Vaudevillain

They were coming up to a turn now, and Valiant caught the Zlomobile slip out of sight for a second. The car appeared a moment later as he took the turn. They were in the final stretch; the PVP arena was in sight.

And it was an impressive sight. The Romanesque architecture with modern flair made the building look all the more striking. The streamer resolved to have something similar in his own faction base. If only to compete with Skyline's impressive features.

But there were more important things to worry about at the moment. Namely, getting ahead of this minion. It shouldn't be hard now that they were on the last straightaway. The minion's sound powers could stop Valiant from passing. It would come down to driving skill, and Matt had played enough racing simulators to feel confident.

Keeping his shield up, Matt fell in behind the truck, drafting to increase his speed as much as possible. Just when it seemed he would bump the vehicle ahead, the streamer jerked to the side. Quartet tried to stop the man, but Valiant's shield made it impossible to hurt him. Despite all of Quartet's power, he couldn't hold a candle to someone like Valiant.

The streamer pulled away just as he noticed a black dot land on the truck. A second later, the world turned orange as a giant explosion rocked the street. Valiant's shield absorbed the blow, but the hero still felt heat wash over his face.

"What the f*ck!" the man yelled.

"That will show you who the real villain is, Quartet!"

Valiant turned to see Dr. Zlo leaning out the passenger door, laughing maniacally at the explosion behind him.

"Next time! Think twice about betraying me! I won't be so lenient in the future!"

Valiant glanced back to see scattered bodies and cars across the pavement, the aftermath of Dr. Zlo's attack. Sweet Dream sat up, her hair singed from the explosion, and her Candy Crusher scattered across the street. Jawbreaker and B.B. recovered nearby, the only two minions to survive Dr. Zlo's surprise attack. Quartet was alive as well; one of his bodies dangled precariously on a power line draped across the street. His partner was splattered across the street, slowly reforming his body.

Warily, Valiant kept an eye out for any other black dots. He wasn't about to fall prey to a surprise attack from above—especially not one with an explosion of that power.

"Dude! Where were you hiding that!" A voice shouted from the sky.

Surprised, the hero looked up to see Riptide surfing his boatmobile above them, the surfer angling downward to land beside Dr. Zlo. Valiant pulled up next to the two a moment later, the final stretch of the race coming up.

Matt gripped the wheel tight and focused. It was time to win this thing.

"How dare you two catch up to me while I was dealing with internal issues!" Dr. Zlo complained, his fist shaking.

"How's that my fault, dude?" Riptide shouted back

"Don't you have any sense of sportsmanship?!" Dr. Zlo shot back.

"Bold words coming from a cheater!" Matt chimed in.

"Bah!" Dr. Zlo grumbled.

The villain leaned back into his Zlomobile and pushed Cass out of the way to retake the wheel. Cass flailed backward, landing between the front seats before scrambling back to the passenger seat.

"You could have asked," the butler grumbled.

"No time for that!" Dr. Zlo shouted. "We have a race to win. Get back on the weapons!"

"But boss, we don't have anymore Jacques," Cass complained. "I can't shoot the lasers backward!"

"Then throw a grenade or two, Cass!" The villain grumbled. "What do you think your weapons are for? Decoration?"

"Sorry, boss," Cass answered sheepishly. He'd forgotten about the devices Dr. Zlo gave him, what with all the chaos going on. The minion leaned out of the Zlomobile window, pulling two of his booze grenades from his pocket and dropping them in the path of the racers. The bombs exploded a moment later, covering the street in a brown alcoholic cloud.

G.W. instantly conjured a whirlwind, sucking the gas up and depositing it off the street. Valiant only had to raise his shield, stopping the gas from filtering past as he halted its kinetic energy. Both racers continued to race behind Dr. Zlo, neither impeded by Cass's attempted attack.

"It's not working, boss!" Cass cried. "They have powers to counter my grenades!"

"Useless!" Dr. Zlo complained. "What about the flamethrower?"

"It would only be the same, boss," Cass answered sadly. "Riptide's minion controls the wind, and Valiant would stop it with his shield."

Dr. Zlo made a face, eyebrows narrowing as the temper took him, "I guess it seems I'll have to win this race with skill alone! Cass, keep an eye on the shields. We can't let Valiant's attacks through!"

"You got it!" Cass said.

Dr. Zlo kept his eyes ahead, the road seeming to widen as his focus sharpened. Inwardly, Dylan wondered how he might lose. Dr. Zlo wasn't about to give up, and the villain wouldn't try to make it easy. Plus, Dylan was out of options for attacking. Sure, he had his lasers, but Dylan didn't think Dr. Zlo would slow down to get behind his enemies. Not while he was already ahead.

An idea came to Dylan then. "Cass!" he shouted, removing his button bombs. "Make yourself useful and take these."

Cass gingerly took them, "You want me to throw them, boss?"

Dr. Zlo shook his head, "No, load them into the Jacques-a-pult. We're going to stop those racers if it's the last thing I do."

Cass saluted, scrambling to the back seats. The minion proceeded to lower a seatback, opening up a space that led to the trunk. One by one, Cass loaded the button bombs just as they entered the home stretch. The finish line was in sight now, a tall checkered flag waving in the wind. Players stacked up on both sides of the road, cheering as the three racers zoomed toward the finish line.

"Ready, boss!" Cass said as he loaded the last explosive.

"Excellent," Dr. Zlo answered.

The villain opened his window, yelling out to his competitors, "I hope you both like presents! Because I've brought some for you! Careful though, they're a bit temperamental!"

Cackling, Dr. Zlo fired his first button bomb, aiming at Riptide. With any luck, the man's minion would whip it right back at Dr. Zlo. Dylan could then swerve the car, putting him behind the racers and giving Dr. Zlo an excuse to lose.

A white beam of static ate the bomb before it could reach Riptide. Shocked, Dr. Zlo looked over to see Valiant with a smug look on his face.

"Don't even think about causing more chaos, Dr. Zlo!" the man shouted. "You aren't going to leap ahead after another trap!"

"Curse you, Valiant!" Dr. Zlo roared, his fist shaking at the hero. Dylan didn't even try to mask his frustration. That was the moment! Dr. Zlo would have slowed down, barely losing the race after all his attempts to cheat! And Valiant was ruining the whole plan, all because he thought Dr. Zlo would cheat again!

It would have been hilarious if Dylan wasn't so frustrated. Here he was, actively trying to lose, and his competitors wouldn't let him. Sighing, Dylan let go of his anger and went back to the drawing board. He'd need another plan if he wanted to lose.

John watched the race inside the crowd of spectators, his character blending in with the other colorful heroes and villains of Menagerie. It had been stupidly easy to infiltrate the faction, the group having little in the way of verification. All John had to do was show the same enthusiasm the others had for Dr. Zlo, and he was in. As much as he hated acting like a fanboy for Dylan, it did get him inside.

The man's character was different now, a magitech wizard with the power to conjure special items. It was John's second counter to mad science since he'd learned the ability couldn't interact with magical effects. He couldn't use Singularity since Dylan knew the character. No, John knew he had to play as someone else and act like a completely different person.

"Yeah! Get him!" John shouted, mimicking the others around him.

The man was sitting with some other heroes, watching as Valiant and Riptide slowly caught up to Dr. Zlo. The two racers were gaining, but John could see neither would overtake him unless something happened. Dr. Zlo's new invention was too fast, and Dylan was a better racer than John realized.

But John couldn't have Dr. Zlo winning. If Dylan won, he'd get all that Phlebotinium. John couldn't have that. It would only make it harder to take Dr. Zlo down. The new changes to items and death timers were already an issue John had to workaround. He couldn't have the villain with more power.

So John had slowly worked his way forward until he stood at the barrier between the crowd and the street. Whispering, John conjured a magical mine, an earth spike that would follow Dr. Zlo and activate under him. With any luck, it would look like the villain hit a bump in the road. No one would ever realize it was sabotage.

John formed the small explosive in his hands, resembling a rocky pebble. With another gesture and a quick snapshot of the road, John changed the mine's color to match the street. His trap prepared, John placed the rock between his thumb and forefinger and flicked it onto the road.

The pebble clattered onto the ground, rolling to find its way in front of the Zlomobile, waiting patiently as the car drove toward it. It continued to move as the Zlomobile maneuvered, keeping itself between the vehicle and the finish line. John smiled as the Zlomobile rushed to meet its end.

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