Vaudevillain

Chapter 241: Tremble Before Me!

"So, let me get this straight," Sweet Dream said. "The moon has a giant stash of phlebotinium on it?"

"Yeppers," Shizuka answered, grabbing a donut from the caf table and shoving it into her mouth.

"You're sure about this?" Dextra asked.

"Sure as the sun shines," Shizuka answered. "Saw the screen with a clone and everything. There was a little timer above a picture of the moon that said, 'time until the next phlebotinium pulse.'"

"Dude, do you think I could surf the pulse?" Riptide asked.

"So, what does this mean for us?" Sweet Dream asked, ignoring her boyfriend's question.

"It changes nothing!" Dr. Zlo shouted. "A stash of phlebotinium shall not stop me from getting revenge!"

"Now, hold on," Oro said. "That's got to be a lot of phlebotinium. I bet we could become invincible if we had that much."

Dr. Zlo waved a hand dismissively, "Then build yourself a collector ship or something. I'll have no need of such items once the death ray is online!"

The villain threw his hands to the sky and laughed. "Yes! Soon I shall be invincible! Muahahahaha!"

"Hold it on the megalomania," Sweet Dream said. "We don't even have the death ray operational yet."

"Yet!" Dr. Zlo rebutted, thrusting his cane in Sweet Dream's face. "But soon, I shall have enough materials. And once I do, the world with tremble!"

"Speaking of which," Jack said as she walked into the caf. "I've got some more sciencium to deposit."

The player placed a pile of glowing sciencium on the table in front of Dr. Zlo, who quickly picked it up to deposit into his inventory. He finished the motion by swiftly dusting his hands before launching into an evil laugh.

"Finally!" Dr. Zlo exclaimed. "My evil plans will come to fruition!"

"Our evil plans," Sweet Dream corrected.

Dr. Zlo ignored her. "Come! Witness as I craft the deadliest invention known to mankind! The death ray!"

An ominous dun Dun DUN! echoed across the caf walls.

"Dude! Sweet effects!" Riptide laughed.

"Yes! Now, come!" Dr. Zlo heel turned in place, marching out of the caf and toward the elevators. The rest filed after him to watch the show. Along the way, the rest of the group joined up, each one excited to start the next phase of the plan. For the newcomers, this was their moment to shine. The apocalyptic trio, the steampunk four, and Psy-Ops's friends were all eager to be a part of Dr. Zlo's evil scheme.

For Riptide and Sweet Dream, it was more about helping their friend through his revenge. Sure, Riptide had lost Jaws in Skyline's fall, and Sweet Dream lost BB and Sill, but neither of them was as attached to their minions as Dylan was. For them, the NPCs were valuable tools. However, they understood their friend's need for closure, and if a giant death ray in a video game did the trick, all the better. Because this way, Sweet Dream and Riptide got to enjoy the show.

For Dextra and his group, it was about Vert's player interaction. If--or more likely when-- Dr. Zlo pulled off his moon assault, Vert would revert the world, showing players that they would rather keep a simple status quo than allow true freedom inside the game. The company's response would hopefully give Thomas more ammunition in pressuring Vert into a more hands-off approach. The company would still fix bugs and other issues but would leave sweeping changes made by players alone. And when it was done, Dextra could finally start a conquest of the entire world.

For Dylan, this assault was about revenge, plain and simple. Vert had effectively killed Mabel when they refused to reset Skyline, meaning that Dr. Zlo's lovable old grandma of a minion was gone for good. Mabel's second incarnation helped fill the gap. Still, it didn't fit perfectly, and Dylan's heart felt like a jigsaw puzzle with a broken piece because of it. Therefore, Dr. Zlo had to strike back against those who wronged him and make them pay, so they never dared to try again. Taking over the world after the fact was only a given, as Dr. Zlo was always destined for greatness.

The elevator dinged, and everyone filed out onto the roof of the Skyline Skyscraper. Dr. Zlo strode over to the platform sitting at the center, hopping up with a quick use of his rocket boots. The villain turned as he landed, looking over the crowd of friends and fellow players.

Dr. Zlo cleared his throat for a speech. "Ahem. You've all worked hard for this day, and--"

"Oh, just get on with building it already," Sweet Dream complained. "I've listened to enough of your speeches today."

"No need to get snippy," Dr. Zlo huffed. "I was only trying to instill morale before we exert our dominance over the heroes guild!"

"Save it for the masses!" Shizuka jeered. "Show us the death ray already!"

"Well, if you insist."

Dr. Zlo turned back toward the platform and activated his power, feeding in all the items he'd acquired over the last few months.

The ultimate weapon to end all weapons! The death ray instantly kills its target in one blast, eliminating any pesky interlopers who would dare thwart your rule! And the death ray can kill more than living objects. Nothing is safe when that deadly laser makes contact!

Skeleton (1)

Lava (1 cup)

Bomb (1)

Hollow Point Bullets (1 cartridge)

Hook Nosed Sea Snake Venom (1 vial)

Destroying Angel Mushroom (1)

Knife (1)

Red Laser Pointer (100)

AA Batteries (25)

Phlebotinium (10000g) or Sciencium (1000000g)

The items appeared on top of the platform, hovering in place for a moment before coming together. The lava spilled out of the cup, eating the skeleton, hollow-point bullets, and knife. The resulting sludge then twisted and contorted until it became barrel-shaped. From there, the back of the barrel opened, and the front elongated. Dr. Zlo cackled as the laser pointers moved to the front, exploding into their component pieces and reforming into one large lens that secured with a click. The bomb, venom, and mushroom all whisked themselves into the back of the death ray, followed by half of the sciencium. A crunching noise echoed across the roof before the lid snapped shut. The batteries then merged with the remaining sciencium, becoming a giant power generator that affixed itself under the death ray. Then all at once, everything gave off a bright glow, and Dr. Zlo was forced to look away.

When he looked back, the weapon was complete. It sat on the platform, shining deathly black in the surrounding light. Two tripod legs had sprouted from the ray's sides, letting the weapon rest on the platform. A scope sat atop the gun, and two handles had grown from the back, a trigger on each one.

"Now, nothing will stop me!" Dr. Zlo gloated. "For I have the strongest weapon known to mankind! A death ray!"

"And now," Dextra said. "It's time to assault the moon."

"Quite right!" Dr. Zlo shouted. The villain stepped off the platform and over to Dextra. "I'll be relying on you to man the weapon. Considering your intelligence is the only way we'll know when and where to fire."

"Why, Dr. Zlo," Dextra said, a touch surprised. "I never expected you to hand over a weapon so easily."

Dr. Zlo placed a hand over his chest, "It does pain me to part with it. But I cannot have my revenge if I'm the one to shoot. Plus, I can't sit back here when the world must see my face!"

"It's probably the second part that's more important," Oro joked to Riptide.

"Oh, definitely, dude," Riptide agreed.

Dr. Zlo gave his two friends a pointed glance, the two returning his look with cherubic innocence. Dylan cracked a small smile before turning away. He couldn't lose Dr. Zlo's composure just yet. Perhaps when some heroes got too close to the death ray.

"Alright," Jack said, clapping her hands. "Enough sitting around. We're on a timetable now, people. Dextra, how long do we have?"

"Plenty of time before starting," Dextra said. "Two days, sixteen hours most likely."

"How about a more exact time?" Jack asked."We'll need to know when to put Skyline in position. And we need to make sure we give as little time for the heroes to react as possible."

"No, dudes!" Riptide interrupted. "We totally need to do a death star moment!"

"What?" Oro asked.

"A death star moment!" Riptide emphasized. "You know. When the giant space station with the laser starts to circle the planet to get into range, and the heroes have to fight tooth and nail to stop it! Except, we don't have a silly weakness like that does!"

"Ooh," Dr. Zlo said. "Now, that's good. I'm surprised you thought of it. Dextra! When do we need to start moving Skyline to perform such a feat?"

"Probably in the next day," Dextra answered. "I can get a better answer the closer we get to the time. I can only extrapolate data so far."

"Excellent!" Dr. Zlo said. "Then, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to go practice my big speech!"

Dr. Zlo turned and marched back to his base, his face a giddy grin. Soon, the villain would be known as the greatest criminal the world had ever seen!