Chapter 8: Face off at the Mall

Chapter 8: Face off at the Mall

It was by the third abandoned factory that Dylan realized he was going about his plan all wrong. He was going about it like a strategy game, collecting the resources first before looking to build. His power was counteractive to that strategy as he had no clue what he should grab until he typed what he wanted into his power tab. Besides, if he couldn't fit a semi-truck into his inventory a factory machine of some kind wouldn't fit either.

"I'm an idiot," He groaned.

All that work going around looking for spare parts to use and he hadn't even opened his tab to type in his ideas. Well, Dylan wasn't about to wait any longer. He opened his power tab and typed "minion factory" into the box.

Minion Factory

Yellow Tic-Tacs (1)

Dylan closed the screen quickly. "Stupid popular culture replacing classic names." He replaced the word minion with henchman.

Henchman Factory

White suit (1)

White stormtrooper helmet (1)

"Oh come on!" Dylan complained as he closed the screen again. "Seriously how hard is it to use the dictionary description. I'm not looking to play a battle royale game in my RPG." He tried one more time, switching out the word henchman with lackey.

Lackey Factory

Full Face Mask (1)

Cohesive Theme (1)

Mannequin Doll (1)

3-D Printer (10)

Superglue (1 bottle)

That was much better. Plus it had the added bonus of sounding goofy. "Behold! My mighty LACKEY FACTORY!!!" Dylan boomed, pantomiming unveiling his machine. Yeah, that sounded exactly the right amount of ridiculous.

But none of these components would be found in the factory district. Well, the 3-D printers would be, but there was no way he'd be able to purchase ten of them. Those things were expensive! "I guess I'll have to steal them," Dylan muttered.

But to do that he would need a team of lackeys. "Man, all I wanted to do was recreate an old villain trope. Why is this so hard."

He was mostly grumbling for the sake of complaining. He liked playing Dr. Zlo, despite all the difficulty. "Let's look on the bright side, it means I can for sure use that abandoned house as a base."

Dylan made his way back towards the gothic house in Wonderman's Respite. Along the way, he grabbed up every piece of material or scrap he could think of just in case he could use it later. Sure it was bogging down his inventory but he could work on arranging it all later. Right now he wanted to get his plan started.

Once back at the base, Dylan typed in Lackey in his power tab. It was the same list as the Lackey Factory minus the 3-D Printers. That was easy enough to collect. Taking a piece of crumpled paper and a broken pencil from his inventory, Dylan listed all the remaining parts he would need.

Besides the lackeys and GB gun, he'd need some way to travel across town quickly. Since he was going with a gadget theme Dylan typed in "Rocket-propelled dress shoes" on his tab.

Rocket-propelled dress shoes

Dress shoes (1 pair. Derby, Cap Toed, or Dress boots)

Model Rocket Kit (6)

Training Wheels (2)

Wing Stickers (2)

"Good good. Just let me purchase my last item and I will be out of your hair. Mayhaps we'll meet again on another battlefield."

"No, leave now."

"You're being very rude."

"Says the man who's minion attacked for no reason."

"Touche. But I really must purchase my last item, it is vitally important."

"I'm sure you can find another store."

"At this time of night?"

"Then wait."

Dana could literally feel the anger within her rising. She didn't like roleplayers, mainly because her brother LARPed and was a dick about it. "Girls can't play LARP games Dana they're too weak. You can't come, baby sisters going to their brother's games isn't cool. You can't play the fighter, you have to be the healer. You're only here because Mom said I had to take you." The asshole never shut up about how she couldn't join him. She was already thirteen. She could totally do everything he could!

So lost in her anger, Dana didn't notice Dr. Zlo leaving until he had walked into the jewelry store. "Hey!" She yelled.

Dr. Zlo ignored her, purchasing a pair of rings sitting in the display case. He walked back out and stored the rings in his inventory. "Let's go Jacques." He said.

"Stop ignoring me!" Dana yelled. The pent up frustration from years of getting ignored by an older brother too caught up in looking cool for his friends unleashed itself all at once. Angry, she hurled the massage chair at the villain.

Dr. Zlo dodged out of the way, though his minion wasn't so lucky. The massage chair connected right in the minion's stomach and he sailed into the jewelry store, breaking the display case and scattering rings and necklaces across the ground.

"Someone has a temper," Dr. Zlo quipped. "Do you get stronger the angrier you get? That seems like it could be a drawback."

Dana's response was to throw another massage chair. Again Dr. Zlo dodged out of the way, diving behind the fountain under the sunroof. Dana grabbed the last massage chair and jumped over the fountain to bring it down on the villain. Dr. Zlo clicked the heels of his shoes together in response.

Rockets appeared on the sides of the shoes and ignited. The villain backflipped away from Dana's attack and landed on his feet. His momentum stumbled him backward into a passing bystander. Dr. Zlo rebounded off the NPC and brought a hand up to the monocle over his left eye. "I see you don't want to be civil about this. VERY WELL! FEEL THE WRATH OF MY MIGHTIEST WEAPON!"

Dr. Zlo flicked at the link connecting a golden chain to the monocle. The link flicked upwards and a red glow formed in a ring around the eyepiece. Before Dana could react a red laser fired from the monocle and connected with the hero's chest. The laser pushed Dana back into the fountain, creating a wave of water that the laser immediately turned into steam.

The white cloud billowed out from the fountain, blinding everyone in the area. As the smoke settled Dr. Zlo looked at the fountain. "Did that do it?"

Dana burst from the fountain in anger and grabbed Dr. Zlo with her large hands. "Ah," Dr. Zlo said. "Admittedly, I expected the weapon to do more."

Dana squeezed the air out of the villain's torso. "Not so talkative now are we?" She quipped.

Dr. Zlo wheezed and tried to break her grip with a cane that appeared in his hand. When that didn't work he gasped out an order. "Jacques head back to the hideout!" The minion nodded and sprinted towards the exit.

"Stop! Talking!" Dana yelled. All her anger at her brother was now misplaced onto this idiot roleplayer. She squeezed harder, intending to crush him.

Dr. Zlo clacked his heels together again and Dana found herself launched into the air with the villain. The two crashed through the mall sunroof and soared into the sky. Dana refused to let go, trusting that she could win the PvP before the villain brought her to a dangerous height.

Dr. Zlo used the jerking motion from the launch to free a hand and angled his cane at the hero's face. With no plan except to distract her, he pressed the button down on his cane. Orange soda sprayed out of the cane's end and into Dana's face, some going up into her nose. The hero involuntarily released Dr. Zlo, years of evolution beating out her anger.

She fell back down into the mall, crashing through another section of the sunroof and cracking the fountain as she landed. Dana stood quickly, her resilience negating most of the fall damage. "Get back here!" She yelled.

Dr. Zlo hovered down through the sunroof, close enough to hear but not close enough to catch. "You may have bested me today Berserkerwoman but you will not win the next time! Until we meet again!" Dr. Zlo rocketed back out into the night sky.

"THE NAME IS DANA DOZER!" Dana yelled back. She kicked the edge of the broken fountain, cracking the concrete. "Stupid roleplayers."

Well, at least there was something good to come out of the fight.