Vaudevillain

Chapter 245: Choke Points

Dr. Zlo watched with glee as his secret contraption wreaked havoc across the battlefield. Jack's idea to combine Sweet Dream's power with a gigantic frame that she could control worked wonders, letting the villainess rampage across the battlefield with little repercussion. The villainess enjoyed it as well, as Dr. Zlo noticed a certain pep in her attacks against the heroes.

Sweet Dream had stumbled across the idea when she noticed that her chocolate form enveloped other items and moved them around in her body. She tested out the ability a bit more and found that her chocolate form could subsume almost anything, which grew her form and gave her a few improvised weapons to use. Jack took this idea further, envisioning a gigantic exoskeleton that Sweet Dream's form covered. The theory required a bit of work to get right, as Sweet Dream's chocolate couldn't spread over everything, but a few pieces of phlebotinium and some help from Dr. Zlo fixed that.

Now, the villains had a chocolate battering ram that could wreak havoc. Dr. Zlo named it Sweet Roosevelt, in honor of its teddy bear nature. Sweet Dream rolled her eyes at the name, calling it her candy crusher form instead.

Dr. Zlo checked the time on his countdown watch. Three minutes had passed, meaning he had seven minutes left to distract the heroes. And then, Dr. Zlo would have his revenge.

"Dude, where's the heavy hitters?" Riptide asked. "These are all small fry."

Dr. Zlo looked down at the players streaming out of the moon base. Riptide was right; the only heroes coming outside were players, their tags shining over their heads.

"Waiting to tire us out, I expect," Dr. Zlo commented. "Then, they'll swoop in and take all the credit. How despicable."

"Then dude, we should bring them out!" Riptide laughed.

"By all means," Dr. Zlo said.

"H*ll yeah!" Riptide surfed forward, activating his power on top of the spaceship. Dr. Zlo jumped off as his friend rushed forward, triggering his rocket shoes to stay in the air. Riptide aimed his makeshift surfboard down at the landing pad and swerved, conjuring a wave that surged toward the players below.

Lasers, electricity, and shimmering forcefields--the contents of Riptide's wave--crashed into the landing pad, striking a few unlucky players who had been caught by Sweet Dream's earlier chocolate attack. With nothing to defend themselves with, these players fell under the futuristic assault.

Riptide laughed as he cut swathes through the heroes, though Dr. Zlo soon noticed that most of his foes ignored the attacks in an attempt to escape the moon base.

"Ha! Running away, I see!" the villain gloated. "It seems the true measure of a hero isn't worth much!"

The villain's voice was drowned out by the sounds of battle, but a few nearby heroes noticed the hovering villain.

"That's him!" one hero shouted. "It's Dr. Zlo!"

"Wait, is this part of the event then?" another hero asked.

"Who cares!" the hero replied. "Dr. Zlo's right there! I'm going to fight him!"

"But the laser!" the other hero urged.

"I'll catch up with you," the hero said.

Dr. Zlo swooped down, firing his monocle laser at the group of heroes to refocus their attention.

"You think you can take me?" Dr. Zlo questioned.

"Any day of the week," the hero taunted.

Dr. Zlo tipped his hat. "Very well. Die!"

The villain raised his cane, performing the motions to complete his disintegration spell. All but one of the heroes scattered, the last staring up at Dr. Zlo defiantly.

Atlatl watched in anticipation as Dr. Zlo waved his cane in an ornate manner. He'd seen the Viewtube videos of the foe in front of him, all the zany adventures and wacky plots. Now, the hero would get to play a part in one of those plots, and he wasn't about to mess it up.

Dr. Zlo's doomsday plan was excellently thought out for something that seemed so complicated. From what Atlatl heard, the location of the death ray sat in space, a place that many heroes couldn't get to without special equipment. Plus, it took a ridiculous amount of time to enter space if the player wasn't already in one of the two cities situated outside the planet. Space city Jetu was currently on the opposite side of the planet, meaning that any effective assault on the death ray would have to come from the moon base.

Which wasn't a great place to assault from, Atlatl was finding out.

At first glance, a singular entrance and exit sounded like a great idea. It made the base defensible and limited the amount of atmospheric breaches. However, it meant that trying to break free of a siege required a ridiculous ratio of heroes to villains. Especially since the entrance wasn't all that large. It had been a simple matter for Dr. Zlo to plug the exit with his chocolate bear monster.

Atlatl tensed as Dr. Zlo finished his movements, jumping to the side as the villain pointed the cane. Sure enough, a beam of grey static shot out, striking the floor where Atlatl once stood. Concrete melted, no disappeared, under the blast, revealing the rocky moon beneath.

"Stand still!" Dr. Zlo commanded.

"As if I'd listen to you," Atlatl answered. The hero pulled his arm back, conjuring his namesake and a magical javelin to go with it. He grunted as he threw the weapon at Dr. Zlo, willing it to travel fast enough to strike the villain.

"Boss! Look out!" someone shouted.

Atlatl watched as a metallic catcher's mitt appeared before Dr. Zlo, snagging the javelin out of the air. The glove crushed the hero's conjured javelin, then retreated back to a silvery butler running up behind Dr. Zlo. He was followed by an old woman in a bright yellow sundress, a barbershop quartet straight out of a cartoon, and a line of faceless minions in suits.

"Ah, Cass," Dr. Zlo said. "I see you made it."

"Of course, boss!" Cass cried out. "I wouldn't leave you alone!"

"My, don't he look like a fine wine," Mabel said to Atlatl.

Atlatl flinched as Mabel wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"Let's get this over with," Quartet said, his four bodies harmonizing the words.

"Quite right," Dr. Zlo nodded. "Jacques! Attack!"

Atlatl watched as the line of suited minions ran forward, their arms swinging in circles like windmills. A few other minions, twice as large as the others, slammed their fists into the ground to pull out slabs of concrete. Atlatl's eyes widened as the minions tossed the concrete his way, forcing the hero to jump out of the way.

A move that left him open for attack.

Atlatl saw the blue laser before he felt it, Dr. Zlo's monocle shooting the beam like a gun. It struck the hero square in the chest, erasing a chunk of his health bar and stamina. The hero braced, expecting to get shoved back, only to find himself hanging in the air.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Dr. Zlo gloated. "My newest laser design saps the energy of its target, rendering them inert and helpless for me to do as I please."

Atlatl conjured another javelin, this one equipped with a rocket and string. He threw the weapon, the rockets igniting to travel straight at Dr. Zlo. The villain quickly moved out of the way, scoffing as he watched the attack fly by.

Which meant he didn't see Atlatl holding onto the end of the rope tied to the javelin.

An arm struck Dr. Zlo in the shoulders, sending him spinning in place for a moment. Luckily, the villain's protective suit blocked the attack, as Atlatl had no super strength.

"A lucky blow!" Dr. Zlo shouted as he righted himself.

"Luck? Or skill?" Atlatl taunted, still holding onto the end of the rocket javelin.

Dr. Zlo growled as the hero waved goodbye, the javelin sending him off into the distance.

"Seize him!" the villain shouted. "I want him dead!"

Cass turned to obey but was stopped by another hero joining in on the fun. Mabel and Quartet were the same, dealing with a variety of respawned players that had appeared to take on Dr. Zlo and his crew.

Dr. Zlo turned away from the retreating hero, already rewriting the fight in his mind into his unquestionable victory. He could get revenge on that hero some other time. Or better yet, complete his revenge here and show the world who was king!

"Come, Cass!" Dr. Zlo commanded. "We have a base to assault!"

"A little busy, boss!" Cass commented.

Dr. Zlo looked over at his butler, only just noticing the group of heroes ganging up on his minion. Kicks, magical bolts, and energy blasts came at Cass, and Dr. Zlo applauded himself as the minion deflected every strike with his arm.

"It seems my inventions are stronger than you lot!" Dr. Zlo taunted, swooping down to join the fight. "As expected of me!"