Vaudevillain

Chapter 199: Making Up Lost Time

The sounds of gunfire and overcharged engines reached Dr. Zlo's ears as he rounded the last series of turns leading to the central skyscraper. Sweet Dream came out next, having lost ground in the turns despite her car's better handling. Jack and Dr. Zlo had put aside their differences for a moment to get ahead of the villainess. Valiant emerged from the turn after, the coffin car and Oro hot on his heels.

"I see them, boss," Cass pointed at Riptide and the skateboarder up ahead.

"Yes, I see them too," Dr. Zlo answered, leaning forward with a wicked grin. "The trap worked. Though, there was never any doubt in that matter."

Riptide and the skateboarder were now bogged down amid Dr. Zlo's contracted raiders, the two players fighting against the attackers with whatever they could muster. Riptide's minion G.W. was in a heated exchange with Quartet, the two minions trying to strike each other with manipulated air. Riptide did his best to surf around the other raiders, using the two's fight to block bullets.

Having nothing but his large body, the skateboarder did his best to lash out with mighty fists and kicks. Sometimes he caught one of the raider's cars, sending it reeling toward the side. The raiders would respond with grenades and bullets, the weapons pinging against the giant's skin.

Dr. Zlo and the rest of the group caught up as they neared the skyscraper, Jack leading the way in her car. Rubber burned as the racers accelerated to catch up, an acrid stench mixing with the gunpowder in the air. Dr. Zlo moved in behind Jack, Cass firing lasers at the woman ahead. The crafty racer, in turn, weaved into the pile of raiders, letting Dr. Zlo's attacks strike the enemy.

"Blast that tricky woman!" Dr. Zlo yelled, slamming his fist onto the dashboard.

"Don't worry, boss," Cass assured. "We'll catch up to her."

A dark purple ball exploded behind Dr. Zlo, skulls swarming out of the center to rush at surrounding racers. The coffin car was making its move. Dr. Zlo looked out of his rearview mirror to see the wizened wizard moving his hands around like a conductor. The skulls around him moved in concert, mouths open in silent wailing.

With a thrust of his arms, the wizard sent the skulls ahead. Purple energies attacked the surrounding raiders and racers. Some of it went for the tires, trying to pop the wheels and send the cars reeling, while others went after the racers themselves.

Dr. Zlo followed Jack's lead, accelerating into the crowd of raiders to escape the tide of attacking skulls. Valiant followed behind, the player using his power to absorb the attacking energy and send back disintegration blasts. Purple energy mixed with grey static and the orange flash from bullets, creating a painting of carnage across the road.

Sweet Dream wasn't so lucky. Because her car held so many minions, the skulls seemed to converge on her. The Licor-icks tried to fight back against the magical energy, but they could not affect ethereal enemies. The skulls dove onto the Licor-icks, draining them of energy and creating more skulls.

"Motherf*cker!" Sweet Dream roared as she turned into chocolate. With mighty sweeps, the woman shoved the skulls off her car, their power unable to hurt chocolate. But the action slowed her down, letting the others break away as she dealt with the attack.

In the midst of it all, Quartet and G.W. continued their duel. The shark unleashed tornado after tornado at Quartet, the minion's toothy maw tightening in concentration. Quartet, in turn, countered with his own tornados, kicking up dust storms with coordinated hums. The two powers continued to clash, kicking up more and more dirt and debris until the whole street was covered in a thin cloud that masked the road ahead.

"Quartet!" Dr. Zlo yelled into his communicator. "If you keep fighting like this, you'll blind us all, and we'll all crash into the roadside! Use something other than air or tone it down!"

"Boss! I can't let this upstart shark think he's better than me!" Quartet complained back.

"I don't care about your reputation, Quartet," Dr. Zlo growled. "It's my reputation that's on the line if I lose this race. And you don't want to know what I'll do if it turns out I lose because it's your fault."

Dr. Zlo swerved away from a raider's broken car, slowing down a bit to safely avoid any more attacks. The dust storm started to clear a moment later, Quartet agreeing to his boss's orders. The minion's hums changed to guttural tones, the sound sinking to the ground. It stopped just above the road, picking up the discarded bullets and swirling them together. With a low rumble, Quartet sent the shots toward G.W.

The shark minion swiped a webbed hand, creating a cushion between him and Quartet. The bullets split at the last moment, Quartet's bodies singing in harmony as the stream split like a flower to go around the cushion. G.W. growled in frustration, clapping his hands together to compress the air. He let it blast outward a moment later, the resulting force sending the bullets scattering. A few raiders cried in pain as the attacks struck them, Quartet's focused attack now a scattered mess.

The minion tried again, picking up where he left off to control a few larger pieces of debris. Car doors, broken from their respective vehicles, spun toward G.W. in an attempt to slice the minion in two. In return, the shark man conjured a series of whirlwinds, sending the faster attack at Quartet. The minion was forced to bring the car doors back to his bodies, blocking the incoming whirlwind before it could send him flying off Bart's car.

While this went on, Bart and Riptide were facing off in their vehicles, the former sticking as close as he could to the latter. Leatherface had long jumped off the back of the truck to search for prey, Fleshgrabber only sticking around because his power didn't let him swing around. Instead, the villain unveiled the mounted machine gun, bringing it to bear on the incoming cars while Quartet dueled G.W.

The skateboarder was the first target of the gun, the large target too good for Fleshgrabber to pass up. The distinctive rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire erupted from behind Quartet, adding a percussive beat to the minion's song. The bullets struck the giant skateboarder on the arms, the player wincing as the high-caliber attack went through his jacket. The assault was nothing more than a bug bite while the skateboarder was in giant form, but the constant stream toward him slowly ate into his health.

The skateboarder responded by accelerating toward Bart, trying to reach the man's car before Fleshgrabber's machine gun ate through his entire health bar. Bart, in turn, accelerated towards Riptide, getting in close to try and ram the surfer's vehicle. Riptide looked behind him at the approaching players before turning to G.W.

"Hang on, dude!"

Riptide slammed the brakes and jerked the steering wheel to the left, slamming into Bart's side. G.W. almost fell from the boatmobile, hanging on by biting into the seat with his powerful jaws. Quartet's bodies all paused their assault, holding onto the truck's railing so as to not fall off. Fleshgrabber, unprepared for the ram, found his mounted machine gun jerking to the side.

The skateboarder accelerated as he noticed Riptide's move, kicking as hard as he could to reach the front of the pack. Jack did the same, moving past the skateboarder to catch up to Riptide. Dr. Zlo came next, purple energy still hot on his heels as the coffin car kept unleashing its attack. The skateboarder, not wanting anyone else to get ahead of him, bent down to scoop up Jack's car.

The race at the front became a chaotic brawl as each player attempted to take out their targets. Quartet and G.W. continued their intense duel, slinging air and bullets at each other. Fleshgrabber recovered and went back to filling the skateboarder full of lead. The skateboarder, trying to scoop up Jack, was forced to bring his arms up again before the bullets struck his face.

Bart and Riptide continued their violent assault against each other, sticking side by side as they approached the skyscraper. Their ramming caused all parties involved with the two cars to pause, creating openings for the skateboarder to attack Jack. The man's swipes forced the woman to slow her vehicle in order to stay safe, keeping her from breaking free of the pack.

Behind them, Dr. Zlo, Valiant, and the coffin car were in a bitter battle with each other. The coffin car's purple skulls clattered around the three, attempting to take out both racers while the coffin car tried to break free of the pack. Valiant and Dr. Zlo dodged through the skulls that attacked their tires, the former using his power whenever he could to take shots at the competitors. Dr. Zlo held off on sending his Jacques at his foes. That would only be a waste of resources against these two.

"Boss, the front pack is getting away!" Cass pointed.

Dr. Zlo cursed in frustration, "This wizard behind us is a greater nuisance than I expected. Who knew that his magical energies could pierce my forcefield. It seems I'll have to study magics at some point to find a counter for this pesky attack."

At least the forcefield held up against Valiant's disintegration powers. That was the main reason Dr. Zlo wanted the shield after all. If the Zlomobile fell to attacks like that, it wouldn't make for a good escape car.

The villain gripped the wheel tighter, "Cass, I believe it's time to take a few desperate measures."

Cass's eyes widened, "You don't mean the bombs?"

"Of course I mean the bombs!" Dr. Zlo snapped. "What did you think I meant? Fig martinis?"

"Boss, you know that's not a drink," Cass said.

"It was an expression! Now, get ready with those explosives before I send you out there to fight instead!"

Cass hastily opened up the glove box in the Zlomobile, revealing yet another set of targeters and a small camera screen showing the road behind the Zlomobile. Cass flipped the switch next to the display, a small compartment under the Zlomobile opening up. Two squares appeared on the screen, spinning in place as they locked onto the two cars behind Dr. Zlo. One of the targeters vanished as Valiant found an opening to move up, leaving only the coffin car as a target.

Once the squares flashed red, Cass pressed the button and unleashed the attack. Brunhilde's explosive suggestion rocketed out of the back compartment and zoomed toward the coffin car. The wizard noticed the attack as it rushed toward him, hastily directing his skulls to intercept. But the wizard was unprepared for a missile to come speeding at him from such an angle and was a touch too late. The skulls caught the missile's exhaust as it passed through the attack and impacted against the coffin car's wheels.

The explosion rocked the coffin, spilling out a series of skeletons that clattered onto the ground. The vehicle itself flipped head over end; its momentum stalled as the blast spun it in the air. Through sheer luck, the car landed upright, the wizard driving it only mildly disoriented. However, the explosion cost him most of his speed, both Oro and the clown car passing him up a moment later.

"We got him, boss!" Cass cheered.

"Excellent, Cass!" Dr. Zlo celebrated. "Now, let's head to our rightful place at the front."

Dr. Zlo slammed his foot on the accelerator, moving toward the chaotic fight ahead with Valiant close behind.