Dr. Zlo's Christmas Caper! - 2

Dr. Zlo's Christmas Caper! - 2

The Zlomobile appeared in the midst of a tree canopy. Emerald leaves masked its presence from the road nearby, giving the team a moment to collect themselves.

"You know, dudes," Riptide said with a sniff. "This place doesn't smell very fragrant."

"It's a city," Mabel said with a roll of her eyes. "Fragrance doesn't come with the territory."

"The smell of it doesn't matter!" Dr. Zlo commented. "All that matters is finding a factory that can make my grand inventions."

Dr. Zlo shifted the car out of park and maneuvered it onto the road. The self-driving function took over a moment later as the villain opened his GPS to search.

"Let's see we'll need a place somewhat out of the way, so heroes don't get ideas. And it should have access to the materials I need."

"Which are?" Mabel asked.

Dr. Zlo waved a hand. "Plastics, computer chips, the usual."

Eventually Dr. Zlo settled on a small factory on the edge of the city, some family owned business or something. It didn't matter, whoever owned it would soon find themselves under the foot of the great Dr. Zlo.

The villain cackled as he entered the address. "To victory!"

The Zlomobile drove off, keeping a sedate pace so as not to attract attention. While Dr. Zlo desperately wished to announce his presence, doing so would endanger his plan. Heroes would swarm the city if they learned the villain was here, no doubt finding his hidden factory. Alas, he would have to stay silent.

The villain distracted himself by imagining the various surrounding skyscrapers were demolished and rebuilt in his image. Large banners of 'Dr. Zlo is watching!' matched with bland architecture, with faces of Dr. Zlo being the only flair allowed. It got old rather quickly, but it passed the time. The villains soon found themselves near the factory.

It was an old thing, the building. It reminded Dr. Zlo of the first factories during the industrial revolution. One large building sat in front, windows dotting its multiple floors. Behind that sat the warehouses and machines in a wide, flat-roofed structure dotted with towering chimneys. Chimneys that were in use, apparently.

"Hmm, I had assumed this place would be abandoned," Dr. Zlo said with a twirl of his mustache. "No matter! A few workers are no match for the might of my magnificent minions!"

Dr. Zlo slapped the trunk of his car, activating the device inside. A Jacques's hand popped out of the trunk, pulling the rest of itself out with a heave. The Jacques tumbled, stood, then turned back to the trunk and grabbed the next hand. Another Jacques appeared, then another, and another, until multiple squads milled about. Lugs and Egghead variants joined in a moment later, the latter arranging the Jacques into something closer to a formation. Mabel grabbed a Lug before it could join up and pulled it over.

"Right!" Dr. Zlo shouted after all his minions assembled. "Today we enact the first step of my plan! We are taking over that factory in the name of genius! My genius, to be specific. Therefore, the building cannot be destroyed. That means no overdoing it, you hear!"

The Jacques nodded.

The computer's green pixels opened and the digitized voice screeched a laugh. "You think that your puny, fleshy, body can succeed against my iron might? I am the Digitizer, the culmination of science! The end goal of all evolution!"

Dr. Zlo shot at it with his monocle. Blue energy arced across the room, splattering across a shield. "I hate to interrupt such a grand display of villainy, but I am sadly on a schedule. Don't worry, I'll be kind enough to deposit you somewhere much more appropriate. Perhaps in a bank of some kind."

"You will attempt no such thing!" Digitizer said. "For you shall fall here to my machine might!"

A whirring noise emanated throughout the room, followed by a low rumble. Dr. Zlo raised an eyebrow, unimpressed as the various centuries old machinery came apart at the seams and rolled its way to the computer. The metal linked together, forming a body in moments.

"Witness the height of my power!" the Digitizer screeched.

Dr. Zlo sighed. "Riptide, would you be so kind?"

"Whatcha need, dude?" the villain asked.

"Enhance my laser with your surf power," Dr. Zlo answered as he fired another beam from his monocle.

"Haha! Right on!" Riptide laughed. He zoomed forward, latching onto Dr. Zlo's laser with his power. The laser spread across Riptide as he surfed, until the man's entire body shone an electric blue. Laser and villain slammed into the shield covering the Digitizer, making the computer take a step back. Arcs of energy lanced off the two as they clashed, the shield eventually cracking under Riptide's assault.

"Im-impossible!" the Digitizer exclaimed.

"Don't feel bad," Dr. Zlo said as the shield cracked. "You were just up against a better class of villain."

Riptide tore through the Digitizer's mechanical body, shattering it to pieces. The computer face, in a picture of shock, fell toward the ground where two Lugs caught it.

Dr. Zlo walked forward. "Who uses centuries old metallurgy in their robot body anyway?"

Riptide laughed. "Maybe you should make him a body of Zlonium."

Dr. Zlo waved a hand. "A topic for another time. Right now, we have a factory to get running."

"Hon, what should we do the Digitizer's minions?" Mabel asked.

"Wrap them up," Dr. Zlo said. "We'll deposit them where we put the Digitizer. They should make an excellent distraction while our factory picks up steam!"

Riptide laughed. "Right on, dude."