Vaudevillain

Candequeen:

Did you guys see Vert's announcement?

The message appeared on Dylan's computer just as he finished up his workout for the day. It had been a few weeks since his face-off with John, and Dylan had spent all his time in game hanging out with his new friends. Dr. Zlo immediately went to work crafting his Zlobots and finishing the levitation engines. Along the way, Rampart and the rest of his team joined up.

The team of heroes joined up with Sweet Dream to make an entire slew of videos for their new channel. Now all it needed was a name. The whole group was going to get on later to discuss that part of the channel, though Dylan expected either Dextra or Riptide to have the best answers. He learned Dex was a pro at finding a good name for things, while Riptide came up with off-the-wall ideas that stuck for longer than they should.

Dylan leaned into his chair as he read his friend's message, and the message that came after.

Surfsup26:

I heard something about it, but didn't see it

Candequeen:

They teamed up with the big three consoles.

Dylan's eyes widened in surprise.

Superfan39526:

What?

Surfsup26:

Dude! No way

Candequeen:

Yes way. The VIS is now compatible with the other consoles.

Mintendo even announced its working on a Xelda game for it

Superfan39526:

Aw, not Metroid?

They haven't announced a new one of those for ages

Surfsup26:

Dude it’s a new XELDA GAME

IN VR

IM SO PUMPED AAAA

Candequeen:

But you know what this means right?

Superfan39526:

What?

Candequeen:

We're going to get a lot of new players.

Which means we need to get our video out.

If the new people see the vid, maybe we can get enough for a petition with Vert

Surfsup26:

Dude, yeah!

I've been thinking of names

But couldn't get anything good

Dylan had been thinking of names too, but there were never instances of heroes and villains working together in comics. Well, there were, but not for very long. Not enough to create a team name.

Superfan39526:

I'm sure Dex has something.

He's great at names

The name for the city was awesome.

Surfsup26:

Dude, Skyline was an awesome name

I wish I'd thought of it.

A lot of names had been thrown around during their last conversation. Names such as the historic Laputa to the ridiculous Flying City (that had been Shizuka's contribution, mostly as a joke). But when Dex mentioned Skyline, everyone agreed the name fit. Now all they needed was their faction and channel names. Something Dylan hoped to finish today.

Superfan39526:

Are the others on yet?

I finished up what I need to do today and I'm about to get in game

Candequeen:

Yeah, Dex and Nikola are with me in the OOC lounge.

I think the heroes are out doing some quest.

Surfsup26:

I'm surfing these thunderclouds dudes

Chuckling, Dylan shook his head. Ever since the world opened up past the city, Riptide had spent almost every moment he could testing his power on random things. It seemed today would be thunderclouds.

Candequeen:

If you die, we're leaving you

Surfsup26:

Oh dude! Not cool.

Dylan moved over to his bed and placed the VIS on his head. The screen lit up, showing Dylan's desktop screen and the chat messages from his friends. Vert had recently released an update to the bulky helmet, allowing users to run their computer with their minds. At the same time, Netchat updated to allow a player's Vert account to link up with their Netchat account. The changes made collaborating so much easier.

World of Supers filled Dylan's vision as he activated the software. Again, he marveled at the realism as the world swooped around him. It felt odd how often he forgot that the scene in front of him was generated on a computer. With how crisp it all looked, Dylan thought he looked at a nature documentary, or a photo.

The game finished loading his character, and Dylan wasted no time in selecting Dr. Zlo. He smiled as he merged with the mustached man and logged in. Skyline appeared in front of him, a few small buildings hovering above the clouds. The inner architect in Dylan couldn't wait to begin drafting up all the buildings.

But for now, Skyline held a few very simple structures, more hut than building. Two of the buildings looked exactly the same, and both rested on top of a levitation engine. These were the Heroes and Villains quarters. Players from each morality could go to their respective area and discuss anything they wanted. Right now, only Rampart and his team used the hero's side, but Dylan expected a few more to join up after the video released.

Which reminded him, it was about time for the meeting on the faction name. Dylan made his way over to the third building in the city, the OOC lounge. The small, square box of a building sat directly between the hero and villain quarters, and was the de facto neutral ground. Anyone inside the building could be considered out of character and any attacks on the place resulted in immediate termination from the faction.

Walking in, Dylan caught Cass lurking behind the counter. Not waiting at attention or standing ready, Cass lurked. Dylan blinked as the butler's eyes darted around the room. The reason for the minion's disposition revealed itself a second later as Shizuka appeared in a puff of smoke and glomped the silver man.

"So, whaddya have for me today, Cassy," Shizuka teased.

Cass jerked in surprise, his eye catching Dr. Zlo as the villain walked into the lounge. "Boss, help."

"Sorry, Cass," Dylan said. "I have no way to stop her. But if you act like it doesn't affect you, she might stop."

"I don't think I can do that boss," Cass lamented.

"I think you'll have to try," Dylan said.

Leaving Cass to his fate, Dylan made his way over to the folding table that housed Dex, Nikola, and Sweet Dream.

"We've got three videos to go up," Sweet Dream said. "One of our heist on the mothership, one on your takeover of the city, and one that shows Vert's full reaction. Both of the first videos have the IT guy showing up at the end, which is where we've cut the video."

"You think that'll get people's attention?" asked Nikola. Surprisingly, the man's voice was smooth as honey, nowhere near the affected speech he used in character.

"There's no way it wouldn't. People would be expecting an ending, something that fits the narrative. Since we both won, they would expect us to end on you controlling the city and us controlling the mothership. Vert coming in at the last second would piss off almost everyone. Of course, that's if we get watchers."

"We'll get watchers," Thomas said. "I've been talking with a lot of old friends from other games and they're happy to share the video when it drops."

"You know so many people," Dylan commented as he walked next to the group.

"Comes from a few years of Adam online," Thomas replied. "Playing that game solo is difficult."

"Are the others almost here?"

"Rampart said he's a few minutes out. Thanks for making all the gear by the way."

Dylan shrugged, "It wasn't hard once you got all the stuff."

"Still," Thomas said. "I know your whole thing isn't being a crafter. So I appreciate you going out of your way to help."

Dylan squirmed a bit, unused to the direct praise. "Did you think of any names for the channel and faction?" he asked, changing topics.

Thomas nodded, "Somewhat. But I don't want to say anything until the others get here."

Nodding in understanding, Dylan joined the others to wait. True to his word, Rampart appeared a few seconds later with his team in tow. "Everyone here?" he asked.

"Still need Riptide," Sweet Dream said.

A sea-blue blur whipped by the group and smacked into the wall. Dylan groaned as the structure cracked under the strike. Bits of the building fell down, covering the arrival with a cloud of dust.

Riptide sat up and exclaimed, "I'm here, dudes!"

"So we see," Thomas smirked. "But, you should work on keeping your destruction to a minimum."

"Will do, dude," Riptide replied. He brushed dust off his shirt and pushed between Sweet Dream and Nikola to sit.

"Alright, did anyone come up with a good name?" Thomas started.

Dylan shook his head, "I tried to see if there was anything for heroes and villains teaming up, but all I got were fanfictions, a lot of them bad erotica."

Sweet Dream snorted, "I coulda told you that. But I've got nothing either. My mind kept circling back to candy-themed names, which isn't what we want."

Merla spoke up, "I was thinking something like menagerie. Since everyone can join regardless of morality, the word seemed fitting."

"That's not bad," Nikola said. "We are a collection of players."

"I was thinking we could try to do something with power, or superpower," Oro said. "Since we're all powered individuals."

"I don't know, dude," Riptide said. "I don't think we could find something that rolled off the tongue with powered."

"I wanted to ask," Titan said. "Are we a roleplaying guild? I know Dr. Zlo and Dextra roleplay, and you all know I do as well."

"That's a good question," Merla said. "I'm not really here to make a character."

"Zlo and I were talking about that earlier," Thomas said. "Right now, places like the Ooc Lounge are specifically out of character. You can talk in character, but don't expect others to follow along. There will be areas in the future that are roleplaying only, mostly cafes and the like. But to answer your question, this faction is mostly to convince Vert to let us influence the world. Roleplaying can be involved, but the guild isn't a roleplaying guild."

"Then, I think we should actually split things up," Titan said. "Have a hero and villain guild united under the same banner, with each of them having sub-guilds. That way we can have something for everyone."

"How would you deal with villains controlling the city?" Dylan asked.

Titan waved a hand, "Just, use your secret identity when running the day-to-day."

"That was my answer," Thomas said. "I do like the idea of splitting the guild into their own sub-guilds. But we still need an overall name."

"Well, you haven't said anything yet, and I know you have one," Rampart said.

"What about, The Revue?" Thomas inquired.

"What, like a game review?" Merla asked.

"No, like a show or performance. But I will admit the name is a double meaning for both types. We're going to be putting on a show for others, hence the first part of the name, but we're also planning to critique Vert's choices. Therefore, why not use a word that could mean both."

"I like it," Dylan said.

"Yeah, it fits pretty well," Sweet Dream agreed.

"I dunno," Oro said. "It seems a bit too focused on the performance aspect. I think Merla's name is a better fit."

"I like both, dudes," Riptide said.

"Let's put it to a vote then," Thomas said. "All in favor of Menagerie?"

Hands a few hands went into the air.

Thomas counted the hands then spoke, "All in favor for the Revue?"

Another group of hands went into the air.

"Well, that settles it then," Thomas said as he finished counting.