Vaudevillain

Chapter 218: A True Visionary

Mabel and Cass returned minutes later, Dylan using the time to redesign his monocle. The player had thought about doubling up on the weakness beam, but as he thought, he remembered the hero Valiant. The player had some way of absorbing energy and reusing it, and Dr. Zlo had no doubt that other players would have the same ideas. So it might be better to find some sort of countermeasure for the ability. Especially if Valiant decided to interfere in more of Dr. Zlo's crimes.

The villain opened up his power tab, typing and retyping the description until he got what he wanted.

A unique design created by the ingenious Dr. Zlo! This device, integrated into Dr. Zlo's monocle, fires a beam that sucks up the energy around it, using it to propel it forward. Don't wonder how it works; the inner workings of Dr. Zlo's mind are an enigma.

Laser Monocle (1)

You Don't Matter Poster (1)

Turtle (1)

DSL Router (1)

Refrigerator (1)

Thermometer (1)

Sciencium (5 g)

Dylan nodded in satisfaction after the monocle finished. It required him to use his old monocle, but it didn't matter since the player was getting rid of the item. In fact, it made things better for Dylan. An entirely new item would give him some room for upgrades.

The player grabbed all the items he needed, using the refrigerator from the kitchen to complete the invention. Once finished, Dr. Zlo held a sleek white monocle in his hands, the metal almost smoking from how cold it looked. Dylan smiled at the result, pleased it turned out so well.

"Of course, my work is never done," Dr. Zlo said, opening the upgrades.

Dylan wanted an infrared sensor for Dr. Zlo. That way, the villain could see through the smoke bombs when he used them. No longer would Dr. Zlo have to use them only as an escape tool! Dylan finished the upgrade, then moved on to the next item.

"I should upgrade the power source somehow," Dr. Zlo said. "It would be nice to fire this off whenever I want and not have to worry about recharging."

He made that the second upgrade, making sure the monocle could shoot its strange energy at any point. Then, finally, the villain brainstormed the last upgrade.

"Perhaps a scanner? Something to tell me about weak points or power levels?"

Dylan shook his head. No, Dr. Zlo wouldn't care about either option. The villain had too large an ego to try and measure how strong others were. After all, why would Dr. Zlo need to measure power if everyone was beneath him?

"Some sort of identifying ability?" Dylan mused. It might be nice to look at an item and get a general description. Just in case Dylan ever encountered a mimic.

"No, I'm letting other games bleed over," Dylan said. He remembered the mimic chest in the Dragons and Dungeons game and how everyone failed to detect it before it chomped down on them. The chance of a mimic appearing in World of Supers was slim.

"But that isn't to say it's nonexistent," the player mused. But no, there were better options for upgrades. Better to plan for something other than a possible mimic.

Perhaps he could double up on the weak debuff? He could make it so that the beam applied a debuff when he hit someone with the laser. Dylan nodded; it sounded like a good idea. The player entered the description into his last upgrade box.

Description:

The 0 Kelvin Emitter now weakens targets it doesn't kill. As a result, those struck find it harder to perform tasks and see their resource bars drain faster with use.

Tissue paper (1 box)

Baby animal (1)

Common cold bacteria (1 vial)

Sciencium (5g)

Dylan frowned at the items. It looked like he had another list of things to grab before he could finish his upgrades. But it was fine; Dylan would get those when he went out to steal items for his hat drone upgrades. The player marked what he needed in a notepad, placing it in his inventory for later.

Cass and Mabel appeared a moment later, the latter holding the items Dr. Zlo needed for his minion.

"Ah, good, you've arrived," Dr. Zlo said. "Hand me the items, quick!"

"Alright, Hon," Mabel answered. She pulled the book out of her purse, Cass handing over the carton of eggs. Dr. Zlo eagerly took them and set them next to the Jacques he was upgrading. The minion hadn't moved since Dr. Zlo started the upgrade process, resting next to the table like a doll.

"Witness my genius!" Dr. Zlo boasted, activating the upgrade process.

The items around the Jacques bunched into a ball, copying the earlier upgrade process from the last minion. Once everything merged with the body, the whole torso glowed. Dr. Zlo watched as the Jacques slimmed down slightly, the minion's body growing thinner than he thought possible. No, scratch that. Something from the Jacques was enlarging.

Dylan watched as the minion's head bulged, its forehead growing three sizes and looking almost too big for the minion. The white light from the Jacques seemed to focus on its head before dissipating, leaving Dr. Zlo with his newest minion.

The new Jacques saluted to Dr. Zlo once the upgrade process finished, the minion standing at perfect attention. The Jacques generic black suit had been replaced with an old military uniform, the kind soldiers used before the first world war. However, the suit stayed the same night black color as the rest, holding none of the elaborate color schemes from those earlier times.

"Oh, Brunhilde will love you," Dylan said.

"His head's a bit, big. Wouldn't you say, boss?" Cass said.

The minion couldn't take his eyes off the new Jacques's cranium.

"He is a right egghead," Mabel commented.

"A perfect name!" Dr. Zlo clapped. He turned to the Jacques, "You'll be Egghead! And you!"

The villain pointed to his first modified Jacques, the minion bringing a meaty finger up to its face.

"Yes, you," Dr. Zlo stated. "I think I'll call you, Lug."

Cass, always looking to please, spoke, "A great name, boss!"

"Of course it's a great name," Dr. Zlo answered, puffing out his chest. "I thought of it."

Mabel wandered over to Lug, grabbing the minion's large arm. "My, you're such a robust man, aren't you?"

Lug only tilted its head. Egghead walked over, its head wobbling from side to side like a bobblehead. The minion tapped Lug on the shoulder, getting its attention. Dr. Zlo watched as Egghead made a series of gestures to Lug, seeming to explain Mabel's comments to the simpler minion. Surprisingly, Lug seemed to understand. It turned to Mabel with a sheepish gesture.

"Enough getting to know each other," Dr. Zlo commented. "There will be time for that later!"

The villain walked up to the nearby table and slammed a hand down on it, "Right now! I have a crime to commit! My new inventions need a few upgrades, and we're going to get them."

"You know I'm always down for a night out on the town," Mabel said, waggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah, just tell us what to do, boss," Cass said.

"Before that," Dr. Zlo said, turning. "Is there a mouse in the house?"

A quick squeak answered Dr. Zlo's question. The villain looked down to see one of his mice at the end of the table. The minion wore a strange helmet, a cross between Dr. Zlo's top hat and an aluminum cap. Small rods poked out from the hat, sparking erratically.

"Good. Evening. Dr. Zlo," said a mechanical voice.

Dr. Zlo looked at his mouse in surprise, "I see you've been doing some upgrades of your own! As expected of my minions!"

"Yes. Lovelace. Has. Been. Working. hard," the mouse answered. "I. am," sparks crackled in the air. "Faraday."

"Well, Faraday," Dr. Zlo said. "I'm looking for a few items, as you most undoubtedly know. Now, I can find most of them easily, but I feel like a strain of common cold bacteria won't appear in the usual channels. I need to task you with finding the item."

"Understood," Faraday answered. The mouse's hat sparked once more before it scurried off under the table.

"Uh, boss," Cass said after the mouse left. "Don't you think talking mice are a bit, I don't know, creepy?"

Dr. Zlo shook his head, "They show initiative, Cass. Far be it from me to stop that. Now, let us prepare! We have crimes to commit!"

Above the seedy underbelly of Skyline, past the crooks and villains inhabiting the underneath, stood a small, charming office sitting between two thinly disguised hero hideouts. Inside, Saul paced across the floor. The minion had had a day, that was for sure. First, the agent to the illustrious Dr. Zlo dealt with all of the man's many excited hangers-on. Then, Saul received the strangest communication straight into his head.

I want to talk to you about getting inside Dr. Zlo's hideout, the message read.

Saul initially paid it no mind. A lot of people wanted to get into Dr. Zlo's hideout. Heck, most of the people Saul dealt with on a daily basis were looking to enter the villain's illustrious villa. And for some reason, they all thought Saul would be able to convince his boss to let them in. The minion knew he had no ability to do so and spent most of his time trying to convince these eager followers to do something else.

But the message continued throughout the day, bombarding Saul as if waiting for an answer. Finally, the minion couldn't take it anymore and slammed his desk.

"I don't know how to get inside the mansion!" Saul shouted.

Finally, the message stopped, leaving Saul with sweet peace and quiet.

The mice inside Saul's walls heard the yelling but chalked it up to another of the minion's outbursts. Saul had a habit of mumbling and murmuring to himself, something that helped make the mice's job easier. Of course, in this case, it backfired on them.