Vaudevillain

D.Black:

Alright, I've got the locations of the items

Can you get the tesla coils and magnets?

They're located in a laboratory in the financial district

228 South Wave Road

Superfan39526:

Shouldn't be a problem

"Dextra wants us to get the tesla coils and magnets," Dylan said.

"Alright, are we going to go take them or contact those heroes?" asked Sweet Dream.

"I think we should contact the heroes, dudes," Riptide said. "It sounds a lot more fun, and we can always try again if we fail."

"Okay, I'll shoot him a message." Dylan quickly asked the hero Rampart if he was down to fight them at the location Dextra gave. A response came a few seconds later.

Yuralionfive:

We can't today

But tomorrow we're free

Does that work?

"He's asking if we can do it tomorrow."

"That's great," Sweet Dream said. "It gives us time to make a plan."

"An epic plan," Riptide agreed.

Dylan confirmed tomorrow and agreed on a general time to attack. That way, the heroes didn't know exactly when the crime would happen, giving both parties a fairer advantage.

"Alright, we're all set for tomorrow. Dream, you have a plan?"

The villainess shook her head, "Not yet, but I want this one to be candy-themed."

"Dude, we should bring Jawbreaker, the bunny, and the mermaid instead of Cass and Mabel," Riptide said.

"Why?" Dylan asked.

"Because those are all candy-themed."

"The bunny is BB," Sweet Dream said. "And I'm calling the mermaid Sill. And I like the idea. We can make it where I'm the one calling the shots."

She turned to Dylan, "Do you mind making everything and playing second fiddle?"

"As long as my genius is acknowledged and we steal what we need, I'll be fine," Dylan said.

Riptide jumped into the conversation, "Dude, we should have taffy guns. Wouldn't that be sick? And candy-themed weapons for the minions. Like, Jawbreaker should get an awesome pair of rock candy knuckles."

Inspired by Riptide's outburst, Sweet Dream started to brainstorm, "And Sill can ride on top of a giant gelatin slime she commands. And we should make the taffy guns with different settings, like saltwater and such."

"What we really need is a giant monster," Dylan said. "Like a giant chocolate bunny."

"No, we already have BB," Sweet Dream answered. "What about a peppermint wolf?"

"Dude, no. We should make it a pound cake!" Riptide said.

Sweet Dream barked a laugh, "Oh god, that's horrible. I love it."

"I think we have to do the pound cake now," Dylan said.

"Yes!" Riptide cheered.

"I'll start thinking up a plan," Sweet Dream stated. She turned to Dylan, "Can you get started on making the stuff? We'll need one gelatin monster for Sill, a giant pound cake, and…" The villainess stopped to count, "Three taffy guns. Oh, and don't forget the rock candy brass knuckles."

"I'll see what I can do," Dylan replied.

Dylan walked over to Cass and Mabel, bringing up his power as he did. He entered in each idea the group had for the crime and tweaked them whenever the entry didn't quite fit the theme. Dylan also entered in more description than usual. He'd learned the inventory showed a pop-up describing the items when selected.

Gelatin Slime

The ingenious scientist Dr. Zlo created this monstrosity for Sweet Dream's minion, Sill. The giant green gelatin carries the mermaid around and defends against incoming attacks. When it attacks, it engulfs its prey and dissolves them through a highly concentrated dose of sugar.

Green Apple Gelatin (250 kg)

Liquid Nitrogen (6 L)

Water (500 L)

Caramel (10 L)

Green Algae (10 g)

Taffy Cannon

The brilliant scientist Dr. Zlo created this weapon for Sweet Dream's companions. There are two firing modes, sticky and solid. Sticky mode shoots chewed globs of taffy that stick to objects while solid mode fires a taffy ball that knocks people over.

Dentures (1)

Water gun (1)

Wax lips (1)

Saltwater Taffy (3 bags)

Rock Candy Knuckles

Created by the shrewd Dr. Zlo for the minion Jawbreaker, these variant brass knuckles are reinforced with a jagged rock candy shell for greater damage.

Rock Candy (2 pieces)

Brass Knuckles (1 pair)

Piping Gel (1/4 cup)

And finally,

Pound Cake

The talented scientist Dr. Zlo created this monstrosity for Sweet Dream. Its dense cake structure is strong enough to batter down any simple wall and pound the candy out of the toughest piñatas.

Cake (50)

Compactor (2)

Pound Sterling (100)

Lemon glaze (1 L)

Candied Orange (2)

Fondant (1 sheet)

"Now, to find all the ingredients," Dylan said.

He remembered before that Cass mentioned getting someone to deliver the items. "Cass?"

"Yeah boss?"

"How would I get someone to deliver me the materials I need?"

"Oh, well normally, I would use a phone, boss."

"Cass, we don't exactly have a mansion anymore."

Cass looked sheepish, "Sorry, boss. You could try and find a phone? Or go to a library?"

Dr. Zlo twisted around and threw up his hands, "What sort of respectable villain goes to a library! No, we'll have to find another way."

Cass sulked, "I was only trying to help."

Dr. Zlo glanced over to Mabel, "I don't suppose you have a better suggestion?"

"Well, hon, we could go over to one of the other houses. I'm sure they have a phone we can borrow."

"Yes, excellent, Mabel! Sweet Dream, Riptide! I'm going to go borrow a phone from the neighbors."

"Sounds good, dude," Riptide replied.

Sweet Dream only nodded, engrossed in creating her plan.

"Come along, Cass," Dr. Zlo said, walking out of his old base's ruins.

Cass ran to catch up, pulling one of his grenades out of his suitcoat. There was every chance Dr. Zlo would cause mayhem, and Cass was going to be sure he sat ready. Mabel mimicked the motion, readying her purse as she fell in step behind her leader.

Dr. Zlo strolled down the street to the next house he saw. The building next to his Gothic home had been built in a New Traditional style, which meant lots of symmetrical windows and pillars lining the front. A simple triangle roof finished the ensemble. It made Dylan wonder how they created a building like this in the first place.

Striding over the driveway and up the small steps, Dr. Zlo rapped on the mansion door.

"Just a minute," a voice called. Dr. Zlo noticed it held the shaky timbre found in kindly old ladies.

Sure enough, a matronly woman opened the door a few seconds later. "Yes?" she asked.

"Good evening, madam," Dr. Zlo started. He removed his top hat for a quick bow, "I direly need to use a phone or internet."

The older woman blinked some of the fog out of her eyes. She focused on the villain, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. When did you move in?"

"Only a few weeks ago, madam. Over in the Gothic mansion."

"Oh, that old place? I remember when Earl Jones moved into that building years back. What a nice man." The woman sighed, "He had such a way with words."

"I'm sure he did," Dr. Zlo said. "But I need to use your phone. Or a computer if you have it."

"Why, I remember when--"

"Alright, nope," said Dr. Zlo. "Mabel, if you would?"

Mabel smiled, "Certainly, hon. Miss? Would you kindly shut up."

The middle-aged woman stiffened and closed her mouth, cutting off her conversation mid-sentence.

Dr. Zlo sighed in relief, "Thank you, Mabel. I feared I would have to shove my way into the building. Could you imagine? Me, the great Dr. Zlo, stealing from an old lady? Why, I would be the laughingstock of villains everywhere!"

"She's a rich old lady, though," Cass pointed out.

Dr. Zlo brought a hand to his chin, "Hmm, quite right, Cass. But we will think about it later! Right now, we have a phone to find and ingredients to acquire!"

With that, the villain stepped past the old woman and into the house. Cass shadowed his boss, ready and present to provide any support needed. Mabel stood behind, working her magic on the older woman to make sure she didn't complain.

As luck would have it, a laptop computer rested on the couch in the living room. "Perfect," said Dr. Zlo. He walked over to the open machine and navigated to a browser window. A holographic screen mimicking the browser tab appeared in Dylan's vision. Below it sat the holographic keyboard he used when making inventions.

At the top of the screen, three options appeared. The first looked to be a generic search function, the second looked to be a shopping tab, and the final option seemed to be a communication hub of some kind. Curiosity had him select the third option first, but Dylan's interest fell when he saw the words "under construction" listed. Sated, he clicked on the shopping tab and began entering all the materials he needed.

As each material entered the shopping cart, Dylan noticed that goods had comparable prices to the real world. It made him wonder, with all the complexity Vert built into the base game, why did they insist on the odd mechanics choices. If he could buy gelatin, why not land, or houses? Dylan couldn't see a reason for it other than for simplification.

Oh well, he could think about it later. Right now, there were more pressing matters, like making a monstrous pound cake that destroyed buildings. Dylan went through his list of materials, entering each one into the shopping bar and adding it to his cart. As he did, Dylan got the idea to search for Tesla Coils and magnets but found neither listed. It seemed some items had to be acquired through good old-fashioned villainy.

Dylan finished shopping, noting that all the materials he bought would appear in his inventory when finished. Seconds later, Dr. Zlo had every single item he needed for the new inventions. Dylan marveled at the cost, a sizeable chunk of cash had been spent. His million-dollar prize from Vert shrunk by about four thousand dollars. Granted, that barely made a dent in the gigantic prize pool, but Dylan had vastly underestimated how much two hundred and fifty kilograms of gelatin cost.

Dr. Zlo closed the laptop and pulled the charging cable from the wall. He would need a machine like this, at least until he made something better. Purchasing what he needed would go a long way to shortening the amount of time he spent searching for materials. In fact, if he combined this with the hidden NPCs around the world, Dr. Zlo could most likely find anything he needed for an invention. As long as he had the money, of course.

Excited, Dr. Zlo gestured to Cass, "I've got what I need. Time to go home and do some inventing!"

Cass nodded eagerly and followed his boss, walking out of the mansion and into the open air. Mabel had the older woman forget about the villains and walked out after her leader. It was time for the criminals to prepare for their next heist.

As he walked out of the building, a message appeared.

As your reputation rank is already greater than the difficulty of the quest, you will be granted no reputation. Your current rank is C. You will reach B after 10 more escapade(s).

Well, at least the reputation system seemed to be working now.

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