Vaudevillain

While Dylan composed his somber message, Dextra Black worked on the rest of their plan.

"Alright everyone, now that we're in control of the city's infrastructure, it's time to enact the second phase. Snapdragon, you will be coordinating our members that arrive at the water plant. You know what to do."

"I don't need reminding. I understand the plan."

"A precaution. Ferris, Nikola, the two of you are--"

"Going to cause chaos around the area to pull more heroes away," Nikola interrupted. "We know, Dextra. Just make sure your part of the plan is completed."

"Oh, don't worry Nikola. The heroes guild won't bother us for much longer."

Dextra switched channels on the communicator, "Hans, Shizuka, it is time to start our portion of the plan. Make sure you cause as much chaos as you can."

"Roger that Dex," said Shizuka.

Once the orders were relayed, Dextra stood and sauntered over to the mutated form of the mayor. "Come with me now. We're going to cause a little chaos."

The villainess waited until a rumble shook the room. Good, that meant Hans successfully set off the car bombs. Dextra counted to ten after the noise, then switched over to their secret identity and made their way over to the door. The villainess peeked into the hallway to ensure no one would see and then burst out running into the corridor.

"Help!" Dextra yelled. The mutant barked behind them, ready to chase and making sure to stay a few feet behind his master.

Dextra stumbled down the hallway, taking a sharp left turn when an intersection appeared. The mutant scraped to a stop, claws digging into the floor to stop from overshooting the turn.

"Help!" Dextra cried again.

This time someone heard the cry. A woman dressed in the telltale tights of a superhero dashed out of a side room. "Hang on!" she called.

The heroine readied herself into a karate stance and punched—a blast of air shot by Dextra and connected with the mutant. The monster flew back from the blow, rolling onto the floor. Dextra rushed to cower behind the heroine.

The mutant stood, shaking the dizziness off. The former mayor turned to glare at his attacker, teeth bared in a fanged smile. The woman punched out with another fist, creating another wall of air. The mutant jumped over it, claws finding purchase in the wall. Muscles tensed, and the wolf creature shot forward.

The heroine switched stances, tucking her arms in and turning her feet inward. The mutant's claws raked against her body but didn't leave a single scratch.

"You can't break the Sachin Dachi," quipped the woman.

The monster snarled and turned to bite into the heroine. She responded with a quick jab to the snout, disorienting the fiend. Another jab followed into the mutant's throat, knocking away the monster's breath. It wheezed in pain, and the heroine took her time finishing it off with a high kick to the temple.

As the former mayor slumped to the ground, Dextra grabbed the heroine's arm. "My hero!"

"It was nothing," smiled the woman.

"No, I would surely be killed if you hadn't arrived," Dextra said, voice as sweet as honey. "Please, do me the honor of telling me your name."

"Call me, Airstrike," the woman replied. "But we should get you somewhere safe. Come, I know a safe place."

Airstrike led Dextra down a maze of hallways that the villainess made sure to keep track of. The sharp-eyed woman's power stored the pattern away in its databanks, ready to be recalled when needed.

"So, why are you here?" Dextra asked.

"Oh, uh. Well, I lo -- um, flew in later than the rest of my team. I was getting ready to leave for the assault on the aliens when I heard shouting."

Dextra nodded. Judging by their stumble, this person was a player. A player that thought Dextra was an NPC. The villainess smiled; it seemed all the NPC heroes had left.

"It's a good thing you came in late. Or else I might have been killed!"

The woman laughed, "Well, don't worry. The base is the most protected area in the city. Jeeves oversees all the defenses. So you'll be perfectly safe from any attack."

Airstrike brought Dextra through a set of double doors, "Here we are. Are you good if I leave you here? My party needs me."

"Sure," Dextra said. Before Airstrike left, the villainess grabbed her hand, "Thank you again for saving me."

"No problem. It's what heroes do."

With those words, Airstrike ran out, leaving Dextra alone in the bunker.

A computerized voice, smooth like jazz, spoke, "Good afternoon citizen, I am Jeeves. Artificial intelligence and protector of this base. If you would be so kind as to make your way to a chair, I will be happy to provide refreshments."

"No need," Dextra said, walking over to a terminal. The villainess pulled a USB stick out from their inventory. "I'll only be a minute."

Dextra plunged the drive into the terminal.

Jeeves spoke, "What are you doo-oo-o --"

"I can't have you around while I enact my plan," Dextra said. "Right now, a terrible little virus is worming its way into your systems, breaking apart your entire being and reshaping it for me."

Jeeves sparked, "I. I, I, I I I I --"

"Oh, don't fight it. That only makes it worse. Just let it all out."

Jeeves sparked again; its voice module stopped as the virus ate into the code. A few seconds later, the virus reached the core processing unit, and Jeeves disappeared. The virus pulled all the broken pieces back together, reforging the AI into Dextra's servant.

"I obey," the computer said.

"Excellent," replied Dextra. "Show me the locations of all known hero bases and their affiliates."

"I obey."

The AI went to work digging into the files. It procured datapoint after datapoint, compiling them all into a readable spreadsheet for Dextra. Once the first names appeared, Dextra opened the communicator.

"I have locations of all hero bases and their known affiliates. Are you ready, Snapdragon?"

"Duh," came the reply.

Dextra started listing off locations. Over at the water treatment plant, Snapdragon commanded the Syndicate henchmen. The Syndicate disguised themselves as simple workers and drove off into the city, cases of Dextra's wolf serum riding along.

Once they reached a location, the members would jump out of the car at a nearby water pipe. With a quick twist of a screwdriver and a few applications of a wrench, the henchmen fed a tube of serum directly into the main pipeline for the hero base. The same happened across town for police stations, fire departments, and any other hero affiliated building.

Mundane NPCs were none the wiser as they grabbed cups of water from the tap. Soon, the majority of the forces of good transformed into Dextra's loyal wolf monsters.

"Holy sh*t," blurted Snapdragon. "It's working."

"Of course it's working," Dextra replied. "I made the plan."

"Alright then, genius, now what?"

"Now? Well, now we announce ourselves to the world."

"Dang it if it's not one bug; it's another. What is it with this city? I just finished fixing this whole mothership issue can't I at least get a bit of a break?"

Dextra whirled to find a man in jeans and a t-shirt standing behind them. The man waved, "Hey there. Sorry about startling you. I'm from IT. And as much as I love what you've done here, I kind of have to ask you to stop."

"Who the f*ck is that?" Snapdragon said.

"He's from Vert," Dextra answered.

"Wait, did we just break the game?" asked Nikola.

Isaac nodded, "Pretty much. Well, you didn't exactly break the game, but we got a ton of flags from our monitor when this happened. And as much as I love the idea of you guys taking over a city, we kind of need it running the way it is."

"This is such bullsh*t," cursed Snapdragon.

"Hey, I hear ya," Isaac said. "But since players start in random cities, we can't exactly have one run by players in the list."

Dextra sighed, "I understand. And I was so close too."

Isaac shrugged, "Not much I can do. Except… I did just finish making a deal with that other group. The ones that stole the mothership."

Dextra perked up. It seems Dr. Zlo succeeded in his mission as well.

"What I did with them," Isaac continued, "is compensated them for finding a 'bug' in our systems. So you won't get the city, but you will get a lot of money."

"What about reputation?" asked Nikola.

"I can probably swing that too," Isaac replied.

"Well, I'm down," answered Ferris.

"Same here," Shizuka replied.

"If we must," Nikola said.

"I don't really have a f*cking choice, do I?" Snapdragon grumbled.

"If the others are okay with it, I'll take the deal," said Dextra.

"Sorry again, guys," Isaac said. "But, thanks for understanding."

"You better make sure we get a sh*t ton of money," growled Snapdragon.

"No worries guys. You'll probably get way more than the mothership team. If anything, finding out the leaders of the cities are susceptible to attacks will net a ton. I don't think the guys upstairs wanted that to happen."

Isaac made to leave, then stopped, "Oh, one more thing. Make sure you guys make support tickets for this so we can keep track of all the stuff going on. The quicker you do it, the quicker I can get you the money."

Dextra nodded and pulled up their menu. With a few quick taps and a few more strokes on the keyboard, the villainess created the ticket, "Done."

Isaac gave a thumbs-up. "Awesome. Again, sorry about this. But keep a lookout for the future, some big changes should be coming."

With that, the IT worker vanished, leaving Dextra alone in the heroes' base.

"Well, that sucked," Shizuka said.

"No kidding," Ferries replied.

"I'm so f*cking pissed!" yelled Snapdragon. "We had that!"

"We did," Nikola agreed.

Dextra navigated over to their menu, "I'll see you all later."

The player known as Dextra Black pulled their helmet off and sat it gently next to their bed. Thomas sighed, "So close."

But it wasn't all bad. Thomas would still get a large amount of money for the takeover. He could treat it like he ransomed the city. But it still sucked, that plan had taken a lot of time.

"At least I wasn't the only one," he said, thinking back to Isaac's mention of Dr. Zlo. It looked like both of them would have to deal with failure, though Thomas figured Dr. Zlo would take it in stride. Unlike Dextra.

"Maybe I can do something with that…" the man mused.

The IT guy did say to look out for upcoming changes. Maybe it would be a good idea to start working with Dr. Zlo. Dextra had already used him once, and Thomas couldn't deny the two characters had a unique chemistry. Dr. Zlo was the classic villain, while Dextra went the wealthy businessman route. Working together might be beneficial.

Thomas flipped on his bed, staring at the wall. The moonlight illuminated the paint through the window, creating a pale white the color of a cloud. It gave Thomas an idea, and he smiled as a new plan formulated in his head. Shizuka would be on board with it, but he doubted the others would want to. But, Dr. Zlo and his teammates might like the idea.

Thomas closed his eyes. He would contact Dr. Zlo tomorrow through the chat and relay his plan. Hopefully, he liked the idea.

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