this building, Dylan had gotten inspired by the old Star Journey movies and television shows. With good reason, he thought, considering how iconic the series was for Science Fiction.

Thus, the teleporter building held that sleek, chrome futurism the show had, with splashes of red, blue, and yellow mixed in for color. Dylan thought it accentuated the building's disk shape, which he built to resemble the Star Journey spaceship. However, he added a personal touch to the design, incorporating sleek pillars that supported the disk. The combination made it look like some futuristic temple, which Dylan found a tad funny. It was like saying that teleportation could only be left up to gods.

The inside of the building was another open floor plan, this one from necessity and not aesthetics. The crafter's design for a device that could transport anyone anywhere on the planet meant that the machine itself had to be gigantic. There was also the fact that the teleporter transported anything a player was touching with them, meaning any walls and floors built over the machine would get whisked away whenever someone activated the device. Which, of course, left an open floor plan as the only option.

Dr. Zlo strode onto the teleporter, making sure to keep the Jacques on a tight leash. He didn't want one of the minions to get curious and touch another player. Then he would have one less helper for himself! Plus, there was the fact Dr. Zlo couldn't show weakness in places like this, and losing a minion who wouldn't listen was weakness.

The villain stepped past a group of players, making his way to an empty spot on the teleporter. Once he arrived, Dr. Zlo pulled out a touchpad from his inventory, a device given to everyone in Menagerie. The pad showed a map of the world. Markers for important locations sat scattered throughout, a list of cities and areas Menagerie had business in. Dr. Zlo selected the one for Resource Hill and prepared himself.

The touchpad counted down from ten, giving Dr. Zlo time to collect his minions. It was a bit embarrassing to have to touch everyone while teleporting, but that was the price to pay for the accessibility. However, it did make Dr. Zlo look like he was hugging his minions. Dylan didn't see that as a weakness for the villain, though; villains were allowed to care too.

The touchpad hit zero, and Dr. Zlo teleported down to Resource Hill.