VV4, 70 - Black is the New Black

VV4, 70 - Black is the New Black

Dextra Black leaned back in their customized aircraft as it intimidatingly maneuvered toward Cowabunga’s last known location. Thomas figured the overpowered villain would be the perfect counterpart for his character. A classic strength versus wits matchup.

One that Dextra wasn’t about to lose.

After all, this time the player had done his research. Cowabunga’s power worked in a strange way. Anything surfs basically worked like a frictionless shield. Whatever the hero targeted with his power would ‘surf’ over everything else. Meaning that when the hero targeted himself, everything that hit him would act as if he was untouchable. And from there, Cowabunga could target the deflected attacks and ‘surf’ them back toward his opponents.

Which meant Cowabunga’s weakness was in his targeting. If he couldn’t see an attack he couldn’t target it. However, he’d mitigated that weakness with a power that gave him a spherical bubble of awareness around him.

A crafty solution for sure, but Dextra still had a plan to win.

At it’s core, the plan was simple. Overwhelm the hero’s ability to select a target.

Of course, that was decidedly easier said than done. People had rather quick reaction times, on average around two hundred and fifty milliseconds. With the circular bubble of awareness, Dextra would have to use an inordinate number of attacks for even one to hit Cowabunga.

And so, Dextra decided that they would just cheat.

“We’re approaching the hero now, Ms. Black,” a subordinate said.

“Excellent,” Dextra answered. “Is everyone ready?”

“Everyone is at their stations.”

Dextra nodded before turning and marching toward the hangar bay. Her NPC minions fell in after her, marching in a perfect order. The ragtag teams of villains joined in curiously, excited mutters echoing across the halls.

Once they reached the hanger, Dextra turned and clapped to get everyone’s attention. The chatter settled.

“I’m certain you’re all wondering what the upcoming plan is,” Dextra started. “Cowabunga is likely our strongest opponent, but he is no match for my genius intellect. I’ve already determined his weakness and devised a countermeasure.”

The NPCs stepped forward with briefcases in hand. They all snapped open in one smooth motion, revealing sleek golden guns.

“These weapons are for each of you,” Dextra said. “They contain six shots filled with a powerful paralyzing agent. Our goal is simple, overwhelm Cowabunga with a bevy of attacks.”

The villains nodded.

“This is, of course, more difficult than it appears,” Dextra said. “In addition to his ability, Cowabunga seems to have an innate awareness around himself, the radius of which not even I know.”

They did, but just handing the answer over would make for poor entertainment.

“As such, our first goal is to determine how far out Cowabunga’s radius extends. To do so, I will need all of you with ranged attacks to report to me. Everyone else, your goal is to attempt to contain Cowabunga in one place. Build a dome over him, sink him, I don’t care. Just make sure it is done. Understood?”

“You got it!” “Yeah let’s get him!” “For Dr. Zlo!”

“Right, bros!” He shouted to the attacking villains. “As fun as this is, I’m going to have to put you in time-out before your reinforcements get here.”

“As if,” The monster summoner retorted. “You’re locked down.”

“Ah, but bros,” Cowabunga said with a laugh. “Don’t you know that all the good surfers love riding through the tube.”

With those words, the hero leaped forward, flickering his power to slide him across the ground. Sure enough, the villain that redirected him moved to intercept. Cowabunga shot back, his momentum flipped.

This time, however, the hero was ready. He used his power and ‘surfed’ once more, which sent him shooting up to the sky.

“Bring him down!” someone yelled.

But Cowabunga had predicted this. Whatever the villain’s power was, it only seemed to flip his momentum. Therefore, if Cowabunga surfed in the opposite direction he’d continue on his trajectory. Which is exactly what he did.

The villains watched in annoyance as the hero popped out of their trap like a cork out of a champagne bottle.

“Catch you later bros!” Cowabunga laughed. “I’ve got another date!”

He surfed up toward Dextra’s awaiting airship. Let’s see how they dealt with a frontal assault.

Dr. Zlo cackled as he watched Cowabunga shoot to the sky and fly right at Dextra.

“Uh, boss, isn’t that a bad thing?” Cass asked.

“On the contrary, Cass,” Dr. Zlo said. “Our masterminded friend has just taken one of their strongest pieces off the board while depositing reinforcements. Cowabunga has, in his haste, forgotten about the Art of War!”

“Oh, wow,” Cass said, clearly not understanding.

“Don’t worry about it Cass,” Dr. Zlo said. “Your small brain is better suited to following orders.”

“You got that right, boss,” Cass said.

“Now, come, minion! Let us embark! I believe I’ve caught a whiff of our foe!”

“Oh, I hope he doesn’t stink too much, boss. I’ve never been good with smelly stuff.”

“Cass, you barely have a nose.”

“Which is why I’m not good with smells!”