Vaudevillain

While Dylan’s friends were fighting with Gustaf, he was trying to think of a way to keep all the civilians safe. They were still walking back and forth in a loop, screaming bloody murder as they did. It meant they were all in one nice spot, but it also meant they were in the way if something else happened.

And by the look of it, Dr. Zlo was about to cause some more trouble.

Seeing Dylan’s villainous creation as a hero put a new spin on things. Vert had nailed the AI for this Dr. Zlo, and Dylan was loving the over-the-top lines that came from him.

For now, Dylan decided to keep his eye on the flying Dr. Zlo. He knew that the villain’s goal would be the Gustaf Tower, so Approximo placed himself in the path. For now, Dr. Zlo was held up by the knights, but the villain’s shrink ray was making short work of the city’s protectors.

“Heh, short work,” Dylan laughed.

Behind Dr. Zlo, in the alleys and streets, were villanous minions and stalwart heroes, the two sides duking it out. Though, in Dylan’s eyes, it seemed the heroes were somewhat sandbagging. It was as if they were waiting for something to happen.

The last knight went down, and Dr. Zlo started flying toward the tower. Dylan knew he had to stop the villain, it was what Approximo would do. But how to go about it?

Dylan eyed Dr. Zlo’s rocket shoes. Yes, that should do it. The player activated his power, focusing on his feet and grabbing at the rocket shoes. Approximo’s feet changed into matching dress shoes that sent the hero flying upward.

“Haha, it worked!” Dylan laughed.

He had been unsure that his power could shapeshift into an exact copy, but shifting into a car had given him the idea. If his shapeshifted self had all the workings of a car, why wouldn’t the rocket boots?

“Stop, villain!” Approximo yelled at Dr. Zlo. “There is still time to be reasonable!”

“Ha! Another hapless hero! Here to halt my hard-earned victory?” Dr. Zlo asked.

“Yes!” Approximo answered. “This tower does not belong to you, and I am told community service is like a female dog!”

Dr. Zlo pointed his shrink ray. “It does not matter if something belongs to me or not! My genius surpasses petty things like morals or ethics. If I want something, I shall take it!”

The villain fired the shrink ray at Approximo, who leaned to the side to dodge. The beam lanced off into the horizon, dissipating after a bit of time.

“Hold still, hero!” Dr. Zlo cackled. “Let me cut you down to size!”

The villain fired again, and Approximo continued to fly. The hero made sure to stay away from the Gustaf Tower, that way none of the shrink rays accidentally hit. Once there was enough distance, Approximo dashed forward, idea in mind.

The hero reached for his power again, attempting to shift his arm into a copy of the shrink ray. A pop-up appeared, just long enough to read before vanishing.

Item too advanced to copy!

Frowning, Approximo realized he would need another strategy. It came to him easily enough, there were still plenty of vines on the surrounding houses.

Dr. Zlo, not wanting to let the hero get close, flew backward, firing all the while. Approximo weaved through the blasts, but was unable to get closer. Seeing as he couldn’t reach melee range currently, Approximo switched tactics.

The hero focused on the rocket shoes, shifting both hands into the gadget. Approximo had no clue if this would work, but he figured four would be faster than one. It might let him get close enough for a grapple.

His gamble paid off, and Approximo sped forward twice as fast as before.

“How dare you steal my inventions!” Dr. Zlo screeched.

The villain kept one hand on his shrink ray, firing wildly while the other grabbed at his button bombs. Dr. Zlo cackled as he tossed the bombs.

“Not good!” Approximo shouted. He swerved to the side, diving to the ground. Explosions blasted around him, destablizing his flight and crashing him to the ground. Health drained from his bar onscreen, but not much. Luckily, none of the bombs detonated close to the civilians, but if Approximo kept the fight here they would likely get hit.

Dylan could let his hero continue the fight and ignore the consequences, but he didn’t want to break the rule he made for his character yet. He was sure it would have to happen at some point, there was no way a hero could save everyone, but at the moment it didn’t have to happen.

So Approximo launched himself back into the air, deciding to forgo some safety in order to reach the villain.

“You heroic nuisance!” Dr. Zlo shouted.

“Thank you!” Approximo shouted back.

The hero weaved between inaccurate shrink rays and shifted one of his hands into a flat table he saw below. As the bombs came, Approximo flew toward them and swung. Some exploded, damaging Approximo, but most were batted back to Dr. Zlo.

“Ack!” the villain shouted. It was his turn to dive away.

Approximo gave chase, transforming his hand back into a rocket and using the bomb’s explosions to obscure his path. Dr. Zlo fired wildly, unable to get a lock on the hero. The last bomb detonated just as Approximo reached Dr. Zlo. The hero shifted his arm, changing it to the ensnaring vines he’d used to hold the Jacques.

“Let go!” Dr. Zlo protested.

“No!” Approximo said. “You will give up and perform the community service to right your wrongs.”

“Never!” Dr. Zlo shouted. “I above such petty things!”

The villain wriggled underneath Approximo’s shapeshifted hand, which only made the hero tighten his hold. Vines wrapped around Dr. Zlo, the villain desperately attempting to get free but the more he twisted the more the vines restrained him.

It seemed like Approximo had the villain captured. At least, that was the case until the villain wriggled his hand around to the last button on his shirtsleeve.

“I never expected to use this on someone of your lowly caliber,” the villain said. “But, sometimes one must use anything at their disposal.”

Dr. Zlo pressed the button, and suddenly, he wasn’t there.

“What?!” Approximo exclaimed.

A high-pitched cackle came from between Approximo’s vine-shifted hands. He looked down to see not a vanished Dr. Zlo, but one the size of an action figure.

“Behold, my genius!” he shouted in a high voice.

The villain leaped from Approximo’s hands, turning and firing the shrunken shrink ray. Approximo felt the miniature beams connect, and watched with surprise as his vines started to shrink. More beams came in quick succesion, striking more of Approximo’s limbs before the villain grew back up to size. The rockets on the hero’s appendages shrank as well, barely holding the hero up.

“I dislike using that feature,” Dr. Zlo said. “I haven’t discovered how to make the shrink ray keep its power when small.”

“You will not get away with this!” Approximo shouted.

“Oh, but I will!” Dr. Zlo cackled. “Now, be a dear and wait below while I finish my business.”

Dr. Zlo laughed as he turned away from the barely balanced hero. Approximo made to go after him, but couldn’t propel themselves forward on such small limbs. The hero would have to figure something else out.

However, while Approximo thought, Dr. Zlo was hard at work. The villain had called more minions to him, groups of them falling from the sky to surround the tower. The players outside the plaza rushed in, doing their best to take the minions down.

Again, no one was gunning for Dr. Zlo, which Dylan found weird. Surely someone would want the honor of defeating this villain. Maybe it was because these were Zlobots? Of course, the final Dr. Zlo was also a Zlobot, so why would that make a difference?

Dylan put it out of his mind, he had more important things to deal with. Like catching up to Dr. Zlo. The villain was almost in range of the tower now, and the rest of Approximo’s friends were still fighting. From what he could see, Gameset had just removed an arm from the cyborg.