Vaudevillain

The Warden heard the conversation between the group, realizing what was happening. The jailers all paused, then surged as one towards Dr. Zlo. The villain spiraled left to dodge, scraping the edge of the room as jailers whizzed past. Riptide surfed up to him, "dude! Grab on!"

Shaking his head, Dr. Zlo moved in next to Riptide. "Take this," he said, placing the hacking tool in Riptide's hand. The screen read twenty-two seconds. Nodding, Riptide broke away and twisted through a pack of oncoming jailers.

Dr. Zlo fired his monocle laser at incoming jailers. "You'll never catch the mighty Dr. Zlo!" he taunted.

The chasing jailers split in half, one breaking off to chase Dr. Zlo while the other went after Riptide. For ten seconds, the two wove around in circles. Dr. Zlo escaped using his laser and applications of adhesive gel while Riptide used his superior skills to run rings around the jailers. With ten seconds left on the clock, Riptide raised the hacker to the sky.

"You'll never catch us now, dudes!"

"You fool!" Dr. Zlo yelled. The jailers chasing him broke off to assault Riptide. Cass, Mabel, and Sweet Dream fired into the jailers as much as possible, a few lucky shots taking out a couple. But the majority made their way over to the surfer. Riptide stepped on the gas pedal and rocketed up to the ceiling.

Riptide cut back at the last second, turning around to dive straight at the incoming jailers. The seconds counted down. Five: Riptide fired his laser into the crowd. Four: the villain lay flat on his board. Three: he zipped through a small gap in the jailers, all while avoiding their hands. Two: Riptide felt something grab his surfboard, and he jerked into the air, sailing into the waiting arms of jailers. One: Riptide grabbed the hacker and placed it below his feet just before the jailers grabbed him, surfing by with his leftover momentum. Zero: the hacker completed, and the Warden froze.

Riptide jumped off the tool and landed on the ground. "Did you see that!"

Sweet Dream smacked him on the back of the head. "You idiot, what if you lost the tool?"

"But I didn't. And now we have this whole area. Right, dude?"

Riptide handed the hacking tool to Dr. Zlo. The doctor looked down at the screen, seeing a list of options scrolling down the side. A wicked smile crossed his face. "I believe we're back in business."

Dr. Zlo pressed down on the manual override option listed on the hacker. Above him, the Warden's holographic face shifted from imposing to impassive. The jailers connected to the main computer sagged to the floor, wires loosening their hold on the various trapped humanoids.

"New plan!" Dr. Zlo started. "We release the prisoners here and use them to stage a prison break. While they distract the guards, we sneak into the control room."

"What if the prisoners don't cooperate?" Sweet Dream questioned.

"Then, we use Mabel!" Dr. Zlo twisted to his minion, only then remembering her gag. "Ah, we'll have to find some way to remove that."

He walked over to Mabel's side, inspecting the impressive gag. His scan revealed a small keyhole located in the back of the contraption. "Blast, it's an analog device. We'll need to find a key or someone to break it."

"So no Mabel," Sweet Dream clarified.

"No matter! I'm sure my natural charisma will convince these prisoners to make me the leader. Warden!"

The Warden's impassive face looked down. "Yes?"

"Wait!" Sweet Dream called.

Dr. Zlo frowned, upset that he was interrupted. "What?"

"Don't go announcing who you are. If you say you're a villain, some will choose to fight us. Switch over to your secret identity and pretend to be liberators. That way, they won't question our motives."

"But then how will these people know of my genius?"

Sweet Dream smiled. "It's simple. We fool them now, and then, later on, reveal who we actually were. You'll have outsmarted all of them, making you look even more intelligent."

"Yes… Yes… I see your point. Very well! Warden!"

"Yes?"

"Release the prisoners!"

While the Warden complied, Dylan switched over to his secret identity. He was glad he'd found a few friends to join in the heist. If he went at it alone, he was sure he'd have gotten stuck inside the prison. Riptide's mobility and Sweet Dream's practicality were more impactful than Dylan realized.

Both his friends switched over to their secret identities when the first rack of pods clanged to the ground and hissed open. White fog filled the air, bringing a slight chill that brushed across Dr. Zlo's skin. Groups of prisoners stumbled out, disoriented and looking for answers. Once they found their bearings, the prisoners noticed Dr. Zlo and his team standing in front.

Before the first group of prisoners could speak, Dr. Zlo stepped forward. "Good people! I know you must have questions, but I ask that you refrain until all the others are released. Once everyone is free, I will address the crowd. In the meantime, please help out those waking up."

The prisoners agreed, shaking off their grogginess to assist the others waking up. Hands reached out to help the others emerging from pods and mouths passed along the news. Soon, a mix of Quli and Humans milled about the main prison room. Dr. Zlo cleared his throat and smiled as the group craned necks to look over at him.

"Prisoners of the Quli! My name is Eric Vil, a scientist from Earth. I was captured and taken here like you all, but I was able to turn the tables on the computer and have gained complete control. But our freedom is not yet complete. We are still located in the bowels of the Quli mothership."

A Quli stepped forward from the crowd. "I thank you for freeing my brothers and me. Whatever assistance we can offer is yours."

Cries of agreement rose from the crowd like steam from a bath. Dr. Zlo clapped once to calm the group down. "Thank you all. Our first action should be to take out the guards surrounding the prison. Everyone make your way to the entrance. When you are in position, I will have the Warden open the room. Take out the guards and grab their weapons. From there, we shall sneak down to the tractor beam room and take care of any opposition!"

Cheers resounded as Dr. Zlo finished his speech. The crowd pushed against each other in a scramble to reach the entrance. Once the last prisoner exited the room, Dr. Zlo had the Warden open the doors. Shouts of anger and surprise reached the team's ears.

Dr. Zlo listened to the sounds of battle for a few seconds, then looked up. "Now that that's done, Warden! I need a map of the mothership."

"Yes."

A small chip popped out of the Warden's mainframe and fell to the floor. Riptide swiped it out of the air before it landed, performing a quick roll on his board for show. He noticed a small button on the bottom and pressed it down. A 3-d image of the Quli mothership spilled out.

"Dude, this is so much better than sneaking into the control room," Riptide said.

"Of course, my plans are perfect!" cackled Dr. Zlo.

Sweet Dream rolled her eyes. "Come on. We should start making our way down to the control room while the guards are distracted. From the look of it, we only need to head two floors down. It's in the center like all the other main areas."

Riptide made his way to the exit, Sweet Dream following behind. Before Dr. Zlo could follow along, Cass tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, boss?"

"Ah, Cass. What is it?"

"I made you a martini to celebrate the success of your current plan." The butler held up the silver plate he carried around, and a single drink rested on top.

"A bit of an odd time for a drink, don't you think Cass?"

Cass fidgeted. "Well, see sir, I was thinking. With Mabel unable to use her power, maybe I should stay behind with her."

"Don't be ridiculous, Cass! You are my most trusted minion. Without you, who would keep me safe?"

"But boss, you got all those others now."

Dr. Zlo leaned in, grabbing Cass by the shoulder. "Look," he whispered, "the others are villains as well. There's every chance they'll betray me once the heist is done. I need someone loyal by my side for that reason. You understand?"

Cass nodded, face turning up in a smile. His boss trusted him. There was no way he would let him down now. "I'm with you, boss."

"Excellent. Now, onward!"

Dr. Zlo marched out of the prison towards his next objective. Mabel followed behind, tugging at her gag in the vain hope of removing it somehow.

The group stepped into chaos. The prisoners had wasted no time attacking the guards, but they hadn't been silent in the matter either. However, the large number of prisoners quickly overwhelmed the few on patrol. After taking their weapons and armor, the prisoners charged towards the stairs ahead of them, intent on barreling through the entire mothership.

Sweet Dream pointed, "we should take those stairs on the left. Avoid the battle going on."

"I told them to sneak down," Dr. Zlo grumbled.

"Oh well, not every follower will listen, dude," Riptide replied.

"Hurry up you guys," Sweet Dream urged, dashing over to the stairs. "We need to strike while the guards are distracted."

They took the steps two at a time, eager to reach the control room. With all the guards dealing with the prisoner rebellion, the three easily made their way over the control room. During the journey, Dr. Zlo reminded everyone to remove their secret identities. Riptide and Sweet Dream did so once they stopped in front of the control room door.

"Alright, this is the big one dudes. You ready?"

Sweet Dream nodded. "We should do a breach. Stack up on the sides. Zlo, hack the door open, and whoever has explosives lob them in once it opens."

"I've got grenades," Cass replied.

"Wait for the smoke to die out before we go in," Dr. Zlo warned.

Nodding, the others stacked up on either side of the door while Dr. Zlo pulled out the hacker tool. A quick tap and a few seconds later, the door clicked open.