Vaudevillain

Chapter 147: A Grand Entrance

Matt-att scoffed, "Don't act like you're innocent in all this. We both know you're working with other groups to take out some of the smaller factions. Trollstompers won't stand for that. We protect others from those who have fun destroying!"

Dextra raised an eyebrow, "You seem a bit trollish yourself, you know that?"

"Know thy enemy," Matt-att replied. "Besides, the only way to make trolls understand the pain they cause is to make them feel what they do to others."

The streamer's chat filled with agreements and disagreements as he stared down Dextra.

"But enough talk," Matt-att stated. "We're here to take you down. Men!!!"

The Trollstompers behind the streamer cheered, deafening the coast. Dextra looked upon the enemy group as they geared themselves up, then turned to Rampart. The hero had made it back just in time for the last portion.

"Rampart, would you do the honors?" Dextra asked him.

Rampart grinned, "H*ll yeah." The hero turned back to the recruits, "Menagerie!!! Are! You! Ready!!!"

The army behind Dextra and Rampart matched the Trollstomper's cheers, adding another layer to the already deafening sound. Matt-att and Dextra stared at each other across the open space, both smirking as their respective factions riled themselves up. Slowly, the cheers started to die down, making way for the march that came after.

Then, a faint tune drifting in with the wind caught Matt-att's attention. The steamer paused in his march, looking around for the source of the song. Trollstompers pushed past him, eager to take the fight to Menagerie. But as the music grew louder, both sides of the conflict paused in their charge. As the scuffle between armies died down, the sound of a horn rose, pulling everyone's eyes to the sky.

Timpani drums joined the horn, beating like an excited heartbeat. Matt-att looked to the sky to see a black and white shape emerge from the clouds. The streamer blinked, so caught up in the moment he didn't even see his chat messages. The streamer's subscribers were all just as excited, all of them knowing that it could only be one person.

As the shape emerged from the clouds, Matt-att saw a gigantic blimp decorated to look like a formal suit. The streamer's eyes scanned every inch of the contraption, taking note of the bow-tie observation deck. Various bumps covered the blimp's canvas covering. As it moved closer, Matt-att noticed the bumps were multiple tubes and holes for emplaced guns. Finally, his eyes rested on a man standing on top of the dirigible.

The Zloppelin came closer, and the horns switched from their deep tones to some more processional, like they were heralding someone's entrance. In this case, they were, and the voice that followed after had everyone on the edge of their seats.

"Good evening, Haven City!" Dr. Zlo boomed. "I am Dr. Zlo! Criminal mastermind! And I am here to grace you with my presence!"

As the villain spoke, a projector screen appeared below him, magnifying Dr. Zlo's face for all to see. Matt-att looked up at his proclaimed rival, noting that the villain still looked every inch the part. Dr. Zlo always dressed like a man from the nineteen-hundreds, with a formal suit coat and dress pants. A top hat rested on the man's head, covering his shockingly black hair. A monocle rested over one eye, the chain running behind a thin, curly mustache that begged to get twirled. A hook nose, pointy and snobbish, looked down on the masses below, complete with a sneer that told everyone who the boss was.

"Now," Dr. Zlo started as the music swelled again, "a few interlopers have decided to interfere with my grand scheme to sink this city. You heroes and do-gooders have the gall to shut down my Wave Widget without even attempting to take out my fighting forces! I must admit, I didn't think you had it in you. Heroes aren't known to look at the bigger picture, after all."

Dr. Zlo affected a weary look as the Zloppelin dipped toward Menagerie, "It seems my genius is too much for even me. I expected the chaos caused by the lesser villains to distract every hero in the area since their upright morals and righteous scruples meant they just had to help out every citizen in need. However! I did not expect a group of you to completely ignore that, and the virus mistakenly unleashed by Dextra, to rush straight to my Wave Widget and deactivate it!"

The villain switched from his weary look to one of expectation, "But I will say, what a good show! You, my friends, must be true heroes! Why I'd say, everyone should look up to you lot. If more people ignored the minor crimes and went after what truly mattered Well, I'd be out of an occupation."

Dr. Zlo paused for a second, letting his speech sink in.

"But did you honestly think that I, Dr. Zlo! would allow you to succeed? It is still too early to celebrate, heroes! For I have done the unthinkable!"

Dr. Zlo landed the Zloppelin in front of the Wave Widget, letting the landing pad drop down to reveal players from Cartis and Thenapolis.

"I have corrupted those that swore to uphold the law! Yes! You once knew them as heroes, but now they're on my side! Cower in fear as my new army resets the bomb and takes out Haven City once and for all! Muahahaha!"

"You fiend!" Rampart yelled, getting into the spirit of things as he saw his friends rush down the ramp. "What have you done to Titan and Merla!"

Dr. Zlo turned to the hero, "Ah, Rampart. Forgetting about good old Oro, are we? No matter. You see, I have perfected this!"

The villain held up a device that eerily resembled his earlier gender bender gun, "This beauty here completely alters the very fabric of a person's morality, making anyone struck by it into their complete opposite! Heroes become evil; villains become good. Though I don't know why anyone would choose to use the second option, evil is much more fun."

"How dare you do that to my companions!" Rampart exclaimed, rushing into Menagerie to face Dr. Zlo. Titan jumped in front of him, blocking off the hero's path.

"Can't let you do that," the hulking hero said.

While that went on, Matt-att and his Trollstompers stared, a touch confused.

"Hey!" Matt-att called out.

Dr. Zlo looked over to the streamer, "I will get to you in a moment, sir. Right now, I'm reveling as I force the heroes to fight each other!"

"You're supposed to fight us!" a Trollstomper cried out.

"Oh?" Dr. Zlo turned to the Trollstompers as the rest of his "turned" heroes formed a line around the buoy that was the Wave Widget. "Are you here to stop me as well?"

"Of course!" Matt-att shouted. "We're here to stop your faction from trolling the smaller ones!"

Dr. Zlo looked hurt, "Troll? Me? Why I've never been so insulted in my life! Mabel! Can you believe they have the nerve to call me a, a, Troll!"

"I heard 'em, hon," Mabel responded. "You'd think some people would know better."

"Quite right, Mabel," Dr. Zlo said. The villain turned back to Matt-att, "How dare you accuse me of trolling! I'll have you know; I'm a legitimate villain! A criminal mastermind! Not some two-bit hack who thinks it's fun to pour sand down someone's shorts to watch them squirm. No! Dr. Zlo builds the largest sandbox in the world to dump over an entire city, so everyone has to deal with sand in their shorts!"

Matt-att and the rest of the Trollstompers all gave Dr. Zlo strange looks.

"Um, boss?" Cass said.

"What, Cass?" Dr. Zlo said, leaning down to where his silver butler and Mabel were waiting under the canvas.

"I don't get the point of putting sand in someone's shorts."

"It's an analogy, Cass. Obviously, we aren't about to perform such actions."

"Enough!" Matt-att shouted. "Are we fighting or not?"

Dr. Zlo snapped back to his feet and thrust his cane, "I invite you to try and dismantle my bomb. If you think you can stop me!"

Matt-att grinned. This was what he'd been waiting for. The hero readied his power and shouted at his team, "Trollstompers! Charge!"

"Cass, bring the Zloppelin up!" Dr. Zlo shouted.

Down under the canvas, Cass saluted. The butler made his way for the observation center, where he then directed the Zloppelin to rise into the sky. Dr. Zlo hopped back into his mighty vessel, strolling down to the observation deck with Mabel beside him. Suitor walked next to her, his arm crooked for the southern belle to hold. Jacques milled about the area, pretending to turn valves and push buttons as the vessel rose to the sky.

Down below, Dextra rallied those around him, declaring any hero brave enough should try to stop the bomb's detonation. Villains should work together to keep the dismantling from happening. Then, the villain made their way across the battlefield, using squads of villains to put Dextra closer and closer to the wave widget.

Rampart played his part, fighting his teammates while calling out to them. Heroes around the player joined him on his quest, enjoying the twists and turns this event brought. Those heroes in the turned faction were having fun as well, Dr. Zlo's excuse giving them a chance to act out.

Matt-att led his Trollstompers into the chaos, attacking anyone involved with Menagerie. The resulting three-way fight brought another layer of confusion, splitting up the armies into small squads scattered around the coast. The streamer soon found himself alone, staring down a group of four villains dressed in steampunk garb.

"I wonder how much their leader is worth to them," the Professor mused as he stared down Matt-att.

"He can't be worth much," Victoria said, rolling her shoulders to stay loose. "Just look at that complexion. No pedigree at all."

"Whatever he's worth, Dr. Zlo will treat us well if we get him," Chemster said.

Matt-att laughed at the conversation, "The only thing you're all getting is a quick death."

"Oh, this one has a mouth on him," Victoria said as she cracked her knuckles.

Matt-att readied his power, ready for anything that came his way.