Vaudevillain

Thomas, or Dextra Black to those inside World of Supers, sighed at the amount of work he needed to do today. Menagerie had grown considerably with the rise of Dr. Zlo's popularity. Players flocked to the group, each of them eager to join up with the over-the-top villain. Thomas didn't mind the fans joining up, as it meant he could get others to sign his petition.

However, it did mean that the player had to deal with a lot of distinct groups. Some fans joined to watch Dr. Zlo, others joining to be right alongside the villain in his antics, and still more joined because they liked Menagerie's vision. So, Thomas spent most of his time outside the game dealing with the different groups and their disagreements.

Thomas looked outside his skyscraper window at Skyline, taking a moment to collect himself before his next meeting. Two groups of players had started a fight on the streets recently, and it was up to Thomas to discover why it happened. Of course, the player didn't like having to deal with these issues, but his power was well suited for it. The ability to search up anything in the game made it simple to find proof of wrongdoings.

Hans opened the door, escorting three men in power armor and one woman in a skimpy outfit. Despite her provocative nature, the men refused to look at her. Noticing this, Thomas realized this might be a more straightforward issue than he expected.

"Good evening, everyone," Dextra said. "You're all here to discuss what transpired a few weeks ago."

"When these three men jumped me, you mean," the woman said.

"Oh, that's bullsh*t!" one of the men shouted. "You–"

Thomas cleared his throat and glared at the four, "I would appreciate it if you don't speak until I finish; thank you."

The four players closed their mouths, albeit grudgingly. None of them wanted to get on Thomas's bad side. The faction leader could easily ban them for their offense.

"Now," Thomas said, his voice clipped. "This is the information I have been given. I will read it off to you, then you may state your case."

The player cleared his throat, opening up his power, "A few weeks ago, Menagerie's defenses responded to an altercation outside of the crafting area. They found three men in armor facing off against one woman, all of them using their powers to cause environmental destruction. The defenses activated, targeting both parties and attempting to subdue them. Once it became clear that neither side wished to stop, the NPCs in the area joined the fight, eventually stopping the fight. Once both sides were pacified, each gave their testimony. The woman stated the three men jumped her, attempting to gank her."

The three men made to answer, but Thomas's glare held them at bay.

"The three men," Thomas continued, "stated that the woman had tricked them into buying her a powerful item and were only trying to get back what they were owed. When she refused, they tried to persuade her, which in turn made her attack."

Thomas let the room settle before continuing, taking the time to shuffle a few blank pages on his desk. It helped arrange his thoughts, making sure the player could think clearly.

"Now, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We were only trying to get back what's ours," the man on the far left said.

"Yeah," agreed the man in the middle.

"It's her fault for tricking us in the first place. Are we not supposed to protect ourselves?"

Thomas looked at the three, "What is it that you bought her?"

The woman snorted, "A power amplifier. Hardly something to fight about."

"It wasn't just a power amp!" the man shouted. "It was a full set of armor!"

Thomas searched through his power, seeing if he could locate the transaction. Sure enough, a log of the event appeared on the screen in front of him. He looked at the woman.

"It seems they're telling the truth."

"I didn't ask for the armor set," the woman said. "All I asked for was the power amplifier."

"Is this true?" Thomas asked the men.

"Well, sure," one of the men answered. "But we were told she wanted to party up with us!"

"I never told them that!" the woman answered.

"Then why did that other guy tell us you told him that?" the man said.

"What other person?" Thomas asked.

"There was this magician hero," the rightmost man said. "He came up to us a few minutes after we finished talking with her. She'd asked to party up for a city quest but needed a bit more firepower. Since all she needed was a power amplifier, we figured it wouldn't be a big deal. But then the magician comes up and says that she's actually interested in partying with us permanently but would need more than just a power amplifier if we end up doing more dangerous quests."

"And you didn't ask why she didn't say that in person?" Thomas asked.

The three men looked sheepish, the one on the left answering, "Well, he said something about her being shy."

Thomas looked over at the woman's outfit, then back at the men with an incredulous expression.

"And let me guess," Thomas said. "The man also said something about how she was into you? Or something along those lines?"

"Well, maybe…."

Thomas sighed, "It seems gentlemen that you were the target of some troll, or possibly a griefer. Someone who has fun messing with others."

"But she still attacked first!" The middle man shouted.

"Because the three of you were threatening me!" the woman retorted. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Log out?" The man on the right said.

"And then what?" the woman scoffed. "You'd chase me around, wouldn't you? No, I wasn't going to let you intimidate me."

Thomas clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention, "It seems that this incident requires more investigation. And while both parties are in the wrong, the ultimate fault lies with the third party that manipulated you. Therefore, I don't see a reason to treat this case too harshly."

"Great," the woman said. "Can I leave? I've got a quest I want to get done before morning, and it's supposed to take forever."

"You may go," Thomas said, waving a hand.

The players all stood, only to stumble as a rumble shook the entire room. Thomas braced himself on the desk, watching the papers he placed fall to the ground.

"What the f*ck?" one of the players said.

Thomas steadied himself, activating his communicator.

"What just happened?"

Jack's voice sounded from the other line, "Someone just blew up all the levitators!"

Thomas's eyes widened, and the player quickly turned to look. Smoke rose from the cracks between the city, and Thomas saw the sky blur. A loud cracking brought his attention back to the ground, the city splitting into pieces from the fall.

"How?" Thomas asked.

"Not sure!" Jack answered. "None of the security measures were triggered. I'm heading over to the–gah!"

"What happened?" Thomas asked.

"Our security!" Jack shouted. "It's attacking us! Someone hacked it!"

Thomas slammed a fist onto the desk. He turned to the four still here, "Message everyone that you can. Either have them log out or get out of the city! Someone's sabotaged the engines, and the whole place is going down."

"What?!" the four exclaimed.

"Get going!" Thomas shouted.

"But, all our stuff!" the woman said. "My base is up here!"

"Grab what you can and store it, then!" Thomas shouted. He realized it was a better plan than his earlier one. Players could respawn, but if their stuff broke, they'd be forced to start over.

"In fact!" Thomas shouted. "Grab everything you can store! The more we save, the more we can rebuild!"

The four players nodded, opening up their own communicators to relay the orders. Thomas repeated the order to Jack, Shizuka, Nikola, and anyone else he could contact, telling them to spread the word.

"But what about Skyline?" Jack asked.

"Unless you can stop it from falling, just get what you can!" Thomas said. "We still have other bases to use."

The player's communicator buzzed again.

"Resource Hill is under attack!" the voice shouted. "Some kind of bug creature! It's eating everything in sight! And there's other factions here going after our stuff!"

Thomas slammed his fist on his desk again, frustrated, "F*ck!"

This must've been a surprise attack in the making, and Thomas had missed it! He'd been so sure no one could attack the city that he'd focused on external management. That meant he didn't have counter-espionage in place, and now the faction was paying the price for it.

"D*mmit," the player cursed again. "Dextra shouldn't make these mistakes."

Plus, the fact that someone infiltrated the generators meant that someone had gotten into the city. So either someone specifically made a powerset to sneak inside, or someone joined Menagerie with ill intentions.

Thomas groaned. He'd thought he'd screened enough of the players joining. Sure, he knew that Dextra couldn't go through every player joining up, but the system in place was only supposed to work if someone could vouch for any misconduct. Because of that, Thomas doubted that someone infiltrated the faction.

But in this case, Thomas was wrong. John had already joined the guild, acting like a jovial and kind player to throw everyone off. No one suspected that he would be a spy.

Well, no time to dwell on it, Thomas thought. There wouldn't be much time until Skyline smashed into the earth. The player needed to get everything he could out of the city.

"Hans," Thomas said. "Make your way to the teleporter. That will let you escape. Take whatever you can with you."

"And what about you?" Hans asked.

Thomas opened his menu, "I have my own escape devices. Do not worry."

Hans nodded, then turned and booked it for the teleporters. Once he left, Thomas pressed the logout button, entering into the real world in a huff.

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