Vaudevillain

On Gameset’s shout, Dylan transformed, his body expanding back to size. The two kidnappers started in surprise, turning to meet him. This meant they missed Mirror Mirror’s transformation, and she used the distraction to shift once more.

Approximo threw a punch at the kidnapper with clones, forcing him to step back. The hero followed up by transforming his arm into one of the destroyed mannequins, giving him the reach needed to hit. The kidnapper grunted form the impact, but was otherwise fine.

“That’s it?” he asked. “All that for a small attack?”

A bullet struck the kidnapper in the shoulder, sending him stumbling. Of a Kind had found a shooting angle. Approximo followed up, leaping forward with a kick. The kidnapper bent double from the impact and Approximo followed up with a haymaker.

“You little—!” the kidnapper shouted, before getting cut off by a couch slamming him to the ground.

“Surrender!” Approximo said. “Face the blind lady of justice and perform your community service like an upstanding citizen!”

The kidnapper scowled and pulled himself up. “I’m not giving in to the likes of you.”

Approximo moved in for another punch, only for the kidnapper to pull back one of his clones. The yellow clone was reabsorbed, healing the damage Approximo had dealt over the fight.

“Round two,” the kidnapper said.

A short distance away, Gameset and Mirror Mirror were facing off against the second kidnapper. Mirror Mirror had shifter into Gameset and was acting as an extension of the heroine. Gameset settled into a boxing stance, Mirror Mirror copying the motion. What happened next was a brutal flurry of fists as Gameset shadowboxed while Mirror Mirror kept the second kidnapper on the ropes.

The second kidnapper grunted, pulling out more stones that went to block the flurry of punches. Mirror Mirror punched through them, the stones shattering to pieces under her unstoppable force.

“This is stupid!” the second kidnapper complained. “These shields protect me from missiles! There’s no way your punch is that strong!”

And it was true, some of Mirror Mirror’s punches connected with the kidnapper, only taking a small portion of his health away. However, what the kidnapper didn’t realize was that Gameset was the one throwing the punches. Mirror Mirror just copied them exactly, and nothing that got in the way would stop that.

Gameset only smirked, stepping forward and throwing an uppercut. The kidnapper, unable to keep up with the assault, buckled under the strike. His health dropped to zero, taking him out of the fight and leaving behind a smattering of magical stones.

Gameset pumped a fist. “Booyah!”

Mirror Mirror shifted back. “Yes, that was quite a display.”

“How are the others doing?” Gameset asked.

Mirror Mirror pointed. “Firestarter is holding the copies at bay using his powers. It turns out we had a lot of counters for this matchup.”

“No kidding,” Gameset answered. “I never expected your power to be so strong.”

“Everyone underestimates my prowess,” Mirror Mirror said.

Gameset looked over to the others. “How’s Prox doing?”

Approximo had to step back as the kidnapper charged forward. Yellow energy covered the player, sparking off him like electricity. The kidnapper smirked, swiping the air in front of him and sending a shockwave at Approximo.

The blast knocked the hero to the ground, taking a chunk from his health bar. Approximo rolled as he hit the floor, barely dodging a second blast. Of a Kind, again free for another shot, tried taking the kidnapper down. The bullets impacted but no longer pierced. It did make the kidnapper pause in his assault, however.

Approximo used the time to stand and take stock of the area around him. Other than the litter of destroyed mannequins, large sewing machines covered the area, along with drawings and designs of clothing. The hero clicked his tongue. The sewing machines were too big to use for an appendage, despite their weight being perfect for slamming this kidnapper to the ground. He could try transforming into a mannequin, but considering how quickly the kidnapper took them down it seemed unlikely to help.

If only there was something durable he could use. Something that could protect him from the blasts of energy coming from the kidnapper. Unfortunately, all that the store seemed to hold were various rolls of cloth.

“Prox!” Gameset shouted, getting the hero’s attention. “We got the other guy! Need help?”

“Yes, thank you!” Approximo said. “He is a very angry villain!”

“What the hell, Stonehead,” the kidnapper complained. “How’d you let these guys beat you.”

“He underestimated us,” Gameset said.

“There is still time to surrender!” Approximo said.

“Yeah, no,” the kidnapper said. “I’ve got a better idea!”

The player recalled all of his clones, charging himself with the energy.

“I can only do this once per life,” he said with a crazy laugh. “But I’ve always wanted to try it!”

The rainbow of energy sparked from the kidnapper, striking the ground and scoring it black.

“That, is not good,” Gameset said as everyone got together.

“He’s going to explode!” Mirror Mirror said. “We have to do something!”

“How!” Of a Kind exclaimed. “I can’t duplicate anything that would hold him down.”

“Dudes, maybe I could contain it,” Firestarter said.

The others looked between the punk hero and the kidnapper. The rainbow of energy grew, lancing out to strike a sewing machine. The resulting machine exploded in flames.

“I don’t think you’ve got the stamina to hold that,” Gameset said.

“We might not have a choice,” Gameset said.

Dylan scanned the area, desperate eyes searching. He wasn’t about to let this kidnapper blow himself and the rest of the store to smithereens. Not if he could help it.

He was treating the explosion like an earthquake, and as such was looking for something to dampen the blast. If he could get enough of something to absorb the shock, they could stop the worst of the explosion.

Dylan’s eyes settled on the cloth scattered around the room. “Kind, how fast can you duplicate?”

“As fast as it leaves my hand,” the hero said.

Approximo pointed across the room. “Mirror Mirror transform into me. Gameset, throw me at that cloth. Firestarter, start readying your power.”

Everyone nodded. Mirror Mirror changed, copying Approximo as he became a spear once more. Gameset picked the spear up and whipped it at the cloth.

Before landing, Approximo changed back. He grabbed a pile of cloth and stored it in his inventory, then shifted back into a spear. “Mirror Mirror, throw me back!”

The heroine nodded and threw. Approximo sailed through the air, landing back at Of a Kind. “Start making cloth, as much as you can.”

Of a Kind nodded and went to work. He held the cloth vertically in his right hand and started producing. Because he didn’t have to hold the cloth in his left hand he was able to copy as fast as he could activate his power. This caused some of the cloth to go flying around the heroes, but it let Of a Kind create items in a blink of an eye.

“That’s gotta be a bug,” Gameset said.

“Let’s get Sir Worth,” Approximo said.

The two rushed over and grabbed the unconscious crafter before the kidnapper could explode.

“Trying to save yourself!” he laughed. “It won’t work! I’m almost ready!”

Approximo set his jaw in stubborn resilience. “A villain never wins!”

He turned to everyone around him. “Get behind the pile of cloth.”

Everyone obeyed, ducking low even as Of a Kind continued to produce material. Dylan kept his eye on the kidnapper, readying the desperate countermeasure.

Mirror Mirror made it back just as the kidnapper seemed to finish. He sneered at the heroes. “Have a blast!”

The kidnapper clapped his hands, and Dylan acted. He shifted his arms and legs into long rolls of cloth and controlled them, scooping up the pile in front and squeezing. The idea was to use the cloth like a large sandbag, protecting everyone from the shockwave.

The kidnapper burst in a brilliant rainbow hue, sending blasts of energy across the room. The air around the kidnapper compressed from the force, expanding outward until it connected with something. Broken mannequins were sent flying, the forces shaking them to pieces. The large sewing machines buckled, then flipped over. Steel beams running across the top of the store bent and twisted as the energy expanded.

Dylan felt the explosion hit and saw his health bar drop faster than he had ever seen. As he’d thought, the cloth did protect from some of the blast, but Approximo was too close to the explosion. The hero’s health hit zero, sending him toward one of the random respawn points. The cloth scattered, blasting back to cover the other heroes and Sir Worth. Firestarter threw his hands up, conjuring fire to try and burn the air away.

Firestarter’s power took effect, turning the air into fire, though still on a path toward the heroes. Except, now the hero could control the incoming energy. He reached out, stopping the burning energy but taking a chunk out of his stamina. Mirror Mirror jumped in, copying Firestarter and halting more of the shockwave.

And then it was over. The kidnapper was gone, a small crater left in his wake. Approximo was gone as well, scattered remnants of duplicated cloth floating to the ground. Firestarter grunted, throwing the large fireball toward an empty space where it burned out.

The building creaked dangerously.

“Let’s get out of here,” Gameset said.

Everyone nodded.

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