Vaudevillain

Sweet Dream closed the base building tab and opened up her friends list to look at Dylan's message. "I'm down to do it after we get everything ready here."

"I agree," John replied to Dylan back to working on the base. Remembering Sweet Dream's comment, he followed her earlier instructions to look at Dylan's base blueprint and checked the map. "Holy sh*t."

Apparently, Dylan had gotten something like an acre of land. "How in the world is this fair what the h*ll."

Sweet Dream nodded. "I know, right. The base I grabbed was only half as wide."

"Wait, how deep did yours go? He's only got around fifty feet of space below him."

The woman paused. "I never thought of that. I was just using an abandoned storefront."

"Well, it's not like the base building interface is any good."

"Yeah, Vert needs more people working on their menus and mechanics. They got the immersive world spot-on, but the terrible reputation system keeps me out of it. They should have made it a hidden score or something. The only reason I see it being a part of the game is for their whole promotional thing."

John nodded in agreement. Vert should have kept the game as a basic sandbox. Let the players create the world. Their idea of developing expansions with the help of players was cool. Still, the company could have made better ways to track reputation in the game. Like an Elo system or a bounty system, or heck Vert could have trawled through forums for the most involved players. Honestly, there was no reason to add the reputation system in the first place.

"Well, all we can do is complain to Vert until they fix it. Or another company releases something similar and we switch to that. C'mon, let's get these guns in place. I think we should set them up on the top floor for now. The height will give a better angle, and I bet we can keep the aliens from reaching the upstairs fairly easily. With any luck, we can get the guns in place and the mansion trapped before someone invades it."

"Hon, I think it's a bit late for that."

John whirled in surprise. Dylan's minion, the middle-aged robot lady, was standing in the stairwell with a slight frown. Behind her were two minions in vests carrying one of the Jacques. It looked broken in several places. "What do you mean?"

Momma Mabel eyed John. "You're one of Zlo's new companions, right? You'll have to excuse my manners I was gathering intel. What's y'alls names?"

"Sweet Dream."

"Singularity."

Momma Mabel wiggled her eyebrows at John. "Single, are we? How about you and me find a place where I can polish your armor."

John backed up in shock. "Dylan, what the h*ll." Why in the world would his friend make an older woman who hit on men? Was he into that? John would have to tell Dylan to keep his fetishes out of the game. Or at the least keep them to himself. He wasn't into some old lady hitting on him.

Momma Mabel sidled up to John and grabbed his arm. "No need to be so cold, dear. I'm sure under all that metal, you got a beating heart like the rest of us. Not like my dead husband, cold as the grave that one. I guess he's right where he belongs now." The woman cackled.

"Seriously, Dylan, what the f*ck." John decided he would have a long chat with his friend about his character decisions when Dylan got back from shopping.

Seeing John's discomfort, Sweet Dream jumped in and changed the conversation. "Why is it too late?" John gave her a look of thanks.

Mabel addressed the chocolate villain while John pulled away and backed up. "Well, it seems someone has conjured a demon to possess one of Zlo's Jacques. And I'm fairly sure whoever did it is still nearby."

"Sh*t," John cursed. "This could be bad. If they're hiding nearby, they could take control of Dylan's minions at any time. And they can see where we place traps. We won't be able to build defenses until we find this person."

"We might have bigger things to worry about at the moment," Sweet Dream said. She pointed a finger out the window.

John followed her line of sight out the window to the front lawn. Inside the yard, rings of light formed, bathing the area in a pale glow. The rings pulsed down towards the ground, materializing Quli soldiers in armor. As they arrived, the orange aliens unholstered their rifles and aimed them at the mansion's front door. "Glory to Qraxis! Glory to the Quli Empire!"

"Great," Sweet Dream said. "Our first fight of the expansion and we're on the back foot."

"Look on the bright side," John answered. "Killing these guys gives us some alienite."

The first volley of Quli fire shot through Dr. Zlo's mansion's windows, melting the glass to slag. Mabel tutted. "Not even a hello. Jacobs, would y'all be dears and deal with these homewreckers?"

The two Jacobs near Momma Mabel nodded. The Jacob nearest Mabel hauled the broken Jacques to its feet and made their way to the front door. Mabel yelled up and down the stairwell, "boys! We have company! Come and give them the welcome they deserve!"

More Jacobs poured out from the stairwell, stacking up in a line behind the one in front of the door. Once all ten Jacobs had formed up, the first one threw open the front door and charged out holding the broken Jacques up as a shield. The Quli immediately turned their ray guns on the charging line of minions but could not pierce through the broken Jacques. Once close enough, the Jacobs broke formation and all out sprinted towards the aliens.

While this went on, Momma Mabel called for the Jacques. "Jacques! Y'all best get out there and help my boys!"

Dr. Zlo's hapless minions popped out of cupboards, walked out of closets, and jumped down from stairwells to rush out the door at the attacking aliens.

"They're like ants," Sweet Dream commented, eyes wide at the amount of Jacques.

John blinked in amazement. "I'm starting to think Dylan doesn't realize how broken his invention is."

The two stared as a wave of Jacques surged toward the Quli. Only a few of the Quli did not engage with the Jacobs, choosing instead to fire into the Jacques. Ray gun fire melted many of the charging minions, but it was like trying to stop the tide with an empty bucket. Dr. Zlo's lackeys crashed into the unengaged Quli, knocking them over as they dogpiled on top. Rings of light quickly appeared under the piles to whisk away the defeated aliens.

But Sweet Dream's description of ants was accurate. And despite the Jacques's initial success, another wave of Quli appeared from the garden and fired a volley of ray beams into the mass of Jacques. The minions turned as one and bolted toward the new threat. And like ants under a magnifying glass, the charging tide melted under the assault.

A good number of Jacques still made it to the squad of Quli, making the fight more even. The alien's armor deflected the Jacques wild punches and kicks, and counterattacks felled Jacques like chopped trees. The wave of minions thinned and ebbed as the Quli beat them back. At least, that was the case until the Jacobs joined in with stolen ray guns.

The burst of fire from the Jacobs startled John and Sweet Dream to action. Until now, the two had been staring dumbfounded at the amount of Jacques inside the mansion. "Sh*t," John cursed. They had wasted valuable time staring when they could have placed a few gun turrets. He turned to Sweet Dream. "Help them buy time while I set up the guns."

"Got it." Sweet Dream stepped out of the mansion and morphed into her chocolate form. She lumbered over to the Quli, gaining speed with every step. A few of the aliens turned to address the new threat, but most were still dealing with the scattered Jacques. Ray gun blasts boiled off bits of Sweet Dream's chocolate coating, but all that did was create a pleasant chocolatey smell.

Sweet Dream crashed into the first alien like a rhino, upending her foe straight over her head. Two more Quli met the same fate before the momentum of her charge crashed her into an alien instead of tossing him aside. The Quli tried striking out with the butt of their ray gun and watched as the rifle sunk inside Sweet Dream. The villainess grabbed the alien with a sticky hand before they could pull out the weapon. A quick swipe was all it took to deposit her chocolate in the alien's mouth.

Instantly the Quli's face changed from determined concentration to euphoric bliss. Sweet Dream released the alien and ran back to incapacitate the others that had recovered from her earlier charge. With three quick strikes, three more Quli lay on the ground. Each alien held a wide smile plastered on their face. Rings of light carried the aliens away, depositing spoils of war onto the ground.

Done with the unengaged aliens, Sweet Dream took her time moving between fights of Jacques and Quli. She would reach out with sticky arms to engulf the distracted invaders and inject chocolate into their mouths whenever she could. Those that she didn't reach were taken out by the Jacobs with stolen ray guns. Finally, the last of the aliens went down with a windmilled punch from a Jacques. The ring of light picked up the downed alien and left a glowing piece of Alienite.

"Who's next," uttered Sweet Dream.

Rings of light appeared across the garden, and more Quli stepped out to do battle. These new troops split into three groups, with the middle Quli extending a riot shield of energy across the whole pack. Powerpacks strapped to the back of these aliens hummed with power as the energy enveloped the group. Sweet Dream smiled and charged forward into the fray.

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