Vaudevillain

"Shields at fifty percent, boss," Cass said a second later. Bart had made sure to stick close to the Zlomobile, letting Quartet and Fleshgrabber assault the finest getaway car known to man with bullets and conjured sound. Dr. Zlo, of course, fired back with lasers, but Bart was as good a driver as Dylan. The man nimbly juked left and right to avoid the Zlomobile's attacks.

Frustrated, Dr. Zlo rolled down his car window and stuck his head out to yell. "Jacques! If you don't capture that car in ten seconds, I'm going to end you along with it! Now, hop to it!"

The Jacques all threw their hands in the air to acknowledge Dr. Zlo, the man himself having to duck back into his car as a burst of gunfire from Fleshgrabber almost took his hat off. Incensed, Dr. Zlo hunkered down at the wheel, waiting for his moment while dodging incoming fire. The villain pulled the Zlomobile in erratic arcs, weaving through Quartet's hummed bars of sound.

Pavement chipped and melted as the various attacks came and missed the racers, turning the picturesque (and eclectic) streets into an abstract rendition of a city. The Jacques, now goaded by their leader, rushed the man with a rifle all at once. Bursts of gunfire erupted from the man's rifle, but he could only take one Jacques down with him before the other two were on him. The two living Jacques picked the man up by the arms and swung him over the truck, finally freeing themselves from the assault weapon.

On the other car, the coordinated Jacques had breached the driver's seat and were kicking the driver out the window. There was a scream, then a bump from behind as the Jacques took the wheel. One ducked below the seat, preparing itself to use the gas and brakes while the one above twisted the wheel toward Bart. The final Jacques noticed a spare gun lying about and grabbed it, swinging it around like a sword.

"Brace yourself, Cass," Dr. Zlo said as he stepped on the gas. "We're about to give Quartet some tough love!"

Cass hastily grabbed onto the seat, gripping it so hard some of the fabric tore.

"You're repairing that later," Dr. Zlo muttered.

The Zlomobile raced forward with the intention to ram Bart. However, the apocalyptic villain wasn't going to make it easy. Bart started to weave left and right, attempting to evade Dr. Zlo's attack. But his focus on the villain made him blind to the Jacques, both groups finally taking their respective cars.

The attackers didn't notice until it was too late. The Jacques swerved their cars, sandwiching Bart in the middle and pinning him. Fleshgrabber and Quartet were rocked, stumbling for a second before coming back up to their feet. But by that time, Dr. Zlo had reached them, ramming into the back of Bart's powered truck and sending his mutinous minion lurching forward.

"Dodge this!" Dr. Zlo cackled, unleashing blasts of laser fire into the rear of Bart's car.

Red energy pierced through the rear axles, breaking the car's tires clean off. The rear of the vehicle fell to the ground, sparks leaping like frogs as metal skidded on the pavement. Dr. Zlo slowed and maneuvered around the skidding car, his head thrown back in uproarious laughter. That would teach them not to mess with Dr. Zlo!

But Quartet wasn't done. Both he and Fleshgrabber had recovered from their stumbles and had jumped cars. They landed on the truck with the Jacques, quickly dispatching the two remaining minions with a blast of Quartet's powers. The two Jacques flew off the vehicle, their arms windmilling in the air as they smashed into the ground.

The treacherous minion split into four as Fleshgrabber grabbed the wheel and accelerated to follow Dr. Zlo. Quartet secured his selves onto the truck, holding tight onto railings as Fleshgrabber urged the car forward.

"Boss, he's still coming!" Cass shouted.

Dr. Zlo looked in his mirror to see Quartet coming closer, his four bodies singing in harmony to collect the pieces of gravel-strewn along the ground. Dr. Zlo watched as the minion formed the gravel together into a gigantic ball. It spun slowly in place as Quartet created it, giving Dr. Zlo a bit of time to think.

"Doesn't he know he's never going to win?" Dr. Zlo growled under his breath. Turning to Cass, Dr. Zlo spoke, "How many Jacques do we have left?"

"Not many, boss," Cass said.

"Fire all of them at Quartet. I want to distract him for a moment."

Cass obediently fired the remaining Jacques from the catapult. The suited minions appeared in the air, angling themselves to land on Quartet's car. Fleshgrabber maneuvered around most of them, only a few able to land on the driving vehicle. The rest landed face-first on the pavement below, their bodies crumpling together like paper. But enough minions landed that Quartet was forced to stop collecting for his giant weapon, turning his attention to the newly formed Jacques.

"Don't think simple creations like you can stop me," Quartet boasted. "I've got more power in my pinky than all of you combined."

One of the Jacques just thumbed its nose as it started hopping around like a martial artist. Quartet sang a deep baritone and launched the minion off the truck. He shook his head in contempt as the remaining Jacques all dove for cover.

"Pitiful. Why you're the backbone of Dr. Zlo's army, I'll never know. At least Dr. Zlo did one thing right, creating me!"

Quartet threw his arms wide in exultation, all four of his copies performing the same motion, "I'm the culmination of all Dr. Zlo's genius, his strongest minion! And he uses me for petty traps! Traps! No, I won't stand for it. Since he can't see my potential, it's time for me to take matters into my own hands."

The four Quartets sucked in lungfuls of air, their chests expanding before releasing it in one giant huff, "I'm the greatest being to walk the earth!!! And now I will start ruling over it!!!"

Shockwaves rocked the area, shattering windows and cracking the sidewalk as Quartet's booming voice traveled across Skyline. The Jacques on the truck looked at each other, covering their ears with their hands in unison as if it would block the noise. One Jacques looked at the rest, pointed at Quartet, then circled a finger around its ear. Quartet was a bit bonkers in the Jacques' eyes.

The shockwave continued its journey, striking the surrounding cars. Anything not reinforced shattered to pieces. Riptide's boatmobile, Sweet Dream's Candy Crusher, and the clown car all lost their windows to the assault and were forced to slow down before losing control of their vehicles. Far behind, Oro, Jack, and Valiant raced straight through, their strengthened cars barely shaking from the spreading assault.

Ahead of Quartet, Dr. Zlo grumbled. "He thinks he's my greatest creation, does he? I'll show him. He's nothing more than a lieutenant, a soldier in my grand army! He'll never be good enough to be anything more."

Cass nodded in agreement. After all, the butler was Dr. Zlo's right-hand man. No one could take that away from him.

Dr. Zlo unhooked his seatbelt, "Cass, take the wheel. I've got some thinking to do."

"Got it, boss," Cass answered.

The two villains switched places, Dr. Zlo climbing into the back seat as Cass settled. The butler continued to drive forward, taking the upcoming turns at a breakneck pace. Fleshgrabber followed behind, jumping ahead of the pack after Quartet's outburst.

In fact, the minion's assault had harmed him more than helped. The remaining team of apocalyptic racers was unequipped to deal with Quartet's sonic boom. They had all swerved into various buildings as their vehicles broke down. The only one left available was Fleshgrabber since he could close his ears with his power. Even Bart was out of commission, the shockwave taking him down as he tried to convert another car with his power.

Still, Quartet and Fleshgrabber charged forward, the latter continuing because of excitement, not from any promise he'd made to Quartet. This race was the most fun he'd had fighting in a long time. Fleshgrabber hadn't had something this chaotic since starting out. When no one knew how anything worked, and battles were unpredictable. Eagerly, the villain drove forward, trying to catch up to Dr. Zlo.

Dr. Zlo sat in the backseat of his Zlomobile, his power tab open. Since Quartet betrayed him, Dylan needed stronger ammunition than Jacques for his catapult. Shooting minions was all well and good, but no amount of Jacques could hold a candle to a powered minion like Quartet. Dylan was pretty sure Quartet could toss the Jacques away if he were so inclined.

Dylan still had his self-destruct patches, which would work perfectly for this situation. Still, he needed something that would home in on Quartet. Otherwise, the minion could dodge, and Dr. Zlo didn't have enough patches or materials to waste ammo like that. He debated using some of Cass's weapons but ultimately decided against it. While taking out Quartet with an alcoholic explosive sounded fun, it didn't have the threatening air Dr. Zlo wanted for Quartet. No, his minion would have to learn just how outmatched he was against Dr. Zlo! the greatest criminal mastermind!

Dylan typed in homing device on his power tab, watching as the ingredients scrolled down.

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