Vaudevillain

The Hickman-Dragotta Science Center stuck out like a sore thumb in the sprawling financial district of Haven City. The open, sprawling campus contrasted with the tall buildings and tight streets built to compact as many people into the area. Rampart saw it as a tiny oasis in the downtown area. No wonder Dr. Zlo wanted to use it as the location for their fight.

The center seemed the perfect spot for a showdown between heroes and villains. The multiple entrances gave the villains an advantage. At the same time, the on-site security lockdown would grant Rampart and his team enough time to catch up. The open area made it great for groups of players to fight, allowing enough space for the teams to square off without losing each other in the city jungle.

At the moment, Rampart stood on the roof of the building with Merla. The two heroes patrolled the roof, scanning each entrance to hopefully find Dr. Zlo before he infiltrated the building. Oro and Titan patrolled around the grounds, keeping their eyes peeled for any disturbances.

Rampart's earbud boomed with Titan's voice, "You sure about this tip-off, Ram?"

"As sure as if I heard it from the man himself," Rampart replied. Titan had decided that Rampart knew about this scheme from a tip-off instead of directly contacting Dr. Zlo. Rampart went along with his friend's roleplay. After all, it wasn't hard to act like he received the information from a cop.

"I think I see something," Oro said. "Yeah, ice cream truck on the Southwest side. It could be nothing, but we might want to check it out anyway.

"Will do," Rampart answered. The monk and Merla doubled back around while Oro and Titan moved to intercept the truck. An NPC reached the car first, some prim looking scientist in a lab coat. Titan heard the conversation before the others, his power giving him the enhanced senses needed.

"I'm sorry, you can't sell on this property," the NPC said. "Haven City enforces a no-solicitation zone in the financial district."

A sweet voice dripped out of the driver's seat, "Aww, not even for little old me?"

"Not even if your ice cream cured the Flu." The NPC crossed their arms, defiant in the face of pleading.

"Well, don't that just suck," the voice said. Then, before the NPC could react, the driver shoved a hand out the window and forced their finger into the scientist's mouth. Titan's eyes widened as the scientist collapsed with a blissful smile on their face.

"That's them!" he shouted. Titan didn't wait for the others to respond. As soon as he saw the collapsing scientist, he rushed forward, intent on stopping the ice cream truck.

In turn, the truck revved its engines and peeled out. Tires squealed as the car shot straight toward the Science Center's wall. Titan's eyes tracked the trajectory of the truck, making sure to determine when he would intercept. He barreled forward; shoulder dropped low to bring the full force of his body onto the vehicle. At the last second, he put on a burst of speed, catching the villains off-guard and slamming into the front of the car.

The car flipped tail-over-end, performing a complete three-hundred-and-sixty degree spin. It landed with a crash on the grass lawn in front of the center, engine smoking from Titan's blow. A woman fell out of the truck and stomped down on the grass. She stood a good two heads shorter than Titan, and her dark hair had been pulled back behind a candy-coated crown of licorice and chocolate.

"Do you know how much ice cream I had in there?" she yelled. "Like three barrels of chocolate swirl! You'll pay for breaking it!"

"What are you gonna do about it, little girl?" Titan taunted.

"Oh, I'll show you little," Sweet Dream said. With that, she transformed into her chocolate form, growing three sizes to tower over the titanic hero. Her left hand melted into the pressurized glove. Sweet Dream smiled as her glove contracted to shoot a ball of cocoa at Titan.

Titan allowed the blow to hit him, mostly to determine how strong the blast was. It splashed on his chest, flecks of chocolate splattering on his costume. Titan raised an eyebrow, "Is that all you got?"

Two smaller balls of chocolate followed, aiming right for his head. Titan charged forward, ignoring the two shots as they connected. A drop of chocolate splashed into Titan's mouth, and his vision swam. He remembered then, brain recalling the memory a bit too late, that this villain had somehow taken out the scientist.

Titan stumbled to the ground, Sweet Dream's hallucinogenic chocolate knocking the hero to the ground as his companions arrived. "Titan!" Oro yelled.

"Oh, don't worry," Sweet Dream said. "He's a bit too resilient to fall completely under."

Titan grunted, trying to clear his vision through sheer might alone. His friends surrounded his body, ensuring the villainess couldn't do any more of her tricks.

"Do you honestly think you can face all of us alone?" Rampart asked the chocolate woman.

She laughed, a wet, squelching sound that grated Rampart's nerves, "Alone? No, I'm not alone. In fact, I have friends in some rather high places."

Rampart's eyes flashed with understanding. The hero quickly erected a barrier around his team just as Dr. Zlo and Riptide swooped down from above, weapons firing.

"Good evening!" Dr. Zlo called. "Today, we are robbing this lovely science center. Would you be so kind as to give up so we can be on our way?"

"Never!" grunted Titan. The small drop of chocolate had worn off, but the hero still felt the lingering effects. It turned out his enhanced senses lengthened the amount of time he was under the debuff. The hero resolved to be more careful about it in the future.

"Fine, have it your way," Dr. Zlo taunted. "Sweet Dream, would you like to do the honors?"

"I'd be delighted," the candy woman answered. She brought a chocolate fist slamming into the side of the truck. A slam responded, denting the metal. Two more strikes followed, and a cakey fist punched through. A few more sugary punches continued slamming the vehicle, eventually breaking the entire truck's side into pieces.

Sweet Dream cackled as the monster emerged, "Face the sugary might of my pound cake!"

Rampart stared in amazement at the beast. It was definitely a pound cake, built from all sorts of different styles. The body looked to be a Bundt cake, the round ring unmistakable in the hero's eyes. It stood atop four legs of pound cake fashioned from a bread pan. The two arms were each a half of another Bundt cake, the ends glazed and covered in fondant. Two orange eyes stared angrily at the heroes, and Rampart flinched as the front split open to reveal a glazed mouth.

Behind the monster came three others, thankfully nothing the size of the Pound Cake. Jawbreaker walked up next to Sweet Dream, his new rock candy knuckles gleaming in the light. BB followed suit, pulling out an egg that it tossed into the air menacingly. Sill petted the top of her gelatin mount and cocked her taffy cannon, ready to provide covering fire when needed.

The cake monster slammed a fist onto the ground, "POUND!" it roared.

"That's right!" Sweet Dream shouted. "Go pound that wall!"

"POUND!!"

The monster turned and started charging toward the Science Center; fist raised to smash through the wall. Rampart turned to his team, "Merla, Oro, Titan! I need you to defeat the villains while I hold the monster at bay with my barriers."

The heroes nodded, and Rampart ran off, throwing a barrier up in front of the monster. The cake monster banged into it. "POUND!" it roared again, bringing a fist around in a haymaker. Rampart winced as the glazed fist struck. That one strike took out a third of his barrier's health. If it broke, he'd have to wait a good while before it came back.

Rampart let the monster strike one more time before lowering the barrier to recharge. The monk hoped he could get it to charge completely before it needed to be used again. He threw another wall up after letting the monster lumber forward once more, timing everything as best he could.

While Rampart dealt with the Pound Cake, Merla took charge. "Oro, Titan, keep me covered while I conjure. If I can get some of my automatic defenses up, we should be able to clean up the fight without trouble."

"Got it," Oro said. He shifted to his golden form, "I got the surfboard guy."

"Get Dr. Zlo too," Titan said. "I think I'm going to have my hands full with Sweet Dream over here."

"Time to shred!" yelled Riptide. He rocketed forward on his board, zipping past the stronger heroes and shooting right at Merla.

The magician juked out of the way, soaring into the air. Riptide chased after, his laser firing as he rushed forward.

"Change of plans!" Merla yelled. "I'll deal with this guy. You two stop the others."

Oro brought his golden fists together, sparks flying as the two appendages connected, "No problem."

Titan kept his mouth closed as he charged at Sweet Dream. The chocolate monsteress ran to meet him, spinning to the side at the last second and swinging a massive fist at Titan's head. The hero ducked under it and held his arm out to lariat the villainess. Titan's arm splashed through Sweet Dream, coating his fist in a gob of chocolate.

Jawbreaker stepped in so he could uppercut the hero, but Titan kept pushing forward. The hero forced the minion back as he kept charging, aiming to crush Jawbreaker between his body and the truck. BB pulled the minion out of the way before it could happen.

Titan smashed into the decimated ice cream truck.

"Ole!" taunted Sweet Dream.

Titan grabbed at the truck, grunting with exertion as he lifted the vehicle over his head. "Ole this," he said.

The truck soared through the air on a crash course with Sweet Dream. As it moved, Titan chased after it, ready to strike when the villainess made a move. Jawbreaker stepped in for another uppercut, but Titan swiped a hand and knocked the minion straight into Sill's gelatin. Jawbreaker sunk into the goopy interior, unbalancing Sill and causing her taffy shot to go wide.

But BB had tossed the egg it held behind Jawbreaker. The explosion took Titan off his feet and into the air. Sweet Dream took advantage of the moment to shrink to her normal size and roll under the car before changing back. Titan tucked into a ball as he landed on the hard driveway, cracking the asphalt. He unfurled seconds later, ready to get back into the fray. Sweet Dream waved a chocolate hand in a "come at me" gesture. Titan obliged, charging forward once again to enter the fray.

Behind Sweet Dream, Sill dove into her gelatin slime and pulled Jawbreaker free. The minion gave a nod of thanks and prepared himself to jump back into the fray. Sill shook her head, silently pointing at the Science Center. The heroes were distracted, which meant it was the perfect time. Jawbreaker nodded in understanding as BB joined the trio.

Sill directed the gelatin to assist Sweet Dream and motioned for Jawbreaker to pick her up. The man obliged, and the three minions dashed off.

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