Vaudevillain

Chapter 188: Heading Home

Jozo, now the last elder standing, spat, "You think I can't take you all on? I still have the harmonious elements!"

The elder pointed upward to the golden ball of light, just in time to see Riptide surf a wave of conjured lava. The molten earth crashed down over the orb, evaporating the clouds of water spitting electricity. It continued to travel, burning through the trees and melting the metal reinforcements until it reached the earthen core. In a flash of light, the harmonious elements broke into a rainbow of light, leaving Jozo speechless.

"You were saying?" Dr. Zlo taunted, leaning on his cane.

Jozo turned, panic all across his face, "Look. I'm sure we can be civilized about this. What say we sweep all of this under the rug?"

"Oh please," Sweet Dream snorted. "You would kill us in a heartbeat if you had the chance."

"Dudes! Did you see that!" Riptide yelled as he surfed up to his friends. "I just surfed lava onto a mini earth! Raddest thing I've done today."

"One second, Rip," Sweet Dream said. "We're interrogating this guy."

The surfer flew over to Jozo, getting a good look at the Young Dragon of the HI clan, "Dude, this guy looks like a pushover."

"That's because he is," Dr. Zlo answered. "A villain who can't do anything on his own, and needs the help of others to succeed. Yet, he still thinks he's better than others around him. Curious."

It reminded Dylan of Quartet.

"Hey, come on, guys. We can be civil about this, right?" Jozo pleaded. "I'm sorry about trying to get the elders to kill you. I'll call off my wanted order and pull out of the fight completely. That won't be a problem, will it?"

Dr. Zlo opened his mouth to reply, then winced as a boom echoed across the factory and something pierced his chest. Dylan's eyes bulged, he'd just lost ninety percent of his health! Reacting, Dr. Zlo activated his rocket boots and launched into the sky, zooming for a piece of cover.

"Sniper!" Sweet Dream yelled, transforming back into her chocolate form.

Riptide hopped on his board, creating a wave to mask his and Sweet Dream's position. It didn't do any good. Bullets pierced through the tide of water, striking both Riptide and Sweet Dream despite their attempts to hide. They went down in two shots, bodies vanishing. But it gave Dr. Zlo a chance to see the bullet's trajectory.

The villain whirled, looking up to the sky to see a woman hovering in the air, an impractically large gun sitting next to her. Arcane symbols spun around the weapon, merging into the barrel as time passed. With a start, Dr. Zlo realized the enemy was charging up for another attack.

Knowing cover didn't work, Dr. Zlo decided to try a desperate charge. If he avoided the first attack, there was a chance he made it into range before the woman could shoot again. Rocketing upward, Dylan steeled himself to dodge once the cannon fired. It was unfortunate Dr. Zlo only had ten percent of his health left.

Seeing Dr. Zlo's reckless charge, the enemy turned their gun toward Dr. Zlo as if to invite the challenge. The villain kept his eyes peeled, and when the last of the arcane symbols entered the barrel, Dr. Zlo readied himself. The barrel darkened, and Dr. Zlo instantly rolled out of the way.

But whoever his enemy knew Dr. Zlo's plan. What fired from the oversized gun wasn't a sniper's bullet, not even close. Dr. Zlo's eyes widened as a net of lasers erupted from the barrel, covering the villain's escape path.

"Got you!" Dr. Zlo heard the woman cheer.

"Don't think this is the end!" Dr. Zlo roared, Dylan doing his best to keep up the villain roleplay as the net covered him.

The lasers lashed Dr. Zlo, taking out the rest of his health. Dylan sighed as the "you're dead" message appeared, respawning him somewhere inside Toedo. The notification for his loss appeared a moment later.

You have been defeated by Magical Girl Firearm. For losing the fight, you have been docked reputation. Your current rank is now A. You will reach S rank after 75 more escapade(s)!

For completing your crime, you have gained reputation! Your current reputation rank is A, you will reach S rank after 72 more escapade(s)!

"Taken out by a magical girl of all things," Dylan sighed. "You know, this interference is getting out of hand. Am I going to have to plan for this every time I go out?"

"Look on the bright side," Sweet Dream said, appearing with Riptide a second later. Vert at least had the common sense to respawn party members in the same area. "We got what we needed and can leave."

"That was an awesome fight, though!" Riptide said. "Too bad I didn't see who got me."

"It was some magical girl," Dylan answered. He opened his notifications to double-check, "Yep. Magical Girl Firearm."

"Dude!" Riptide exclaimed. "That's awesome! I hope we see her again."

"I don't," Sweet Dream grumbled. "Attacking out of the blue like that is cheating."

"All's fair in love and war," Dylan quipped. "But I agree that it's tiring. That's twice now people interrupted me during crimes."

"That's what we get for fame," Sweet Dream answered.

"And an increased player base," Riptide added. "It could be because we have more people, dudes."

Sweet Dream frowned. "Don't bring your logic into this," she complained playfully. "We're trying to sulk."

"Well, then," Riptide said. "Let's go have some fun and cheer you up!"

The surfer turned to Dylan, "You want to come? We're going to check out all the crazy landmarks Vert made on the continent."

Dylan shook his head, "Later. I've got everything I need now to make the Zlomobile. I think it's time to plan out my next big thing."

"Oh, right," Sweet Dream said. She opened her inventory and took out the materials she grabbed, handing them over to Dylan. Riptide did the same a moment later.

"Let us know what it's going to be, dude!" Riptide said. "I can't wait!"

"I'll let you know now," Dylan said. "Do you remember that old cartoon Zany Races?"

"You mean the one from those throwback cartoon streams?" Sweet Dream asked. "I think I remember something like that."

"Dude!" Riptide said. "Are we going to have a race?" Riptide was practically in Dylan's face.

"That we are!" Dylan said. "And I plan to have the Zlomobile enter and somehow lose thanks to Dr. Zlo's overcomplicated plan."

"That's awesome!" Riptide cheered. "I'm so in! I'm going to make a surfboard car and everything!"

"Alright, Rip," Sweet Dream said, laying a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Give the man some space."

"Oh, my bad, dude," Riptide answered. He backed away from Dylan, a sheepish grin on his face. "Got too excited."

"I understand completely," Dylan answered. "Zany Races was one of my favorite old cartoons. It's up there with Dooby Scoo."

"Did you only watch old cartoons or something?" Sweet Dream commented.

"Only the good ones," Dylan answered. "Anyway, I'm going to get going. You two have fun."

"Totally!" Riptide answered.

Dylan arrived back at his hideout to see a small crowd around the area. It seemed more players had learned of Dr. Zlo's "hideout" and were coming to get a look at the design. Some were even recording for a stream from the sound of it, showing everyone where Dr. Zlo lived. Dylan made a face. He didn't want everyone to know where Dr. Zlo lived. That kind of defeated the point of having a secret base. At least it was located in Skyline, so only those inside the city could ever find it.

Dylan decided to ignore the crowd and fly into his base so that he could avoid questions. The player landed on the front door, turning to bow to the others standing around before walking inside. A few people tried to step up to the door, but Dylan had already made plans for invaders. A few Jacques appeared, dressed as groundskeepers and holding giant leaf blowers. They activated their machines, drowning out the crowd with their sound. Sprinklers activated a moment later, dousing the players who stepped on Dr. Zlo's lawn.

The defenses weren't anything but nuisances; Dylan knew that. But that was only if you counted the first few feet. The idea was to annoy people off his lawn first. Using Deadly force came later.

Various liquids resided inside the sprinklers below, all courtesy of Jack and her designing prowess. Dylan hadn't the time to craft everything, and Jack was more than eager to help create some wacky substances. He liked how Jack was always excited to try something new and test the waters. It was something Dylan also enjoyed, but Jack took it to an entirely different level.

The first few feet of the lawn in front of the base held sprinklers with a mild growth formula to speed up the grass and trap anyone intruding. It was slow enough that people could escape without trouble, but the formula got stronger the further you went. After the first few feet came the acids, substances designed to melt the equipment on players. Finally, the sprinklers would spray a poison that sapped a player's strength. It was strong enough that most supers would fall to Jacques if they tried to fight.

And Dylan had made sure the mansion had more defenses for those who wanted to infiltrate by air. He'd repurposed a few hatbots using the drones he'd helped design. The underground was the only thing he didn't cover, but that was mainly because anyone trying to dig tunnels through Skyline would have to deal with more than Dr. Zlo.

"How'd it go, boss?" Cass asked as Dr. Zlo walked into the mansion. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Of course, Cass," Dr. Zlo answered. "How were things here."

"You gotta help me, boss," Cass said. "Brunhilda keeps trying to muscle in on my duties, and Quartet keeps trying to kill me!"

"Is he now."

"And that's not all," Cass continued. "Mabel's not even trying to help. Something about letting love bloom or something! As if I'd fall for that pinstriped candy cane! He has no sense of decorum."

Dr. Zlo chuckled, "I think she's talking about Brunhilde, Cass."

Cass shook his head, "No way. I've seen the way she looks at me, boss. Like she wants to hunt me down for dinner. I say no thanks!"

Dylan caught Brunhilde in the corner, slumping a bit at Cass's words. The player marveled at how sophisticated the NPCs acted, even going as far as to program in emotions. Honestly, it left a weird feeling in Dylan's gut.

"I would say consult with Mabel about it," Dylan answered, resuming his persona, "but I doubt the love-obsessed woman would give you sound advice. She might say to jump bones or something."

"And we don't have a graveyard," Cass replied.

Dr. Zlo smiled, "Never change, Cass."

"I don't plan to," the butler replied.

"If you need me, I'll be in the garage," Dr. Zlo said. "I've got a car to build."