Vaudevillain

Chapter 83: Chaos on the Field

Infiltrating the school during game day was simpler than Dylan expected. Security around the school itself was lax, all the mutant teachers over at the field. It let Dr. Zlo bring his minions around the other side, the only thing in his way a janitor.

"Y-you shouldn't be here," the janitor said.

"Quite right," Dr. Zlo answered. "But, as a villain, I go where I please. Mabel?"

"You best be quiet about this, dear. Why don't you go on home and take the day off."

Dylan saw the telltale sign of Mabel's mind control but cocked an eyebrow when the janitor turned to walk inside. Shrugging at the odd interaction, Dylan ignored the janitor's bizarre behavior in favor of commanding his Jacques. The minions surged ahead to their position, Quartet leading the pack. Their target was the school marching band, Hertz noting their location on a map earlier.

Dr. Zlo's target was, of course, the science lab where the Phlebotinium was located. Hertz appeared out of the villain's front pocket and pointed a paw to the hallway on the left. Nodding, Dr. Zlo ushered Mabel and Cass in the direction of the lab. Shizuka stalked behind.

The ninja had already used her power to create enough cheerleader clones and decided she didn't need to be near all the NPC characters. It sounded more fun to follow Dr. Zlo from the shadows. Plus, it meant she could ditch the cheerleader outfit for her preferred street clothes.

The mouse pointed Dr. Zlo and the rest over to a classroom door sitting in the middle of the hallway. Cass walked up and tried the handle. "Locked," he said.

A laser blast from Dr. Zlo's monocle melted the handle, and the door swung open. "Unlocked," Dr. Zlo replied.

Dr. Zlo scanned the classroom as he walked inside. It looked like every publicly funded classroom, though a bit more advanced than the stuff Dylan used as a kid. One side of the wall held a line of shelves containing various microscopes, centrifuges, and other gadgets. The other side had a bookshelf filled to the brim with reference books and research.

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Hertz tugged and pointed over to the reference books, the location of the secret entrance. Grinning, Dr. Zlo brought the mouse over to the shelf, setting him down to find the switch leading inside. Hertz scurried along the floor and climbed the side of the frame. He stopped at the third shelf from the top and went to a book labeled, "Tracing the Mutant Genome: A Study." Paws brought Hertz to the top of the book, where the mice shoved it free.

It clattered to the ground with a fluttering of pages, but Dr. Zlo and the rest weren't paying attention. As soon as Hertz pushed the book free, the bookshelf swung open to reveal a spiraling concrete staircase. Warily, Cass walked forward, prepared for the turrets Hertz mentioned. The mouse in question jumped off the bookshelf, landing on Cass's shoulder and scurrying to the ground. He continued down the stairwell without a care in the world.

Dr. Zlo followed after, pushing Cass down the steps with him, "Come now, Cass, you can't be more cautious than a mouse."

"Sorry, boss."

Mabel followed up behind, and Shizuka crept in as the bookshelf closed. A bit later, the sounds of music played, signifying the start of Dr. Zlo's distraction. Though, none of the group heard it. The underground complex had excellent soundproofing.

Psy-ops waited behind the bleachers for his team, idly tossing grenades as he did. He'd added on to his psychometry power with something like magnetism once he could afford the Phlebotinium. It wasn't exactly like the attractive power, but that was the closest thing Psy-ops could use to describe it.

His other power created something of a link between his two objects. If the items were non-living, they would be drawn together over time. If one of the objects were living, the non-living object would move to the living one, forever chasing it. Once the two items touched, they would get stuck together for around thirty seconds. That was about long enough for a cooked grenade to explode.

The only issue was touching the objects, but his psychometry power treated items on him as an extension of his body. That made it a lot easier to use. And Psy-ops had touched almost every minion with a sword. That meant the mines from Yuppie he scattered around kept all the Jacques at bay.

His two friends arrived a minute later, Fur riding on top of Yuppie's suit. He watched as his showboating friend looped to drop Fursation and then hovered in the air with his hand outstretched. Fursation transformed as he fell, his umber skin growing grey fur that sparked with electricity.

Psy-ops watched as the Dr. Zlos turned. "Oh? More heroes to fall under the might of my mighty minions?" all three said in unison.

Yuppie ignored him, instead choosing to open up the commlink he had. "Oh, hey Guy, didn't see you there," he joked.

"Sup, Yup," Psy-ops ribbed back. "You done grandstanding yet, or do I need to keep out of sight still?"

"Give me five more minutes. I look good in this suit of armor."

Psy-ops smiled and emerged from under the bleachers. His friend had picked the gadgeteer power when joining the game, which didn't do all that much early on. From what Yup said, the power let him combine pieces of technology, but didn't let him know what the result would be until after he combined them. It had taken a long time to build that suit of armor.

But now that he completed the armor, Yuppie was a force to be reckoned with. The sleek metal exterior, shining a metallic blue, protected the hero from all manner of attacks, and the forcefield generator helped stop anything else. All sorts of technology ran through the suit, from force palms to jet boots. The entire combination made Psy-ops a little jealous.

"I can't believe we're going up against an internet sensation," Fursation said.

Psy-ops looked over to his other friend. Fur had chosen a wereshape power but added in a touch of shamanism for fun. The hero could grab a combination of fetishes based on animals and the four elements. His body would then shift into a combination of the two. Right now, the man was in his air wolf form.

Fursation stalked forward, hunched over. His fur rippled as he spoke, sparks shooting off in all directions, "So, how we gonna do this? Marching band first? Or the leader?"

"I think the Zlos have some sort of sound weapon," Psy-ops replied. "But the rest of the minions look unequipped."

"You think I'll give you the chance to talk!" yelled the Zlos. "Jacques, get them!"

"Fur, you hold off the mob. Psy, and I will take the Dr. Zlos."

"You got it," Fursation replied. He turned to the incoming Jacques, hunkering down in a sprinter's stance. But before he could charge, a carpet of explosives wrecked the field.

"You thought you could hide from me!" a voice yelled. "I told you this wasn't over, Dylan!"

Coughing, the heroes looked up to see a helicopter hovering in the air. Or at least, it looked like a helicopter. The vehicle had the shape of a helicopter, and the blades were correct, but the craft was too bulky. It looked more like those gigantic planes used to carry tanks for the army.

Psy-ops coughed as the dust kicked up from the explosion wafted over to him. He looked down to see Fursation a bit singed, and around half the Jacques in pieces. Some of the more intact ones crawled over to a severed limb and tried to reattach it. His eyes continued moving over the field, and Psy-ops saw a few of the hostages rolling on the ground in pain. Some of the NPCs had gotten hit by the blast, and Psy-ops saw a few weren't moving.

"Ah, Singularity!" shouted all the Dr. Zlos. "Here to steal my thunder again?"

"I'm here to wreck your plans, you sorry excuse for a player."

"Great, looks like we got a hater," Yuppie said over the comm.

Psy-ops nodded, then remembered his friend couldn't see him, "Yeah, looks like it. You think we should help?"

"What if we let them fight, and then take the winner?" Fursation said.

"If we do that, we should get the hostages somewhere safe," Psy-ops replied.

"Do you seriously still believe in that hidden likeability score or whatever it was?" Yuppie asked. "Because I haven't seen anything like that since we started playing."

"Kinda," Psy-ops said. "But also, playing as a real hero would help us get noticed. That's how the Orange Visitor became the first hero."

"He's got a point," Fursation said.

"Alright, fine. I'll swoop down and deploy a bubble around the hostages. Fur, you work on getting the stragglers around the bleachers. Psy, can you try and keep the damage to a minimum?"

Psy-ops pulled out a rifle from his inventory, a bolt action belonging to some wartime hero. "I think so," he said.

Yuppie swooped down, landing in the middle of the hostages, "Great. Let's do this!"

Fursation crouched again, this time aiming over at the bleachers. The faculty were still trying to escort the rest of the crowd out of the area, their powers aimed at keeping the group in control. A few stragglers still hung around the bleachers, either unable or too scared to move. Well, Fur could help with that.

The werewolf launched forward, electricity aiding in the hero's dash. In seconds, the man reached the first group of stragglers, a few kids shaking under a bench. "I gotcha," he said, scooping them up in his arms and dashing over to the teachers. He quickly dropped the kids and went back to grab an elderly couple who had trouble taking the stairs.

Fursation's power wasn't as quick as someone who went with super speed, but the hero was leagues faster than any typical sprinter. Psy-ops couldn't help but be amazed every time his friend used his power. And again, he felt a bit jealous. Psychometry had a lot more limits than he expected when he picked it up.

At least there was an aimbot function if he grabbed the right weapon. Psy-ops aimed the rifle at a stray Jacques who found a dud bomb and was trying to throw it like a football. A line appeared between the hero's gun and the minion, showing the exact route the bullet would take. Psy-ops pulled the trigger and watched as the dud bomb exploded in the Jacques's hands. He turned back to the battlefield, Dr. Zlo and the other villain were about to start their fight.