Vaudevillain

While Dr. Zlo contended with the caped hero, Oro and his friends did their best to hold back Valiant. The man's new character, Rough, wasn't much more than a massively dense body of rock, but it did make him hit things harder than a truck. Merla had complained that of all the powers he could take, Oro just had to go with something that gave as good as he got. The player only shrugged. He liked playing the bruiser characters, even if they were relatively simple at times.

There was just something about being able to laugh off anything an enemy dished out. Take Valiant, for example. Rough had made sure that his body was dense enough to barely feel any damage. So when the hero struck him with the disintegration beam, the villain only laughed. It barely made a dent in his health.

"It's no use, hero," Rough taunted. "My body can withstand anything, even getting thrown into a star!"

That last part was a lie, but boasting was part of the villain's repertoire.

"F*cking bullsh*t is what it is," Valiant complained.

Merla snorted, her new character's face hidden behind the collar of a tall trench coat. "As if your power isn't just as broken? Face it, you're upset someone finally made a counter to your stupid power."

Rough punched at Valiant, interrupting anything the hero might say and forcing him to raise a shield. Rough's punch abruptly halted as the energy was absorbed.

"Glad that still works," Valiant said. "Ixzay! Lock 'em down!"

"Kinda busy!" Ixzay shouted.

Valiant's friend was in a heated fight with Gemini, the players exchanging bursts of gunfire as they moved about the battlefield. Ixzay flew in erratic arcs on his hummingbird wings, while Rampart and Titan used their Gemini characters to chase after him.

Rough was still surprised at how the two made their character work. The two players had snagged a power that let them share their vision and then took an assortment of powers that affected teammates. Gemini could heal wounds, empower each other, and work together with uncanny ability. Rough's friends say the teamwork came from years of co-op games, but the player expected voodoo magic of some kind. Rough had never played a co-op game that didn't make him unreasonably angry at his teammate.

"Chill Out!" Valiant shouted. "Cover Ixzay so he can prepare."

"Yeah, got it," the hero said. Chill Out conjured a ball of ice, lobbing it toward Gemini.

"Finally," Merla said. Her new character, Carmen, made a small gesture with her hand as if she was tugging a string. Suddenly, the ball of ice moved, changing its target to Ixzay.

"Sh*t, dodge it Ix!" Valiant shouted.

Ixzay turned to see the incoming iceball, zipping out of the way in just enough time.

"Not cool, man," Chill Out said. "How'd you do that?"

"Why would I tell you?" Carmen said.

"Change of plans!" Valiant yelled. "Chill, get this guy. Ixzay, keep those two busy. I'll deal with her."

"Oh, I'm so scared," Carmen laughed.

Valiant fired off a disintegration blast, sprinting at the villainess after the beam left his hand. Rough tried to follow, but Chill Out created an ice wall between him and Valiant, blocking his path. Carmen smoothly stepped away from the disintegration blast, the attack flying off into the blackness of space.

Valiant followed up with a punch, attempting to make contact with Carmen and use his power. The villainess again stepped out of the way, this time vanishing in place to appear a foot away from the hero.

"SO close," Carmen taunted.

"Oh, you're one of those," Valiant answered. "You're going to stall out until I make a mistake or something."

"Maybe," Carmen answered.

Valiant readied himself. He wasn't going to let that happen. In fact, he already had an idea that might work against these villains. Hopefully, he could do it quickly, or else Dr. Zlo's death ray would go off.

The hero continued his assault, throwing punches and using disintegration blasts in short bursts. Carmen avoided it each time, but Valiant wasn't aiming to hit the woman. No, he was slowly working to move her into Ixzay's range. His friend could deal with someone like this better than Valiant could, and then he could stop those twins in turn. Their powers didn't seem to have anything that could stop Valiant.

Carmen didn't notice she was getting corralled until Gemini entered her vision.

"Ixzay! Boombox!" Valiant shouted, throwing up his shield.

Ixzay instantly responded, dropping a small disc onto the ground. It immediately exploded, sending shockwaves out at anyone in the area. Carmen, unable to dodge, took a direct blow and was sent sprawling. Gemini fared better, the two players joining hands to heal through the damage. Ixzay avoided the blast by flying behind Valiant, the hero's shield absorbing the blows.

Dazed, Carmen was unable to react when Valiant grabbed hold of her and activated his power.

"D*mnit," she cursed as her health depleted. "I had such a cool power this time."

"One down," Valiant said.

"That's about right," Rough said.

Valiant turned. Somehow, Chill Out was on the ground, Rough finishing the player off with a single punch.

"You should be more careful about those aoe blasts," the villain said. "They can get more than your enemies."

"Oh, come on!" Valiant shouted. "I told him the codewords, didn't I?"

"Doubt he listened," Ixzay replied.

"Good help is so hard to find," Rough said with a shake of his head.

"Just get over here already," Valiant growled. "I'll take you down in ten seconds."

"Good luck with that," Rough said, cracking his knuckles.

Dr. Zlo kept his eyes on the caped crusader in front of him, his cane at the ready just in case he saw an opening. So far, there weren't any. Jack, Shizuka, Riptide, Sweet Dream, Cass, Mabel, and Quartet were all embroiled in the fight against the hero, and the NPC was easily dealing with the entire group. He knew that their best bet was to use Mabel to freeze him in place, so the hero focused most of his efforts on keeping the woman from speaking.

As Dr. Zlo saw it, the main issue was that the hero never gave anyone time to react. The NPC was never in any place for more than a second and was constantly using his ridiculous strength to create space between the villains. Shizuka, the only one able to keep up with the hero, had been relegated to jumping around after the hero while saving the others. Though it seemed she was quickly running out of the ability. Her carved statues were now replaced with simple logs, and still the hero showed no signs of stopping.

Things would work at this rate, Dr. Zlo realized. It would only be a matter of time before Shizuka ran out of her teleportation, leaving the other heroes vulnerable. Sweet Dream and Riptide couldn't deal with the hero's strength and speed, and while Jack could take a blow, she wasn't fast enough to stop the hero from destroying the death ray.

Dr. Zlo needed a hail mary play. The only question was, what kind of play?

As the villain thought, the seconds ticked down, and the fight went on. Mabel would open her mouth to speak, only to have another soundwave interrupt her. The hero would then attack another villain, either flying over with a punch or shooting lasers. Most everyone could deal with the lasers, though only Jack could resist a punch. In fact, the gadget player was the only one that could possibly go toe to toe with the hero for a few moments, as her armor protected her from the worst of the blows. Knowing this, the hero made sure to use his speed to his advantage, flitting through the various villains like a hummingbird and attempting to sting like a wasp.

Quartet and Cass tried to keep up, but both minion's powers weren't suited for the fight. Quartet's powers, while strong, lacked the finesse needed to weave through the various villains, relegating the minion to guard duty with Hans. Luckily, Quartet's powers made it difficult for the hero to dodge. Cass had a different problem. His arm could easily weave through the villains on the team, but his arm couldn't survive repeated blows from the hero. So while Cass might get in a sneak attack, he wouldn't be able to hold the hero down.

At that moment, Dr. Zlo's admirers appeared in their spaceship. Bubble and Victoria dropped down to join the fray, the former attempting to pop the heroes cape. But the NPC was too fast for the player and avoided the attack. Victoria transformed into an anvil, trying to squish the hero under her. The hero answered by flying up and stopping her descent before she could get going.

"I say!" Victoria complained. "Unhand me you cur!"

"If you insist, miss," the hero said.

Victoria found herself spun around and tossed straight back at the flying spaceship. The Professor swerved to the side, avoiding the attack but letting Victoria sail into space. It would take her some time to get back to the fight. Time the villains didn't have.

"Chemster," The Professor said. "Do you have anything that would work?"

"If I can get an injection, maybe?" the villain answered. "He'll just blow away any gas I have."

"I doubt you could pierce his skin," The Professor complained.

"Then I'm useless," Chemster grumbled.

"Not against those two, you aren't," The Professor pointed out.

Chemster looked over at Valiant and Ixzay, the two contending with Rough and Gemini and moving slowly towards the main fight.

"Keep those two out of the fight, and we'll have a better chance," The Professor said.

"Now that I can do," Chemster answered.

The villain jumped off the ship with a salute, landing amid Rough and Valiant with a gas canister.

Dr. Zlo looked at the countdown timer, thirty-three seconds. Bubble's addition to the fight was helping, as the hero always had to dodge her strange powers, but things still weren't looking up. Once Shizuka's ability ran out, it would all fall apart.

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