Vaudevillain

Chapter 45: Minion Testing

Riptide led the charge against the spawning aliens, hopping onto his board and dashing over before they fully materialized. His shark minion followed behind, roaring a battle cry. Jawbreaker and Quartet strolled forward, content to let the other two go first. Riptide crashed into the front group, knocking them over like

Riptide's minion jumped in after and lashed out with a spiked fist. The alien bent back in a dodge, bringing their weapon up to return fire. The minion's other fist knocked it aside, and the shark's head crunched against the alien's skull. It fell to the ground in a slump, rings taking it away.

Riptide followed up the assault, turning his surfboard to unleash a line of laser fire. The standing aliens rolled below the blasts, popping up in a crouch to snap off a shot. Riptide spun his board around the fire but got clipped on the arm. A shield of force appeared over the villain's suit and dissipated the ray blast.

Riptide yelled back at Dr. Zlo after he got hit. "Dude, the shield works great!"

The aliens took the chance to fire another volley of lasers, clipping Riptide's surfboard and sending him sprawling. "Pay attention, you idiot!" Sweet Dream bellowed.

Before the aliens could take advantage of Riptide's slip-up, Quartet and Jawbreaker joined the fray. Quartet stepped over Riptide, whistling a cheery tune. The minion brought its cane up and drew a line of liquid fire, splitting off the wave of Quli. The grass ignited, trapping some unlucky Quli with Jawbreaker.

Jawbreaker stepped forward, using the closest alien to keep the others from firing. The minion performed a quick jab, ringing the Quli's head like a bell. As the alien fell, Jawbreaker grabbed them by the neck and tossed them into the Quli on his left. The alien once again rolled out of the way, but Quartet was waiting for them.

Quartet swung down with their cane, cracking it on the alien's temple. Dazed, the Quli tried to use its ray gun as a club in a desperate attempt to gain time. The minion stepped back to let the impromptu club sail by then stepped in with a swing of their cane. The second blow knocked the alien to the floor in a slump.

While this happened, Jawbreaker stepped up to the other alien, banging their fist together in a challenge. The Quli obliged, holstering their weapon and pulling out a plasma combat knife. "Well, ain't that pretty," commented Jawbreaker. The alien responded with two quick stabs.

Jawbreaker weaved between the strikes, stepping through the knife's effective range. The minion gave a quick one-two punch, and the alien staggered back. Jawbreaker stepped in again, continuing the jab combo. Dull thuds resounded as the Quli desperately tried to throw their arms up in a block. But Jawbreaker's assault was too much, and the Quli heard something crunch.

Jawbreaker smiled, "Not a jaw, but it'll do."

Rings of light stole the alien away before they hit the ground. Jawbreaker joined up with the other minions while Riptide flew over the wall of fire into the next group of aliens. With one hand, the villain brought out the new laser Dr. Zlo had made and fired. A sea-blue beam twirled out of the gun, bubbling over as it connected with the Quli's leg. The alien collapsed as the ray ate away at the thigh.

"Haha no way!" Cheered Riptide. He continued on his course, using his surfboard laser and his new beam gun to wipe out the alien threat. His minion followed behind, taking out any aliens lucky enough to survive Riptide's rampage.

"I'm still amazed at how impressive he is on that board," commented Sweet Dream.

"Of course! He's riding my invention after all. I would expect nothing less."

"It looks like he's mopped up the last wave. Want to join in on the last one?"

"I don't see why not, I do have a few more inventions to test out." Dr. Zlo pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and waved it a couple of times. He let go, and the silken cloth flapped in the air, hovering around the doctor.

"You made a handkerchief bird?"

"It's not a bird," said Dr. Zlo as he walked up to a spawning alien. "It's one of my greatest inventions!"

"You say all your inventions are great," Sweet Dream remarked.

"That's because everything I make is my greatest invention." Dr. Zlo pointed his cane at one of the aliens and covered it in a gout of flame. An alien to his left tried to shoot, but the handkerchief flapped into the Quli's face. Now blinded, the Quli's shot went wild, allowing Dr. Zlo to turn calmly and fire his laser. The alien fell in a slump, and the doctor turned back to Sweet Dream.

"As I said, one of my greatest inventions."

Sweet Dream responded by transforming and firing a blast of chocolate. It thwipped past Dr. Zlo and connected with an attacking Quli. "You should make eyes in the back of your head. It seems fitting considering how often you stop paying attention."

Dr. Zlo twisted back around to finish off the last Quli in the area. "Oh please, these Neanderthals could never come close to matching me."

Two mechs stepped forward, the final bosses in the wave of attacks. Riptide flew over the bickering villains, firing his laser into the mech's joints. Quartet stepped up to the second mech, spraying a blast of adhesive to slow the machine. Jawbreaker and the shark minion grabbed the first mech's legs and heaved. The mech shifted but didn't fall.

Sweet Dream yelled, "Riptide, tackle it!"

"Got it!" Riptide swung around on his board and shoulder-checked the mech's head. The resulting force tipped the scales, and the mech came crashing down to the ground. Unable to stand, the mech tried twisting around to unleash its beam on anyone it could. Riptide aimed his shark-themed laser, shooting the joint between the mech and the gun. The twisting light ate away at the metal, severing the joints.

"Woah, this thing's powerful."

"It's a disintegration ray. What did you expect to happen?" Commented Dr. Zlo.

Sweet Dream yelled at the two, "talk later, there's still another mech!"

"Oh, right." Riptide flew over, firing his disintegration beam at the mech. In two long bursts, both gun arms fell from the mech and crashed to the ground. Riptide fired another shot but found the beam fizzled out after a few seconds. Jawbreaker stepped in to continue the assault, working with Riptide's minion to topple the unbalanced mech.

"Hey, what gives?" Riptide complained.

"Do you think my invention can continuously fire? After a long attack like that, you must wait for it to recharge." Dr. Zlo replied.

"Oh. Got it."

"That's it then, right? We can start the plan now?" Sweet Dream inquired.

Dr. Zlo looked back at Mabel, who had arranged the remaining Quli into four rows of five. "I think we can begin."

"You gonna let that Dextra know, dude?" Asked Riptide.

"Yeah, we should discuss that real quick," commented Sweet Dream. "Out of character, probably."

"Alright," answered Dylan. "I was thinking of doing it, mainly to see what they do."

Sweet Dream raised an eyebrow, "you don't think she'll try and attack the base?"

Dylan shrugged. "Honestly, I don't have a clue. But Dextra's character doesn't strike me as someone who would get petty revenge by destroying a person's base while they're away. Dextra would want you to know it was her who did it after you had already fallen in her trap with no way to escape."

"You sure, dude?"

"Even if I'm wrong, all I lose is a few factories. Those aren't that hard to rebuild."

"Alright, it's mostly your stuff anyways." Sweet Dream said.

"Yeah, dude. Make the call if you want."

Nodding, Dylan opened his friends list and messaged Dextra.

Superfan39526:

We're starting.

D.Black:

Excellent.

"Alright, everyone, it's time to begin our heist!"

__________________________________________________

Dextra smiled as they saw the message appear. It seemed that despite being a villain, this Dr. Zlo held a sense of honor. That was rather rare in the megalomaniacal types. Closing out of the chat message, Dextra spoke to her companions.

"It seems our villainous friend has informed us. Shizuka, recall the clone you had following him so we can confirm. Hans, get the car ready. I believe it is time for me to meet the public."

"Sure thing, Dex," Shizuka replied.

Hans only nodded, leaving to prepare the car.

While the two left to prepare, Dextra opened up the bottom desk drawer and pulled out a small communicator. "Are we all in position?"

"We've been in position for two days Dextra," Nikola responded. "I'm a bit tired of sitting on my *ss."

"Did your distraction finally make a move?" Another asked.

"Yes, Globule, he did. I've been informed he's on his way now." Hans walked back into the room, nodding that the car was ready. Dextra stood, "I am heading to my position as we speak."

"Finally, I can't wait to oust these stupid heroes and rule my own section."

"We're all excited, Snapdragon. But remember, things could always go awry."

"Yes mom. Not like you haven't told us a thousand times. Plus, you made contingencies just in case. I don't see any of this going wrong."

"The natural order of life is chaos," someone interjected.

"Oh, shut it, you old fart."

Dextra closed the communicator before any more of the argument appeared. Snapdragon and Ferris were always at each other's throats. It was why Dextra had placed their territories next to each other. They fully expected negotiations to break down after the takeover, which made the two perfect pawns.

Stepping inside their limousine, Dextra switched over to their secret identity. No longer were they Dextra Black, the criminal, now they were Dextra Black, business tycoon and philanthropist.

"Where to, Ms. Black?" Asked Hans.

"To the Kirby Reserve. I have vital information for the mayor and the heroes."

Nodding, Hans turned the wheel and made their way over to Haven City's federal reserve. Dextra smiled. It was finally time to begin the plan.

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