Dr. Zlo spotted the truck a few minutes after leaving the battlefield. He watched as Riptide directed the vehicle around the air in a lazy circle, slowly bringing the machine to a stop. The doctor reached the group a few seconds later.
"Curse that Singularity!" he yelled as he touched down on the roof.
"Dude, your friend has so issues," Riptide comnted.
"Seriously. Oh, and these guys are down to join in the guild," Sweet Dream said.
"Ah, more recruits to take on the pesky interlopers from beyond."
"He ans Vert right?" rla asked.
"Yeah, just roll with it. He's in character now," Sweet Dream replied.
"While your intentions are selfish," Titan started, "forcing the gods to see reason is a noble act that will benefit the entire planet. I will help you."
Dr. Zlo waved him off, "Yes, great. But right now, I have more important things to worry about. Singularity is out for my head, and I doubt he plans to stop."
"Yeah dude, kinda weird that you have a villain as your nesis when you aren't a hero," Riptide said.
"And he won't stop if we kill him," Sweet Dream grumbled. "I know his type."
"Indeed," Dr. Zlo comnted. "So I propose a ruse! But first, we need to find his tracking device."
Dr. Zlo switched his cane over to his smokescreen and circled the truck in a blast of fog.
"There, we're hidden for a bit of ti. Riptide, if you need to move us I'll create more smoke."
"Got it, dude."
"What is this going to accomplish?" rla asked.
"Since your slow mind can't keep up with my dizzying intellect, I will explain."
"Hey"
The villain thrust out a hand, "My foe must have so way to keep tabs on us, and it isn't through the use of a tracking device. I thoroughly checked for those earlier. Therefore, we are followed by so form of cara drone. Similar to my hatbots I imagine, but nowhere near as effective. By hiding the truck in this smokescreen, we make ourselves look like a cloud, forcing the drone to co close enough where we can see it!"
"What if it's tracking the cloud, genius?" rla shot back, her tone harsh.
"Bah, the machine isn't smart enough for that," Dr. Zlo dismissed.
"And if it was?" Sweet Dream asked. "How would you use your dizzying intellect to counter the strategy?"
"Aha, well. Riptide, can you surf us over to that copse of clouds?"
"You an the big one over there? Sure, dude. I'll need a bit of a push though."
Dr. Zlo nodded and pointed to rla, "Do you have sothing that can keep the smokescreen near us?"
"She can't but I can," Rampart said.
"Excellent! Do it. I'll move us over to the clouds and you can all thank later."
With that, Dr. Zlo dropped down to the back of the truck and activated his rocket shoes. The vehicle pushed through the air, Riptide steering from the hood and Rampart keeping all the smoke nearby with a box of barriers. Once they reached the larger cloud cover, Dr. Zlo hopped back up.
"Now, the machine will have no choice but to fly up here! As expected of my genius!"
Sweet Dream cleared her throat. Dr. Zlo rolled his eyes, "Ugh, fine. You had a small part to play as well."
"Thank you."
"So what," Oro said, "we just keep our eyes peeled?"
"Yes, and when you do see it, we shall take it out!"
Riptide's disintegration cannon flashed, and everyone flinched. A sad beeping noise followed the attack, "I think I got it, dudes."
"Just in case, let's spend a bit more ti searching," Sweet Dream said.
The group searched for a bit longer before deciding the coast was clear.
"Alright, dudes. Where to next?" Riptide asked.
"I need materials," Dr. Zlo said.
"I think we should et up with Dextra," Sweet Dream argued. "Let him know we have others who want to join up."
"Yes, and Dextra would know where to find the things I need. Very well, let's go find our villainous friend."
Sweet Dream opened up the chat function and created a group ssage with Dextra and the others.
Candequeen:
Hey, we found a few people interested in joining
Where are you at so we can et?
D.Black:
Co to 66 Moola Ave.
In the financial district.
"That has got to be the dumbest street na," Sweet Dream muttered.
"What?" Riptide asked.
"Dextra says to et at 66 Moola Avenue. Which is the dumbest street na I've heard in a while."
"I don't know, I've heard there's a group of streets in the real world that are nad, This Street, That Street, and The Other Street," Rampart replied.
"Oh god, that's terrible."
"Dude, my favorites are the ones nad after swear words. Like f*cking," Riptide said.
The group of players continued their lighthearted conversation as Riptide surfed the group over to Dextra. Along the way, the conversation shifted to Dr. Zlo.
"So, what's your plan to deal with that *ss?" Sweet Dream asked.
"Well, if you must know"
Sweet Dream held up a hand, "Stopping you now. Don't grandstand for , please? I'm not one of your targets."
The villain sighed, "Fine. A villain like Singularity is all too common in our world. He is a creature of relentless willpower. So, I can't face him head on. He'll co back, and back, and back, each ti with sothing slightly different. Eventually, I'd lose and he would gloat. It wouldn't matter how many tis I did win, all that would matter is the one ti he won. Therefore, I plan to ignore his head on assaults entirely."
"How?" Oro asked.
"By creating robotic clones of myself, obviously."
"Dude, that was anything but obvious," Riptide said.
Dr. Zlo smiled, "I'll explain then!"
"I think you got baited," Sweet Dream whispered. Riptide nodded in agreent.
"By creating Zlobots in my image, I can distract Singularity and lead him on wild goose chases across cities while I stay safe in my lair plotting. The best part is, he'll chase after each one in the hopes of finding ."
"And if he does find you?" Rampart asked.
"I run away, or send a minion in to fight him. The best way to win here is to show that facing him isn't worth my ti."
Sweet Dream barked a laugh, "I love it!"
"Yeah, dude. It sounds aweso," Riptide said.
The heroes also gave their approval, with the exception of Titan. The large hero sat on the truck, brooding over how quickly his team bonded with villains. But it was all in good fun, both Titan and his friends knew how much he loved roleplaying.
Riptide surfed down onto a street below with the last bit of montum from Dr. Zlo's earlier push. At that point, Cass took over driving back to Dextra. The heroes and villain stuck to the vehicle with taffy peeled their hands away and jumped into the back with the minions. A few minutes later, the truck stopped at 66 Moola Avenue.
A small, almost quaint, bank greeted the group as they stepped out. Dr. Zlo looked up to see the words "Black Banking and Barter" in bold letters.
"How does he keep getting all these buildings?" Sweet Dream asked.
"Ms. Black owns many front companies around the city," Hans said, startling everyone.
The suited man had sohow snuck up behind the group of players. Hans walked by the group, pulling open the door to the bank, "Ms. Black is waiting for you inside."
Nodding uncertainly, the group made their way into the building. Dextra sat at the front receptionist desk, waiting with hands crossed and a placid smile.
"Welco to Black Banking and Barter, my new front I plan to install around the cities. The best part is, I can treat this as an actual bank."
"Dude, right on," Riptide said.
"Quite, but let's get down to business. I assu you four are here to join up with the guild?"
"I'd like to hear more about it," Rampart said. "All I know at the mont is you're trying to get Vert to back down on scripting events. How do you plan to go about that?"
"The first order of business is to create videos of our success and Vert's subsequent rollback of it," Dextra started. "From there, I plan to start a petition to request Vert change their policy. If that doesn't work, we plan to use the guild to find exploits within the rules."
"Couldn't they just ban you after too many issues?" rla asked.
"Oh sure, but that's terrible press. We'd beco martyrs and most likely gars around the planet would boycott. Nothing upsets soone more than unfair practices. But I doubt it would co to that."
"Hey, while you guys work out the details, I need to get working on my plan against Singularity," Dr. Zlo said.
Dextra turned to him, "Is this so new hero?"
"Villain, actually. He used to be a part of my group until he betrayed us."
"Ah, a traitor."
"And a stubborn one," Sweet Dream said. "He could have left but decided to get back at Dr. Zlo for, 'playing the ga wrong.'"
Dextra frowned, "One of those people. Very well, what do you plan to do?"
"I will make an army of Zlobots to keep him off my trail, that way he can't keep chasing after ."
"A good secondary plan," Dextra said. "But what do you plan to do about him right now?"
"Avoid him."
"That's a bad idea."
Dylan tilted his head in confusion, "Why's that?"
"Yeah, avoiding stuff like this seems par for the course," Sweet Dream added.
"Sure, if you want him to think you're running away from him. That would only stoke the player's ego."
"So then, what do I do?"
Dextra smiled, "May I suggest challenging him to a fight? Then, when you win, his pride will be crushed. Afterwards, you can run away as you please."
Dr. Zlo looked thoughtful, "So, you're saying that to show he isn't worth my ti, I have to beat him first. Afterwards, I can enact the Zlobot plan."
"Precisely," Dextra answered.
"Yes, Singularity will rue the day he tried to challenge , the great Dr. Zlo!"
"Glad to see that's cleared up. If you need anything talk to Shizuka. I'm going to go over my plans with the others."
Shizuka appeared to Dextra's left, waving. Cackling, Dr. Zlo strode toward the ninja, ideas forming in his head. Dextra was right, it wouldn't be enough to create the Zlobots. Dylan had to utterly beat his friend and show how much better he was at the ga. That way, when John inevitably ca back for a fight, Dr. Zlo could gloat and taunt as much as he wanted.
Dylan pulled up his power tab, there were a few things he needed to make before the grand finale.
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