Vaudevillain

Chapter 246: A Super Entrance

Sweet Dream watched the fight play out inside her giant new body, giddily laughing as she swiped another chocolate hand across the entrance.

"That's right! Flee you cowards!" she shouted.

Her voice couldn't carry in this chocolate-covered mech, something Jack and Dr. Zlo still couldn't fix, but it didn't matter. Sweet Dream was a walking pile of destructive chocolate, and nothing was going to stop her from giving every single hero the worst cavity of their lives. She laughed again as she covered a squad of heroes in chocolate.

She was starting to see why Dr. Zlo was always so goofy. Acting out like this was fun!

With another giggle, Caroline swung her fist at a group of approaching heroes, watching as their powers attempted to break through her chocolate covering. A few powers pierced through, but none came close to hitting her or the exoskeleton holding her chocolate together. The villainess' fist crashed into the heroes, sending them reeling backward and sticking some chocolate to them.

A few more heroes made it past her, rushing into space to try and stop Skyline. Sweet Dream let them go. There were others who could deal with them. Sweet Dream's only goal was to cause as much chaos as possible.

Riptide surfed by, using his power to launch a wave of futuristic energy at incoming heroes. Most of them blocked or avoided the damage, only a few getting stuck in the area of effect. Sweet Dream followed up with a chocolatey kick, attempting to break open the front door.

She knew it wouldn't work. Vert had made the heroes guild headquarters indestructible. According to Dextra, nothing short of a cataclysm could damage the structure. Which meant it was a good thing that the villains were attempting to blow up the moon.

Her foot struck the entrance, sending globs of chocolate flying inward to stick to anything it could. The woman laughed again as her screen filled with messages congratulating her on her reputation game. She was quickly becoming a top threat, according to the world.

Dismissing the messages, Sweet Dream turned back to focus on the heroes, using her chocolate to stop as many attackers as possible. Jacques swarmed around her, the robotic minions immune to her chocolate hallucinogens. They swarmed any dazed heroes, hitting them repeatedly with their fists until they fell.

Dr. Zlo hovered above it all, his gloating voice echoing across the platform. Sweet Dream didn't bother wondering why his voice carried in space, chalking it up to a decision by Vert for better communication. Others might complain about the inaccuracy, but she didn't think it mattered.

"Yes! Tremble before my might!" Dr. Zlo gloated.

"Our might," Sweet Dream said reflexively.

She laughed again at the words, realizing it had become a habit for her to correct Dr. Zlo when his head got too big. It made for a fun dynamic. Her character, an imperious queen of candy, and he an egotistical mad scientist bent on showing the world his greatness. And then there was Riptide, his laidback nature the glue that seemed to hold it all together.

At first, the character had been nothing more than Caroline's alter ego online. Somehow, despite her ignorance of roleplaying, Caroline had developed something of a personality for Sweet Dream. A vessel for her to play in this new world.

At some point, that had changed. Sweet Dream had become a personality all her own, an evil queen that wanted all the candy in the world and the recognition that came with it. Working with Dr. Zlo was a means to an end, as the man had a knack for getting others to notice him.

Despite her distracted musings, Caroline still made sure to attack any heroes that came her way. It wasn't hard. Her giant fists made it easy to aim, and the splashback from her chocolate hitting the floor always caught a few more heroes.

"This is getting a bit too easy," the woman muttered. "Don't they have heavy hitters or something?"

As soon as she said the words, Sweet Dream knew she jinxed it. Sure enough, almost as if they were waiting for someone to speak the words, a hero stepped out of the building and rocketed into the air. Sweet Dream turned to strike at him, her gooey fist ready to envelop the enemy.

"I think you've had enough fun for one day," the hero said, flying backward to avoid the blow. The hero then inhaled, sucking in a lungful of air that Sweet Dream knew didn't exist. A second later, he let it all out, a gust of wind freezing her chocolate and splintering it from her person.

The villainess watched as the chilled confection collapsed on the ground. "That. Is not a good sign," she said.

"Impossible!" Dr. Zlo shouted. "Nothing can best my inventions!"

"I think you should take a rain check on that thought," the hero said.

Sweet Dream tried to throw another fist while the hero talked, only for them to again freeze her chocolate. The hero then rushed forward, moving so fast Sweet Dream could hardly keep up. They arrived right in front of where Sweet Dream was hiding.

"Alright, come out of there," the hero said.

Sweet Dream's eyes widened. How did they know? Instinctively, the villainess lashed out again, reforming her chocolate and shrinking her form to compensate. Again the hero dodged effortlessly, and Sweet Dream's chocolate was frozen once more. This time, the hero didn't stop at the arms.

A cold wind blew across Sweet Dreams' chocolate form, freezing the entire amount before she could react. The villainess' molten chocolate chilled around her, making her stuck in place.

"Oh, come on!" Sweet Dream complained. "No one told me they had someone like this!"

"Don't worry, Dream, I'll help you!" Riptide shouted.

The surfer jumped off the spaceship and pulled out his lava board. In one smooth motion, the villain cut across the hero, conjuring a wave of magma.

"Things are heating up!" Riptide joked.

The hero spun around, flying low to dodge the wave. They sped after Riptide, catching up in a moment and grabbing the board out from under the villain.

"You shouldn't play with such dangerous toys," the hero chided.

"Oh, dude! Not cool!" Riptide complained as he fell toward the ground.

The villain recovered with Dr. Zlo's laser board, surfing by for another pass.

"Mabel!" Sweet Dream heard Dr. Zlo shout. "Stop him before he takes us all out!"

"You got it, hon," Mabel answered.

Sweet Dream watched from her frozen perch as Mabel turned toward the hero and opened her mouth, only for the hero to shoot twin beams of red energy out of his eyes at the minion. The villainess blinked in surprise as Dr. Zlo's reset button activated instantly, teleporting Mabel out of danger and back to Skyline.

"Sh*t!" Sweet Dream cursed. "What the h*ll is this guy's power level?"

"Mabel!" Dr. Zlo shouted. "You'll pay for that, you do-gooder!"

"Boss! Look out!" Cass shouted.

The minion's hand activated, twisting into a net as the hero swooped toward Dr. Zlo. Again the hero nimbly dodged away, this time grabbing the hand and emitting an electric pulse to scatter the nanomachines. Luckily, Dr. Zlo's upgrades prevented the invention from shorting out, but it was enough electricity to disorient the weapon.

"I think you should all go home now," the hero said to Dr. Zlo. "Maybe learn to better yourselves through something healthy. Take up a pottery class, maybe? You obviously have a knack for creation."

"Never!" the villain shouted.

Sweet Dream watched it all, struggling to break free of the frozen chocolate as heroes swarmed past her to stop their death ray. Angrily, she attempted to recall or melt her chocolate, hoping to gain enough control to worm her way out. Riptide joined a moment later, shooting into the chocolate to melt it down.

"Now now," the hero said, shifting his gaze away from Dr. Zlo. "You're both still in timeout."

Sweet Dream watched as the hero flew over to Riptide at supersonic speeds, stopping in front of the villain and again swiping his board. The hero didn't leave the villain alone this time, throwing a punch that cracked Riptide's helmet. The reset button activated a moment later, pulling Riptide away from the fight and back to Skyline. The hero then turned, and Sweet Dream realized she was next.

The hero smashed her chocolate to pieces with one punch, revealing her mundane form in all its sugary glory. A quick blast from his freeze breath activated the reset button, and Sweet Dream found herself back in Dr. Zlo's hideout, Jacques dressed in maid outfits waiting with towels.

"What in the world was that?!" Sweet Dream yelled after collecting herself.

"NPC Superiorman or something, I think," Riptide answered. "Had a lot of the same powers."

"Ugh!" Sweet Dream complained. "And I was hoping to use that chocolate mech for a bit longer!"

"Look on the bright side, dude," Riptide said. "Now we can fight all the other heroes coming to take out the death ray!"