Vaudevillain

Dylan practically vibrated in place as he watched the event play out on the screens in front of him. A timer below the screen counted the seconds until he could join in on the fun. It wasn’t counting down fast enough.

“Cass, remind me to invent a device that speeds up time,” Dr. Zlo muttered.

“Right, boss.”

The others below felt the same. Just watching the buildup as the heroes took on the first wave in a no holds barred assault had them giddy. And yet, the target of Dr. Zlo’s ire had yet to arrive. Dr. Dobro lay hidden in the city below, no doubt cowering in fear for the true protagonist to arrive.

Or, as both Dylan and the rest of his friends knew, Dr. Dobro would be waiting until the villain appeared so the two could hold a gigantic climactic battle that brought everyone together. Until then, however, Dr. Zlo would have to wait impatiently for a glimpse of his fated foe.

At least in the meantime he could watch the heroes and villains going at it on screen. Already, one of the morality machines had been commandeered by the heroes. Mr. Black had easily repelled the villainous assault on his tower, the player using his abilities to isolate villains for capture. Even his defenses were set up to trap and ensnare, thus ensuring his side gained more forces before the second wave came calling. Not that they would get more than three or four, but that was partly the point. Heroes and villains would have to pick and choose who to have on their side, then go about defending the machine as it worked.

Cowabunga was also having an easy time of it. His power was honestly broken, but Dylan wondered if anyone else would ever figure out the mechanics behind it. At it’s core, everything surfs sounded like such a stupid idea. But results didn’t lie, even now the hero was only struggling with one villain. Some sort of momentum redirector. Everything else just slid off the hero’s body like water off a duck’s back.

Yet despite Cowabunga’s early claim on the morality machine, the heroes still hadn’t thrown anyone inside. The opposing villains were working well together, timing their powers like experienced raid groups. When one power fell, another took its place, cutting through the heroes and forcing them on the back foot.

Saccharine and whatever Merla decided to name her character hadn’t taken control of their respective machines, but the villains hadn’t been able to make a dent in the heroes’s defenses either. Saccharine had to deal with the trio of over the top characters while Merla couldn’t find the machine at all. Hilariously, one of the villains had decided to ‘pocket’ the device in a modified inventory that let him take much larger items. Merla had ended up rushing right by the villain in her pursuit for the machine.