Vaudevillain

“Walk, turn, walk,” Sir Charles Worth said to Approximo. “Ugh, no sense of refinement, a terrible skin complexion, and you’re too nice. Your only saving grace is my spectacular outfit.”

The shapeshifting hero looked down at his new wardrobe. The new outfit complimented his alien nature. His new suit was a dark blue that made his grey eyes and pale green skin pop. However, instead of the bold red stripe like before, his new suit had a shifting white pattern on the front.

“Your new suit will change as you do, granting you more protection. The material is a mix of bonded Alienite and carbon fiber. It will stop most bullets and even a few energy beams.”

“It is perfect,” Approximo said.

Dylan flexed, then shifted into the carpet below. He paid attention to his health bar, a small armor bar now hung over it.

“If the durability ever drops, bring it to one of our stores and we will repair it for a fee. Now, leave me I have other matters to attend to.”

Dylan nodded and stepped out of the room.

“Looking good, hot stuff,” Gameset said. Jack’s character now wore a mix of sporting equipment intended for all manner of contact sports. Slim shoulder pads rested under a thick jersey, along with shin guards, elbow pads, and more. None of the protective gear stood out in a garish way, however. Plus, the material was flexible enough to bend when Jack needed it to.

“I am not the one with fire powers,” Approximo said. “And your shoulders seem to have grown.”

“Dudes! We have got to keep using this guy!” Firestarter said. His new costume looked almost like his old one, completely punk. Except everything had a fiery edge to it. The denim jacket had frayed black threads at the end and soot marks running around it. There were even pockets of matches and lighters across the outfit.

“I agree,” Mirror Mirror said. “The man knows his clothing.”

The heroine was now dressed in a more mobile dress and yet it still seemed to expand outward past the legs. When she moved the dress moved with her. Nothing trailed or tripped up her legs.

“Well, I’m sure if we do more quests for the guy we’ll get more,” Of a Kind said. He wore a snazzy pinstripe suit and hat that looked the same as his previous outfit. However, Sir Charles had installed a number of handy gadgets inside. Of a Kind had hidden pouches for all kinds of gadgets that he could duplicate with a quick touch.

All of them had the same protection as Approximo, meaning they now had a better chance of surviving hits.

“So, what’s next on the Dr. Zlo adventure quest?” Jack asked her friend.

“Well we have one more defense before we can storm Dr. Zlo’s space station,” Oro said.

“Wait, just one?” Sweet Dream asked. “Seems kind of short.”

“It’s the minimum,” Oro said. “We can do more, which would increase the rewards we get when we face Dr. Zlo at last, but three is the minimum if we want to reach the space station.”

“I don’t mind doing more quests,” Jack said. “What about y’all?”

“We might not have time to do it all,” Oro said. “Vert announced their next raid boss the other day. Some demon summoner or something.”

“I think we can do the minimum,” Dylan said. “After all, if we want more Dr. Zlo I just have to play the character.”

“Ha, you’re not wrong,” Oro said. “And you make a better villain than the AI that’s for sure.”

“You can’t beat the original,” Jack said.

“So, which defense is next, dudes?” Riptide asked.

“Well after the first disaster that was an open field I’ve been looking for the instanced scenarios,” Oro said. “Still don’t know why they don’t make it all instanced, but I’ve stopped questioning Vert’s inane decisions. The closest one is a chapel in Aeterna, which looks like a knockoff of Rome.”

“A chapel, not the coliseum?” Jack asked.

Oro shrugged. “I think it’s the Sistine Chapel or something.”

“Dudes, let’s do it!” Riptide said. “I bet the acoustics in there are amazing!”

“And it does kind of fit the whole world tour thing we’ve got going on,” Jack said.

Riptide pulled his friends into a shoulder hug. “Then it’s settled, dudes! Aeterna, here we come!”

Everyone chuckled as they left Londinium. They all still had enough time to play, so they headed to the new city, discussing their upgrades along the way.

“So Sir Charles is more clothing than weapons,” Oro said. “But he did have a few things. Firestarter and I got some new flame equipment.”

“It glows blue, dude,” Riptide said with a smile.

“I took some glue as well,” Oro said. “It’s strong, and I’m betting it burns nicely too.”

“That’s nasty,” Dylan said. “Setting people on fire is probably too villainous.”

“I was thinking of it as a last resort thing,” Oro said. “Like Of a Kind is making a last stand against this invincible guy and just absolutely coats him in the glue before setting him on fire. Probably wouldn’t work but its about the narrative tension, right? The whole smoke blowing around, masking the villain that we all know is still alive.”

Riptide chimed in. “Oh, dude. Make it so Of a Kind is making a last stand and tells everyone else to run. Really ratchet up the feelings.”

Dylan chuckled to himself. “No, better yet it should just work. We think its this big last stand moment but you in fact just win.”

Oro pushed his friend. “What no that’s silly. You gotta have the narrative tension for these things.”

“Yeah, but everyone does the smoke trick,” Dylan said. “It would be funny if for once it actually worked.”

The banter continued as they entered Aeterna, the message description appearing before them.

Welcome to Aeterna, the city that lives forever! Originally a small farming city ruled by a king, two brothers ousted the tyrant and installed a republic. Eventually Aeterna became the center of a large empire, expanding far past their city borders until time and corruption brought them crashing down. Despite their downfall, the city of Aeterna stood strong and eventually returned to relevance due to the works of the hero Davini. With his genius he crafted the wonders of Aeterna!

“Davini, huh.” Jack said after reading. “You think he left a few contraptions we could use as equipment?”

“Undoubtedly,” Oro said. “But we’re here for Dr. Zlo, remember.”

“We can multitask,” Sweet Dream said. “Heck, I bet this chapel is something the hero Davini made.”

“No, he only did gadgets and such,” Oro said. “He wasn’t an architect. At least that’s what the searches say.”

“They’re basing this off Davinci, right?” Dylan asked.

Oro nodded.

“Weird that they didn’t make him an architect as well, then. He had a lot of cathedral sketches. And bridge sketches.”

Oro shrugged. “Who knows what they were thinking.”

“Dudes!” Riptide said. “You have got to check this place out!”

Dylan and Oro broke from their conversation to see what their friend was talking about. Both went wide-eyed as they stepped into the city.

“There’s so much color,” Oro said.

Dylan couldn’t help but nod in agreement. While Londinium had its colorful coppers and brasses, that was nothing compared to the myriad of greens, reds, yellows, and blues that painted the city. Men and women walked in their brightly colored clothes, attracting the eye with their impressive displays. Buildings were draped in garlands of flowers and painted in attractive colors.

Many of the populace wore masks of porcelain, topped with bright hats and feathers. Others walked around with painted faces that depicted a myriad of themes.

“It’s like a festival,” Jack said. “Look, I think there’s a parade over there.”

Dylan looked where his friend pointed. “That might be a parade, but I don’t think those are ferries.”

The group looked to see a large caricature of a clown walking down the street. Gears and clockwork ticked underneath, revealing the walker’s mechanical nature.

“Are they all robots?” Sweet Dream asked.

“Emulations of the grand Davini,” someone said.

Dylan turned to see a smiling man waving to them. “Friends! Come, let me tell you the tales of the hero Davini!”

“Should we?” Jack asked.

“Dudes, let’s do it!” Riptide said with a laugh. “This is awesome!”

“It can’t hurt,” Sweet Dream said.

Dylan and Oro looked to each other and nodded.

“Excellent!” the smiling man said. “My name is Lorenzo, a teller of tales and recounter of grand events. You wish to learn about the hero Davini?”

“Or at least why there’s a parade of robots,” Sweet Dream said.

“A simple tale,” Lorenzo said with a laugh. “The short answer is, Davini crafted the greatest golem, our constant hero and protector, Animatronic. Inventors, inspired by our hero’s creation, have attempted to craft their own protectors. It has become a grand tradition for inventors to showcase their newest inventions in tests of skill and strength!”

“Dang, I should bring my other character here,” Jack said.

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