Vaudevillain

"Boss, no!" Cass shouted, and Dr. Zlo saw his minion's arm fly up to intercept. It caught the hero's strike, deflecting the blow enough for Dr. Zlo to dodge.

The hero instantly responded by flying at Cass, picking the minion up and flying him into the sky faster than Dr. Zlo could react. His dueling gloves and hat drones attempted to knock the hero off course, but they were both too slow to strike the hero.

The hero dropped Cass from the sky, letting the minion fall to the ground while turning his attention on the nanomachine arm. Cass's panic meant that the arm couldn't react to the hero and found itself again shocked by the NPC's electric grasp.

Dr. Zlo attempted to fly over and catch Cass, but the hero blocked his way, forcing the villain to dodge or face another fist. Dr. Zlo watched as Cass fell to the ground, the reset button activating at the last moment and taking the minion away from danger. Only Quartet and Dr. Zlo were left now, and the villain had a sneaking suspicion that his last minion had run away.

"So, it's down to you and me," Dr. Zlo said. The villain commanded his drones back to him, the dueling gloves and hat drone becoming a small wall between the two.

"You can still surrender," the hero said.

Dr. Zlo threw his head back and laughed, "Ha! Surrender? In my moment of triumph? You underestimate my genius, hero!"

"You won't succeed," the hero answered calmly. "There are more heroes already heading out to stop you."

Dr. Zlo glanced at the timer. Only four and a half minutes left now. "That's only if they can succeed in time!"

The villain fired a blast from his monocle, the hero matching the strike with his laser vision. The two beams collided, creating an expanding purple field as both hero and villain continued the assault. Dr. Zlo's face transformed from a gloating smile to a grimace, Dylan putting all his concentration in keeping the beam steady.

The purple field grew from the size of a grape, to that of a watermelon, then a large beach ball. Still, Dr. Zlo didn't back down. The character would refuse to lose in a battle where his technology was on the line. Dr. Zlo had complete trust in his inventions. They wouldn't fail him.

Of course, that meant it was the perfect moment for his monocle to run out of battery and fail.

The blue beam from Dr. Zlo fizzled out, and the villain cursed as red lasers pierced through the purple field of energy. Dr. Zlo twisted out of the way, dodging the strike and turning to toss a bomb at the hero.

Only to see the purple field collapse in on itself and explode outward, enveloping both the hero and Dr. Zlo in waves of energy. The villain's reset button activated, transporting him back to his hideout where his Jacques waited. Quartet appeared a moment later, fear etched across his face.

"Curses!" Dr. Zlo roared, slamming his fist on the table. "That hero is going to ruin all our plans!"

The villain looked at the timer, four minutes left now.

"Maybe the energy blast got him?" Quartet asked hopefully.

Dylan doubted it, though he didn't think Dr. Zlo would think that pessimistically.

"Yes, you must be right, Quartet," the villain said. "For who could stand against such a blast! Yes, that will be the last we see of that hero! And now we can focus on finishing off the rest of the guild!"

Psy-Ops, or Deadman as he was calling himself now, looked at the next wave of incoming heroes and shook his head.

"They're like moths to a flame," the man said.

"Yeah," Yuppie, or Killswitch, agreed, "How many times are they going to use human wave tactics anyways? I figured someone would be smarter about this."

"It could be the countdown timer," Fursation, or Immolate, answered. "Everyone's rushing because of the pressure."

"There's still four minutes left," Deadman replied. "That's enough time to coordinate something, right?"

"I doubt they're coordinated at all," Killswitch answered. "I bet a lot of these players aren't in factions here. Or if they are, it's only a few people."

"So we're waiting on the big guns to arrive?" Deadman asked. "Because I gotta be honest, these heroes aren't all that great."

Deadman followed up his words by throwing a rock at an incoming hero. The item rotted before the hero's eyes, turning into a brown sludge that splattered on the hero. A moment later, all of the player's equipment had rotted away, and the hero followed shortly after as Deadman's virus ate away the player's health.

"I don't know," Immolate said, burning the infection traveling toward them with his power. "I like that it's all this easy."

Killswitch raised his hand at a sniper hero trying to take them out from range. The hero's gun jammed, breaking to pieces and leaving the hero without a weapon.

"Yeah, I'm not above stomping noobs."

Deadman looked down at his timer again, watching as the seconds ticked past. "I just don't want to sit around for three-ish minutes, is all. It would make for an anti-climatic battle."

A ball of white light appeared in front of the three players, expanding into a portal that revealed a group of heroes standing on the other side. At the head of the pack was Valiant, the hero in his gleaming armor.

"I thought we were going to be right on top of Skyline?" the hero asked as the portal opened.

"There's some jamming field in place," Ixzay answered. "Blocks teleporters without a password or something."

"Well, I think you just got your wish," Killswitch said. "Because that's the Trollstompers."

"Let's give them a warm welcome then!" Immolate laughed.

The villain ignited, becoming a burning torch that grabbed everyone's attention.

"I hope you're all having a h*ll of a time today!" Immolate shouted as he unleashed his fire.

Valiant stepped in front of the attack, blocking the heat with his powers and absorbing the energy. A beam of static white followed a moment later, heading straight at Immolate. The villain dodged out of the way, halting his attack to not give Valiant any more ammo.

The hero stepped through the portal, a smile on his face. "I see Dr. Zlo is as much of a troll as ever. Who would think he'd use his own event as a distraction for his real plan."

Ixzay jumped through the portal next, followed by more of the Trollstompers.

"Killswitch!" Deadman shouted as he threw a rock at Valiant. The hero put up his shield, blocking the throw's energy but unable to stop the virus from spreading on the ground. Ixzay tried to react with a flamethrower, only to find his equipment failing as Killswitch used his power.

Valiant reacted instantly, jumping back and shouting, "Techies fall back! Magicians forward! Watch out for the brown sludge; it's some kind of virus!"

The Trollstompers reacted, the magicians rushing forward to burn away the infection with magical fire. Others turned toward Deadman, Killswitch, and Immolate, launching varied attacks at the players that forced them back. The three players retreated to their ship. Valiant chased after them, attempting to stop them before they took off.

Deadman turned back. "Go!" he shouted. "I can hold him off!"

His two friends didn't hesitate, jumping into the ship as Deadman attempted to grab Valiant. A strange game played out as both players tried to touch each other while dodging. Both knew that one strike would finish them, though Deadman could afford to be more reckless as he had one of Dr. Zlo's reset buttons.

Once his friends took off, Deadman dove, attempting to catch Valiant off guard and trade. It wasn't to be, as the hero pulled up his shield to stop the attack and countered with a quick grab.

"D*mn," Deadman said. "Was hoping that would work. Oh well, see you in a bit!"

The reset button activated, leaving only Valiant and the Trollstompers.

"Right," the hero said, wasting no time. "This is our forward base. Push into Skyline. Stay in your groups, and leaders keep on comms. If you can't deal with something, retreat and find another route. We're looking for speed here."

The Trollstompers roared in agreement, rushing off toward Skyline in the distance. Heroes from the moon followed after, the breach allowing them to push in. Valiant noticed an NPC dressed in tights and a cape among them, and the hero shook his head at the sight.

"Don't they know that look is old-fashioned as f*ck?"

Matt shook his head as the hero flew past. Sometimes he truly questioned Vert's design choices.

The hero turned back to his faction, commanding them forward and leading the charge. Players swarmed around the streamer, an army of heroes intent on stopping Dr. Zlo from performing his worst crime to date. Skyline loomed in the distance, the city floating into view as everyone flew forward.

Thanks for reading!

Let me know if you see any typos!

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