Vaudevillain

The streets of Haven City were empty. Empty save for two thugs in ski masks trying to break into a jewelry store. These two thugs weren't the best at this act of vandalism. For one, neither had brought anything to pick the locks on the fence.

"Can't you just tear it open with your hands or something?" One thug said.

"No, I can't just tear it open. I don't have super strength, Henry."

"SHHH. Don't use my real name, you idiot. What if someone hears?"

"Who's gonna hear? There ain't no one around if you couldn't tell."

Dana Dozer sat on the roof above lazily watching the two men argue. Tonight it was her turn to use the VIS but the game wasn't all that fun at the moment. There were only so many times she could stop a bank robber before getting bored after all. She had been hoping for an actual fight, to feel the rush of adrenaline in her veins.

Dana thought back to the day she had faced that obnoxious roleplayer. Despite his annoying tendency to be over the top, Dana enjoyed the fight. It had sparked an interest in learning how to fight. Maybe then she could show up her idiot of a brother. Of course, mom and dad weren't about to let her take any sort of martial arts lessons. Not because they didn't want her, they just couldn't afford it.

Dana jumped down from her perch on the roof and landed on the pavement below. The ground cracked under her weight and the two criminals turned with a start. Dana swung a fist at the one on the right and sent him flying into the air. The second turned to run away but Dana grabbed him into a chokehold and held him still.

"Tap out, tap out," Henry groaned. The thug tried to struggle out of Dana's grip by pulling at her arm but wasn't equipped with super-strength like the woman. She sighed, it looked like another simple fight.

His partner fell back down to the ground with a thud and Dana grabbed him with her other arm. With both thugs in a chokehold, the hero started spinning around. The two thugs went from struggling to escape to struggling to hold on as Dana's spin became more of a tornado.

"Henry, I'm slipping!"

"Stop. Usin'. My. Name."

Once Dana had gained enough speed she let go of both thugs. The two criminals soared up into the sky and twinkled as they disappeared. She sighed again. Even messing around with the mobs in the game wasn't any fun.

Dana sat down at a nearby bus stop and watched the video advertisement while thinking of what to do. She was only C rank at the moment, maybe she should try and work her way up to B rank. The NPCs kept talking about how she could use the shuttle when she hit B rank. Maybe there was a chance of finding some fun there.

The video screen she watched flickered and changed. Instead of some random advertisement, a familiar face appeared. Dana shot to her feet as that roleplayer from before stood next to the mayor's son. Behind him stood a row of suited mannequin-men, like the ones she'd fought against the first time. Except now the minion's held a straight cane in their hand.

The man adjusted his monocle and fixed his suit before speaking. "Hello people of Haven City! It is I! Dr. Zlo!"

Dana smiled. It looked like she might get a good fight after all.

Heroic was sitting around for Stonewall in the hero's guild. He wanted to start a new questline and turn his most recent one in. He'd finished up the recent patrol mission around the financial district and needed only one more success to advance to B rank. Heroic tapped his foot impatiently. Stonewall was the only one who could issue new quests at night, something Heroic thought was stupid.

Sure, there were other types of quests. Ignition's gathering quests were one of them. Heroes could activate the flame-themed gadgeteer's missions for some extra cash. Or someone could take Condor's missions to escort someone across town. But her missions were rare and limited to a few people. Plus, they were escort missions. No one ever wanted to do escort missions. That left Stonewall as the only one who issued repeatable quests for quick gains in reputation.

It wasn't like the hero to be this late. The rocky super always made sure to arrive on time through one of the many secret entrances set up throughout the city. The man was always no-nonsense when issuing quests. it was one of the reasons Heroic liked dealing with the hero.

Heroic stood and walked over to a set of televisions and cameras used to monitor everything around the city. Right now most of the screens showed the dark streets of Haven City at night. Various NPCs milled about on the streets and Heroic watched a hero toss two criminals into the air. One of the video screens tuning in to a local news channel changed to show Dr. Zlo's face. Heroic started. What was that idiot doing on the screen?

"Hello people of Haven City! It is I! Dr. Zlo!" The suited villain bowed.

"You must of course be wondering why I am contacting you all like this. I'm sure many of you have never even heard of me, a terrible shame."

Heroic rolled his eyes. It seems Dr. Zlo had made something that let him take over all the broadcasts in the city.

"I have here with me someone of great importance to your mayor," Dr. Zlo continued. The camera panned over to reveal Tyler Mayorsson tied up in chains.

Heroic widened his eyes in surprise. "Well now looks like the goofball did something."

"Now, if the mayor doesn't prepare me one hundred million dollars his precious son will be subjected to the cruelest tortures imaginable! He has until dawn to prepare the money or the city will lose its golden child! Oh, and did I forget to mention our golden boy here is also one of the cities great protectors? Mabel if you please!"

"Certainly Hon. Tyler would you be so kind as to show us who you are?"

The man seemed to visibly struggle but then froze. The mayor's son changed before everyone's eyes into the hero Stonewall. Heroic stood from his seat in anger. "That f*cking troll!"

Did this guy know Stonewall was the one who issued all the quests? He probably did. God the stupid villain had been blocking Heroic's progress since the game launched. Well, Heroic was going to go teach him another lesson.

Dextra Black watched Dr. Zlo's speech from a television in their secret base. It had been a simple enough task to defeat the suited villain's minions. The lackeys were weak fighters and predictable to boot. Hans had held off the lot of them while the rest of her hired minions came down from the apartments.

They watched as the man exposed the identity of one of the major supers in Haven City while sipping on a glass of brandy. They crushed the glass in their hand angrily. "This man took apart my whole plan Hans. And for what? To ransom the mayor's son for petty cash."

Their plan had been almost perfect. Use their superintelligence power to discover the identities of the major NPC heroes and villains, kidnap or dispose of them, and unleash their serum on the city. That had changed when they found out the mayor's son was the hero Stonewall, but that only meant kidnapping one super and making the mayor deal with the others. And then the plan had been ruined by a man in a top hat.

Dextra was one of those rare combinations of roleplayer and min-maxer and hardcore in both aspects. Dextra was the type of player who would create a backstory for a character and make sure they were the most overpowered in the story. With World of Supers, this involved abusing the reputation system and powers. Plus the general advantages one received when playing a female character in any MMO.

Dextra had been created to be the rich corporate mastermind. The plan was to buy the entire island, or become mayor and rule the place as a villainous nation. With their power of superintelligence, the idea had seemed easy enough. Of course, no one could expect a villain like this ruining their plans.

However, Dextra did have to admire Dr. Zlo's theme. The whole monocle, mustache, and top hat look evoked a definite reaction in anyone who saw it. Add in the lanky frame and maniacal voice and you had a classic villain. The mad science addition was a nice touch, but maybe a bit too steampunk.

Truthfully, Dextra didn't care that their plan to take over the city had been ruined. There were three more like it in the works. But the way they played the character meant any sort of slight in their plan was a slight against them. Dextra was meant to be the maliciously evil mastermind after all.

"The man is a blight, Ms. Black," Hans said, reminding Dextra of their presence and bringing her attention back to Dr. Zlo.

"Indeed," they replied as they watched the villain command his minion to control Tyler, exposing him as the hero Stonewall.

"As you can see, your beloved Tyler is none other than the hero Stonewall! Once again, I require one hundred million dollars for his safe return. Oh, and to give you a taste of the terrible things to happen, I have prepared a demonstration."

Dextra watched as the villain turned and pulled out a strangely shaped gun. It almost looked like a hairdryer but there were too many other accessories on it for that to be the case. They watched as Dr. Zlo aimed and pointed the weapon at Stonewall.

A beam of purple light shot out of the end of the gun and connected with the captured hero's chest. Dextra watched as the large super shrunk down. Well, not all of them shrunk. The hero's hips seemed to widen and Dextra stared as Stonewall's chest expanded outward. The hero's stomach shrunk down to a svelte six-pack of abs.

Stonewall's rocky, fractured exterior shrunk down and reformed into a marble-like material, smoothing out all the rough edges. Amazingly, the jeans Stonewall wore shrunk with the hero, staying a pair of form-fitting yoga pants. Dextra blinked and Stonewall suddenly had a torn t-shirt top on, ripped at the sleeves and stomach. Finally, the hero's stony face became a marble bust of a woman's, complete with wavy long hair.

"Say hello to the mayor's daughter, Tyla! Ahahahahahahaha!" Dr. Zlo threw his hands into the air as he laughed. "Remember, you have until dawn!"

The broadcast shut off, leaving Dextra alone with their minion.

"Hans, ready the car. We're going to go hunting."

"Of course Ms. Black."

Villainous speech finished, Dylan turned off the camera and turned to his minions. The Jacques milled about the area save for the group standing behind Momma Mabel. The minion had taken control of a few of the Jacques and had converted them into a completely different unit. Their suit jackets had been replaced with a formal vest, giving them a semi-formal look.

Cass stood by a console hosting a single large button. Wires ran from it down and over to a monorail train resting on the tracks. Next to him stood a few more Jacques with canes. Cass seemed to be a bit nervous.

"Boss are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'm always sure Cass! Now, let the show begin!"