Vaudevillain

Chapter 26: Going on an Invention Spree

After Dylan finished his maniacal laugh, he walked over to his lackey factory. It was obvious that he was going to need a lot more gadgets. His cane, monocle, and a razor top hat weren't going to cut it. Especially if he wanted to steal an alien mothership.

There was also the fact he needed to make gadgets for both Mabel and Cass. And he'd most likely need to make more gadgets for John and Surfsup. That meant a lot of time finding materials. At least he could get Mabel and Cass to go shopping for him. Or better yet he could send them to steal what he needed. Dr. Zlo might be above petty theft but his minions sure weren't.

It was time to get to work. First up was Mabel. The most important thing for her was protection. John said minions could die permanently so Dylan wanted to be sure Mabel stuck around. She already had her own personal minions the Jacobs for some decent protection but they couldn't protect against surprise attacks.

Dylan walked over to the ladder leading to his mansion. "Mabel! I need you!"

In a flash, Mabel appeared at the top of the stairs and slid down. As she landed she jumped straight at Dr. Zlo, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Zlo hon you don't know how long I've waited to hear those words come from your mouth."

Dylan pushed her off. "Mabel I need you to help me create some protection."

"Oh Zlo we don't need any of that." Mabel twirled a finger around his chest.

"Mabel you know what I mean."

The woman pouted, increasing the number of wrinkles on her face. "Zlo hon you gotta learn to have some fun."

"What we're about to do is fun. My genius shall outfit you in the perfect equipment! Then you shall be able to rob stores of everything I need! Ahahaha!"

Mabel let go of Dr. Zlo to sit on one of the office chairs scattered across the room. "Well, there are a few things every woman needs"

"I was thinking a protective sundress and sunhat combo. Maybe a purse with some weapons inside."

"Sounds good dear. I'm sure whatever you make will be fine." Mabel was staring over at a Jacques cleaning up some of the boxes in the corner.

Dylan stopped paying attention to his minions and opened up his power tab.

Armored Sundress

This sundress has been reinforced with bulletproof armor and metal fibers to give the wearer protection against all types of conventional weaponry.

Flowered sundress (1)

Steel thread (1 spool)

Ceramic plate (10)

Oobleck (1 bowl)

Sunhat Shield

This sunhat has been reinforced with protective armor to block incoming projectiles of any kind. Protects you from the sun and deadly lasers!

Straw sunhat (1)

Steel thread (1 spool)

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Gold thread (1 spool)

Sunscreen (1 bottle)

Laser safety glasses (1)

That looked alright for the armor, for now at least. Now for the weapons.

Sonic purse

This purse has been modified with the power to fire off sonic blasts in a direction, disorienting those unlucky enough to get caught in the blast.

Short-handle purse (1)

Home entertainment system (1)

Boy band pop music (1 recording)

Guinea hen call (1 recording)

Air horn (3)

Evil pepper spray

What makes this pepper spray different from normal pepper spray? Why its evil of course! Made with 100% more dangerous ingredients, this pepper spray might melt your face off!

Aerosol can (1)

Ghost pepper (1)

Chili oil extract (1 bottle)

Hydrochloric acid (1 bottle)

Dylan cackled a bit as he finished the last description. Though he was glad this game world wasn't entirely realistic. He didn't want to see someone's face get burned from this pepper spray. He'd seen videos online of what it did to people. It was not pretty.

While Dylan tried to think up more inventions for Mabel, the minion in question was staring intently at the Jacques in the corner. There was something different about this one, thought Mabel couldn't quite put her finger on it. This Jacques still acted the same as all the others, all bumbling and klutzy. But she couldn't help but feel something was off about this one.

"Zlo hon?" She turned to him. Dr. Zlo didn't answer as he was too caught up in his invention spree. Mable turned back to the minion. "Dear, won't you come and sit by Momma for a second?"

The Jacques seemed to stiffen for a second before turning. Mabel narrowed her eyes, none of Zlo's inventions had done that before. With stilted steps, the Jacques made its way in front of Mabel and sat down on the floor. "There's something different about you dear. Though Momma can't put her finger on it. Do you think you could show her?"

The Jacques nodded slowly, head seeming to strain against her power. It brought a hand up to the bow tie resting on its collar. The dark red tie started to glow as Mabel watched it. "Now dear I think you need to stop whatever it is you're doing. Momma doesn't like it when her children act up." The red light flared for a second before dimming.

"That's better. Now you go stand in the corner. And don't come out until I say so."

The Jacques stood with a jerk and made its way over to the corner. Mabel turned back to Dr. Zlo.

"Zlo hon. Someone's trying to infiltrate our secret base."

Dr. Zlo whirled around. "What! How? Do they know who they're dealing with? Do they really think that I, the great Dr. Zlo! Don't have defenses for this?"

"Well someone got past them. One of your Jacques seems possessed."

Dylan went over to the Jacques in question. "I don't see what's wrong?"

"His tie hon."

Dr. Zlo took a look at the Jacques bow tie. The deep red color jutted out against the dark backdrop of the Jacques' coat. "Who dares to possess my minion!"

"Want me to find out hon?"

"Yes! But wait! We need to have your gear made first. Anyone able to sneak past my impeccable defenses must be someone as cunning as I am."

Dylan ignored the fact that his "impeccable defenses" were his Jacques minions and the hatbots. Dr. Zlo was pure ego after all. In his mind, no one would be capable of getting the drop on him. And if they did he would have to return the favor twice over.

Which reminded him. "Einstein!"

A white mouse scurried out from a hole in the wall. It climbed up the side of a desk and made its way over to a computer. With a few clicks on the keyboard, Einstein replied.

Yes boss?

"I need you to search for a pair of heroes; one red, one blue. These two ambushed me earlier today and forced me to fight a losing battle for their amusement. I will not stand to be humiliated. Find the two of them and discover their hiding spots. Once done report back to me so I can have my revenge."

We won't disappoint you, boss.

"Good! Now go!"

The white mouse scurried off the desk and back into the hole in the wall.

After ensuring he could find the two gankers later on, Dylan made his way over to his lackey factory. The machine had once again run out of materials. This was continuing to be a problem. He could make a rather large minion army but the Jacques were so incompetent he lost the majority of them on each scheme.

He figured there were two options. First, make a better minion factory. There was no reason he couldn't do it now that he could add descriptions to his inventions. Of course, a better minion factory could mean better minions. That wasn't something Dylan wanted to do just yet.

His second option was to find some way to increase the storage capacity. Or maybe he could find a way to keep the materials flowing. But finding the raw materials was difficult. Though if he could break processed materials down into their components he could find plenty of raw materials. Actually, that idea could help him with almost all of his inventions.

Dylan opened his power tab back up.

Disassembler

This contraption takes processed goods and breaks them down into raw materials.

Garbage disposal (1)

Compactor (1)

Industrial-grade shredder (1)

Computer (22)

PVC pipe (16 ft.)

Garden hose (2)

Sediment sifter (1 coarse, 1 fine, 1 very fine)

Robot claw (16)

Wow, that was a lot of materials. At least it didn't need more phlebotinium. He could probably find all of this at a department store.

With a disassembler, he could break down whatever he stole and use it in other gadgets. He could even break down his old inventions to recover the pieces. Dylan had been wondering what to do with the gender-bender gun. It had been fun to use once but he knew he'd get bored of it quickly. Better to reuse the phlebotinium for something else.

With that invention done and recorded Dylan started brainstorming ideas for Cass. His butler needed protection similar to Mabel's but the weapons would be completely different. Maybe something alcohol-based.

Armored suit

This suit has been reinforced with bulletproof armor and metal fibers to give the wearer protection against all types of conventional weaponry.

Suit (1)

Steel thread (1 spool)

Ceramic plate (10)

Oobleck (1 bowl)

Thinking about it a suit like this would be useful for Dr. Zlo as well. Dylan decided to make two. Now he needed to make some form of energy protection.

Handkerchief shield.

This handkerchief has been reinforced with protective armor to block incoming projectiles of any kind. Protects you from sneezes and deadly lasers!

Handkerchief (1)

Steel thread (1 spool)

Gold thread (1 spool)

Nasal spray (1 bottle)

Laser safety glasses (1)

That would work for now. Dylan fully expected to make better armor later on. Probably right before the heist. Now he just needed a weapon for Cass.

Booze Bomb

An explosive cocktail of various alcohol, this weapon causes extreme drunkenness to all caught in its blast. Makes 6 grenades.

Vodka (1 bottle)

Rum (1 bottle)

Tequila (1 bottle)

Bourbon (1 bottle)

Co2 canister (6)

There. The perfect weapon for his butler. Now all he needed to do was find all the materials. He exited his underground base and entered the mansion.

"Cass! Mabel! Jacques! I have missions for you!"