Vaudevillain

"Oh, you know what we should do?" Jack said eagerly. "Get a buncha people together and make a Bibleguy drinking game!"

Dylan snorted, "God, that would be hilarious. But let's pick my new power first before planning anything else."

"Yeah you got it."

The two turned back to Dylan's menu, looking at their two options.

"So, magitech or magic cane," Jack said, leaning in.

"Yeah," Dylan answered. "Not sure which one I want to go with."

"Both can give you a combat boost," Jack stated. "Magitech will have more versatility but probably work like your mad science power. The Magic Cane will come preloaded, but you can't change it."

"I'm not too worried about flexibility," Dylan said. "Now that I've got the Inventory Assembly upgrade."

Jack nodded, "You probably need some more firepower now. Or something to protect you against magic. Magitech can do that, and so can Magic Cane."

Dylan leaned back to think about it. Magitech would fit Dr. Zlo's gadgetry persona, and he could make a magic cane with the power. But every technology he built would use his mana to power it, meaning there would only be so many items he could make. Magic Cane had the same mana issue, but Dylan wouldn't have to worry about managing new inventions. It boiled down to a question of flexibility or simplicity.

"I wonder how powerful the Magic Cane spells are," Jack mused.

"It did say I could slot three spells. It never specified which spells," Dylan said. "I'm assuming it'll let me pick once I choose the power."

"And magitech requires more materials," Jack said with a tilt of her head. "Which would mean more fetch quests for you."

Dylan shrugged, "I could probably double up?"

Jack wagged a hand back and forth, "Maybe? I know most cities tend to split between science and magic. At least for now. Who knows what the future will hold."

Dylan frowned, "So you're saying I might have to travel to multiple cities to get everything I need? That seems like a pain."

"With the teleporter, it probably isn't that big of an issue," Jack replied. She poked at Dylan's menu screen, "I think the big question is how powerful is the magic in each power? I'm sure we could find something on the forums about Magitech. Not so sure about the Magic Cane."

"It'd be nice if we got some more concrete information with the abilities," Dylan said.

Jack snapped a finger, "I know! You could always two new characters and pick the powers. That would let you see how each one works."

Dylan thought about it, "Not a bad idea. I'd be able to confirm everything for myself."

"If you want, we could double up. You pick one power, and I'll pick the other. Then we go through our findings?" Jack said.

"You don't have anything else to do?" Dylan asked. "I don't want to impose or anything."

Jack shook her head, "Nah. I don't have a new project I want to work on yet, and Dextra's tasked others with building more defenses. Something about instilling loyalty by doling out responsibility."

"Thomas is really getting into the whole leader role," Dylan mused.

Jack rolled her eyes, "Don't get me started. I mean, the guy's great and all, but sometimes he gets a bit too invested in things. This whole Menagerie thing was made to protest Vert, and now that he's got the troops, he wants to figure out the next step. I told him it would be easiest to just find as many bugs and exploits as possible to force a patch, but he doesn't want to go that route. He thinks petitions and discussions with the developers will eventually show Vert what the players want. I'm not so hopeful."

"Hey, some companies are good at listening to feedback," Dylan countered, wanting to defend his friend's decision. He didn't like the idea of exploiting the game either.

"I'm not saying Tomcat is wrong per se," Jack elaborated with a wave. "But Vert seems to be a hardware company first and a software one second. Most of their news is about upgrades to the VIS. Barely anything is about World of Supers. Other than the expansion announcements, of course. That says to me the company isn't paying attention to its game to focus on its hardware. And that wouldn't be an issue if they didn't tie their headset together with their game."

"They did kind of market World of Supers first and the VIS second," Dylan agreed.

"Right. So because they tied some of their, heh, reputation, to their game, they need to be somewhat on the ball with game feedback. And they just haven't. It's like they think the chance to make your own expansion will keep players around."

"It probably will," Dylan said. He remembered John and how invested his old friend was in the game. "Some people would do anything to be a part of gaming development."

Jack sighed, "You're right. But that only cements my point, I think. Vert won't react to problems in the game unless someone breaks pieces of it. Petitions and discussion will only create empty promises that aren't fulfilled."

The two sat for a second, thinking about their discussion. Dylan honestly didn't know if Jack was right or not. But he did know he liked playing Dr. Zlo and wouldn't want to stop if possible. However, at the end of the day, World of Supers was a game, and while Dylan was invested in Dr. Zlo, he didn't want to stick around if it meant mounting frustrations.

"Well, enough of that talk," Dylan said. "Let's make a couple new characters with Magitech and Magic Cane."

"You got it," Jack answered. "I'll take Magitech if that's alright."

"By all means," Dylan answered with a bow.

Jack snorted at the mock etiquette as she logged out, "See you in a bit."

Dylan followed shortly after, heading to World of Supers' main menu and selecting "New Character." He went through the creation process quickly, only stopping to enter Magic Cane for his power. As such, Dylan joined Tutorial City with the default character look. Those looking at the player would see a grey alien instead of a human. Vert decided to default to the drab colors to inspire creativity in character creation.

The player ignored his design choice and immediately opened up his menu. Inside his inventory sat his magic cane, a warning box telling him removing the cane would start the process. Dylan grabbed it, watching as a box appeared in his vision.

The Magic Cane comes equipped with three spells of your choosing. Pick from the list below!

Under the new box scrolled a list of magic powers, a search box and a filter tab nearby. Dylan opened the search bar, typing in "fireball." The wizard only using fireball was a recent joke Dylan learned, and he couldn't help but continue the trend. He selected Heal and Ensare as his other two spells, picking the first topics that came to mind.

Spells selected, Dylan focused his attention on his surroundings, looking for a targeting range of some kind. The game had spawned him into a generic, beige-white room. A door sat opposite the player's character. Dylan walked to it, seeing nothing else to interact with within the space. Once he threw open the door, a box greeted him.

Welcome! Is this your first time playing World of Supers?

Dylan selected no and moved on, opening his map to find a targeting range. The map highlighted a building a few blocks down, an open circle surrounding a few small huts. Shrugging, Dylan made his way over.

The player arrived at the targeting range, the area built to resemble an old fairground. Players of all kinds stood in the area, walking into the huts or lining up at range to shoot some targets. The sound of crackling energy, gunfire, and chanting reached Dylan's ears as he moved forward, and the player wondered how anyone could think with all the noise.

A spot in the shooting range opened up as Dylan walked inside, and the player made for the opening. No one else tried to get in his way, giving Dylan space to test his magic cane. He opened up his power, selecting the fireball spell to watch the tutorial video. Once again, a screen opened in front of Dylan, showing a grey silhouette practicing a series of swishing motions. Next to the moving character sat a series of drawings showing which direction to move the cane.

Dylan copied the motions obediently, almost yelping in surprise as fire gathered at the tip of the cane. Dylan went through the final motions, flicking the fireball at the target in front of him. The ball whizzed forward, exploding outward once it reached its target and scattering bits of hay and dirt. Dylan flinched from the explosion, unprepared for the damage the spell dealt.

However, upon inspection, Dylan noticed the fireball took out a quarter of his mana. He wouldn't be able to cast the spell often, but the power might make up for it. And if all the spells in the cane were as powerful, Dylan might not have to worry about the cost. It seems there was something to be said about the usefulness of a powerful spell.

His testing done, Dylan opened up his menu and logged out, jumping back in as Dr. Zlo. Jack arrived a moment later, a slight frown on her face.

"Magitech eats your mana like a b*tch," she complained. "I made a simple magic gun, and it took around half my mana for a full clip."

"Was it strong at least?" Dylan asked.

Jack shrugged, "No more than a regular gun? I'm pretty sure it bypasses normal defenses, though."

"Okay. Magic Cane seems powerful too. I used fireball as one spell and blew up the target, plus a bit of the dirt around it."

"How much did it cost?" Jack asked, squinting her eyes.

Dylan smiled, "Only a quartet of my mana bar."

"Go with that," Jack answered instantly. "And then just use fireball. Only fireball. Nothing else, you hear?"

Dylan laughed, "Okay, you've convinced me."

Jack smiled, "Good. Now, pick your ability, and let's get some spells!"

Dylan grabbed the Phlebotinium in his inventory and selected Magic Cane. The Phlebotinium appeared in a flash of light that surrounded Dylan's character. A moment later, Dylan stood with a cane in his hand, the prompt asking for his choice of spells hovering in front of him.

"Alright," Jack said, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Now, what kind of spells does a mad scientist need?"

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