Black Tie Villainy: A LitRPG Adventure (Vaudevillain Book 2), page 1
BLACK TIE VILLAINY
Vaudevillain Book Two
ALEX WOLF
Copyright © 2022 by Alex Wolf
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Newsletter
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Epilogue
Afterword
About Alex Wolf
About Mountaindale Press
Mountaindale Press Titles
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I'd like to thank my friend Colin and my brother Jackson, who supported me throughout the process. I'd also like to thank everyone who read this book to make it popular enough to publish.
NEWSLETTER
Don’t miss out on future releases! Sign up for the Mountaindale Press newsletter to stay up to date. And as always, thank you for your support! You are the reason we’re able to bring these stories to life.
CHAPTER ONE
Dylan woke up the morning after the mothership heist tired and surly. Normally, his morning routine of a good breakfast and coffee erased those feelings, but not today. The aftermath of John’s betrayal still weighed on his mind.
A yawn escaped from Dylan’s mouth as he tapped his ID card on the scanner for work. Another yawn passed his lips as he took a detour through the cafeteria for more caffeine. Today was going to be a long day and Dylan needed all the pick-me-ups he could get.
Dylan went through the work day brooding over John’s betrayal. He still couldn’t believe that his friend had gone as far as to stage an attack on Dr. Zlo’s secret base just to make a point. Dylan thought John was a better friend than that. Or at least someone who would talk things out before resorting to such tactics.
Claire and a few other coworkers noticed Dylan’s funk and tried to cheer him up a bit. Claire showed him pictures of her kids while others made a few jokes. It worked until the day ended. With nothing to distract him, Dylan went right back to brooding. To distract himself he put on one of his many exercise games and lost himself in the movements for a bit.
Candequeen:
Did you guys see Vert’s announcement?
The message appeared on Dylan’s computer just as he finished up his workout for the day. Dylan leaned into his chair as he read his friend’s message, and the message that came after.
Surfsup26:
I heard something about it, but didn’t see it
Candequeen:
They teamed up with the big three consoles.
Dylan’s eyes widened in surprise.
Superfan39526:
What?
Surfsup26:
Dude! No way
Candequeen:
Yes way. The VIS is now compatible with the other consoles.
Mintendo even announced its working on a Xelda game for it
Superfan39526:
Aw, not Netroid?
They haven’t announced a new one of those for ages
Surfsup26:
Dude it’s a new XELDA GAME
IN VR
IM SO PUMPED AAAA
Candequeen:
But you know what this means right?
Superfan39526:
What?
Candequeen:
We’re going to get a lot of new players.
Which means we need to get ahead of the game!
I’m not sitting around and letting others progress more than us!
Surfsup26:
I haven’t seen much in the way of late game content though.
Superfan39526:
Yeah. This mostly seems like a big sandbox game.
Candequeen:
What I mean is, we need to make a name for ourselves.
We almost stole a mothership, and we’re not even getting credit!
We need something else that puts us on the map!
Superfan39526:
As long as it’s wacky, I’m down.
Surfsup26:
Dudes, I’m down for anything as long as I get to surf.
Candequeen:
Then let’s meet up in game and go over stuff.
Superfan39526:
Sounds good.
Dylan jumped into World of Supers, ready to take on the world again. Riptide and Sweet Dream appeared next to him while all their minions scurried around the remains of the mansion.
“Dude, I’m ready to enact our next plan!” shouted Riptide.
“Hold up,” Sweet Dream said. “I think Isaac sent the money over already.”
The chocolate villainess pulled up a message and choked.
“What?” asked Dylan.
“We just got a hundred-thousand game dollars for finding the bug,” Sweet Dream said.
Riptide’s eyes bulged. “Dude, what?!”
“‘Candequeen, due to the efforts of you and your teammates in finding a myriad of bugs we have opted to grant you some in-game cash as a reward. Yes, the amount you’ve been given is correct. Your efforts uncovered an entire piece of our game structure that would have had disastrous consequences if left undiscovered. Therefore, we felt it appropriate to reward you accordingly.’ Holy sh*t.”
“Holy sh*t is right,” Dylan replied. He had opened up his own messages to see the exact same text.
Riptide tackled his two friends in a hug, “Dudes! You know what this means?!”
“Get your smelly pits out of my face, you idiot,” Sweet Dream said.
“No way! We’re rich! I’m going to buy the biggest boat ever and surf it across the ocean.”
Sweet Dream struggled out from under her friend’s grip. “Hold up. We should save this for the upcoming patch. The changes coming should make it easy to buy some private island or something and use it as a base.”
“Dude, yeah!” Riptide cheered.
Dylan smiled at his friend’s enthusiasm, but his eye caught another message in his friends list.
D.Black:
OOC real quick
What do you think of doing a teamup?
My plan of taking over the city fell through and I think it would be awesome if we worked together on something.
“Hey, guys?”
“What’s up, dude?” Riptide said.
“You remember Dextra?”
“That woman in the black dress who gave you some phlebotinium?” asked Sweet Dream. Riptide took the opportunity to put the woman in another headlock.
Dylan nodded. “Yeah. She messaged about teaming up for a crime.”
Sweet Dream shoved her friend away again. “What does she have in mind?”
“Let me ask.”
Superfan39526:
What did you have in mind?
The reply came back a few seconds later.
D.Black:
If you want, we can meet somewhere to discuss it.
Dylan relayed the message.
“You sure we should trust this person?” Sweet Dream said.
“I mean, we can hear her out, right?” Dylan said. “It’s not like we’d lose anything important if we died in an ambush. We already lost a whole mansion.”
Dylan gestured to the destroyed ruins. Cass and Mabel stood around with the other surviving minions. Surprisingly, they looked as upset at the mansion’s destruction as Dyla
“True,” Sweet Dream replied. “Alright, I’m down for it.”
Dylan looked at Riptide. “Heck yeah, dude,” responded the man.
“Cool, I’ll respond with yes then.”
Superfan35926:
Sure, we’re down for it.
D.Black:
Awesome
Oh, one more question.
Meet in character or out of it?
Dylan smiled.
Superfan39526:
In character, definitely.
CHAPTER TWO
“Remember,” Dylan said as they landed, “the person we’re meeting is a hardcore roleplayer. You don’t have to join in, but Dextra might not respond to the meta aspects of the game.”
“No worries, dude,” answered Riptide.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” replied Sweet Dream as she jumped off Riptide’s surfboard. Once she was off, Riptide tucked the surfboard into his inventory and went to join the others at the meeting place.
The location Dextra gave Dylan was a small cafe located in the financial district. It was a minimalist place, nothing like the cozy decor found in most coffee shops. Black and white chairs dotted the interior, reminding Dr. Zlo of a chessboard. The team decided to leave their minions behind as a show of good faith, and to make sure none died if this was a trap.
“This place would be more fitting if one of us was a hero,” said Dr. Zlo.
“Why’s that, dude?” Riptide replied.
The monocled villain waved a hand around the area. “A black and white theme is classic good versus evil. However, we’re all villains.”
“Talk about it later,” Sweet Dream said, “Dextra’s here.” She pointed over to a table in the center of the shop. Dextra Black sat patiently sipping a steaming mug. Behind the villainess stood Hans and Shizuka. The ninja leaned over a free chair and winked at the three when they looked over.
“Off we go then,” answered Dr. Zlo. He strode over to one of the open chairs and sat with a flourish. Legs crossed, Dr. Zlo leaned over the table to stare at Dextra.
“To be honest,” he said after a few seconds, “I expected to meet in a wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
“Come now, doctor,” Dextra replied. “Neither of us would be caught dead in an establishment like that. We have standards.”
“Too true,” Dr. Zlo replied.
Sweet Dream and Riptide pulled their own chairs over.
“I see you’ve made a few friends,” Dextra commented.
“Associates, nothing more.”
“Yeah, dude. We work together because we can get something from each other,” Riptide interjected.
“Though, not everything was like taking candy from a baby,” spoke Sweet Dream.
“Indeed,” Dextra sipped their drink. “I see your plan to steal the alien mothership was unsuccessful.”
“A momentary setback,” Dr. Zlo scoffed. “Our new plan cannot fail.”
“Ah, but it is failure I’m here to talk about,” replied Dextra. “You see, I have also been thwarted in my plans. I held the entire city in the palm of my hand, but divine intervention prevented my success.”
“Ha!” barked Dr. Zlo. “You believe the gods themselves came down to stop you?”
Dextra gave him a glare and hissed, “I know it. For the same thing that happened to me happened to you. We both succeeded that day. We both would have become something great, something above the sniveling masses. And yet something appeared to stop us. Granted, I was compensated nicely for the trouble. But I do not take kindly to losing.”
“What do you propose?” asked Sweet Dream.
Dextra glanced at the other woman. “Gods should not stick their hands into the world of mortals. This world should be ours to rule as we see fit! It should not be controlled by the whims of some higher power.”
“Dude, hardcore,” Riptide said.
“I propose we work together to face this new threat,” continued Dextra. “With our genius combined, we can break the stranglehold the gods have on this planet.”
The table sat silent for a second as they absorbed the last of Dextra’s speech.
“As if I care if some deity interferes,” Dr. Zlo answered.
“You should,” Dextra replied. “Or would you rather watch as all your grand schemes were stopped by forces outside your control?”
“She’s got a point,” Sweet Dream said. “We would’ve had a freaking spaceship if they didn’t intervene.”
“Yeah, dude. I don’t mind it anymore, but losing the ship after we got it sucked. I couldn’t take that happening on all the big stuff we do. Like, what if they stop us when we try making that tsunami?”
“You have a point…” mused Dr. Zlo. “Very well, let me hear this plan of yours.”
Dextra took another sip. “It’s simple. We create our own gallery of rogues to face off against the gods.”
“Wait, hold up,” Sweet Dream said. “Are you saying we make a faction to intentionally break the world?”
“Nothing so mundane. No, our goal will be to strike at the very heart of the gods themselves.”
“Wait, hold up, dude. Can we do this out of character for a second? I’m getting confused.”
Thomas sighed and Dextra’s voice grew less sophisticated. “Look. I want your help making a faction in the game and out of it. I don’t like that Vert gets to pick and choose what parts of the world get updated. This should be a world where we make our own history. Sure, Vert can introduce expansions that shake the status quo, but the main goal should be providing freedom to the players in every aspect. I reached out to you because you had the same thing happen. I lost the city and you lost the mothership because Vert decided events needed to be scripted in instead of letting players create unique solutions.”
“Oh, I get it. We’re going to make a guild in the game, but petition Vert outside of it for more freedoms,” Riptide said.
Thomas nodded. “Right. Shizuka here is on board with it, and I have maybe a couple from my old faction in on it as well. But not all of them have the time or energy to go against Vert. Right now, the game has an awesome amount of free choice, but only when it comes to superpowers. A lot of the game is limited by the mechanics Vert keeps adding. Like, there’s no need to squat for a base when you have an entire working economy.”
“I think Vert’s actually going to fix that,” Sweet Dream said. “When we talked with the IT guy, he said a patch was coming soon that would shake that up.”
“If so, awesome. But my point still stands. Vert can’t have a scripted MMO and a sandbox at the same time. Or else this game will fail, and we’ll all be stuck with this horribly executed great idea.”
Sweet Dream turned to both her friends. “What do you think?”
