The first thing Dylan did after logging out was to contact his friends.

Superfan39526:

So guess who I ran into?

Surfsup28:

Who, dude?

Some celeb?

Superfan39526:

God I wish.

No, I ran into John.

Candequeen:

Your creepy-ass old friend???

What the hell is he doing around?

Superfan39526:

Trying to prove how wrong I am about something apparently.

He was trying to show me that I needed him, by breaking all my stuff.

Said it was the only way Very would notice me.

Surfsup28:

Dude, what?

That guys crazy.

And you already got in with Vert.

D.Black:

Hey all. Sorry to interrupt. But our base just got attacked.

Superfan39526:

WHAT?

Surfsup28:

Dude! Do you need us?

Candequeen:

Who the hell's attacking?

D.Black:

Not sure. I suspect sabotage. But Skyline's going down. It's going to crash in the wilderness. I told everyone to grab what they can. You should too if you have the time. Unless you're fine with losing your items.

Dylan paled. He'd sent everyone back to Skyline before leaving! Not to mention Brunhilde and his other minions were at the base!

"Shit. Shit shit," the man said, rushing over and grabbing the VIS helmet. He quickly placed it on his head and logged back into World of Supers.

Dr. Zlo appeared near the pop culture museum in Necropolis, the building already undergoing repairs from the fight earlier. Quickly, Dylan placed a hand on his communicator and called his minions.

"Cass! Mabel! Respond!"

Only static answered.

"This is not good," Dylan groaned.

"You bet it isn't!"

Dylan felt something strike him in the back, sending him stumbling forward and knocking him to the ground. The player winced as his health depleted, but he made sure to recover with a quick roll. Dylan stood, activating his hat drone and gloves while preparing a spell. However, he paused when he saw who stood in front of him.

Dylan rolled his eyes and tilted his head back, "John? Did you seriously wait for me to get back online? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"You know I don't," John answered, flipping a coin in the air.

Dylan sighed, "Look. Now's not a good time. We can argue later."

"Oh, we're way past that," John said. The player tossed the coin in his hand, Dylan noticing how it homed in on him.

"Hatbot!" Dylan shouted.

The drone moved in front to block the attack, a sliver of nanomachines lashing out and stabbing through the coin.

"Seriously, I don't have time for this," Dylan complained.

"Oh, I know," John said. "Why do you think I waited around? Your grand city's coming down, all because you didn't listen to me."

"What?" Dylan asked, incredulous.

"I brought it down," John said. "And it wasn't even hard. You really should have looked into better security. Or better yet, asked me how to protect it."

Dylan couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What the f*ck is wrong with you?" the man shouted. "I get it, you're pissed at me for some stupid reason, but to go out of your way to break everything? That's insane."

John shrugged, "You said it yourself. It's only a game."

Dylan ran his free hand over his face, "Yes. Fine. Okay. Whatever." His voice took on an exasperated tone, "You won! Whoopee! You did it! Did you want a medal?"

"I want you to admit I'm right," John said.

Dylan threw his hands into the air, "Fine! You were right all along! Now, will you leave me alone? I have to get to Skyline before my minions all die."

"What? No," John answered. "Who cares about those NPCs? Now, we can be friends again."

There was a pause.

Dylan was having trouble processing things. His old friend had gone off the deep end. Why in the world did John think they could be friends again? After everything he pulled? He should know better than anyone that Dylan wouldn't forgive him for this. John had always had a habit of cutting people off for slights against him. But somehow, he expected Dylan to agree to his proposal? It was sheer lunacy.

No, Dylan wasn't about to go back to being friends with someone like that. He'd made other friends, people who didn't make ridiculous demands after ruining their progress.

"John," Dylan said after a breath. "We're done already. I'm not being friends with you after what you did. You have to know this."

"Bullsh*t!" John spouted. "You said I was right!"

"Are you that deluded?!" Dylan shouted back. "I don't think you are. You know as much as I do, that wasn't anything close to genuine! And if you think it is, you just want to feel validated for being a piece of sh*t! Well, I'm not going to take it. We're not friends, and I don't want to see you around, okay?"

John frowned, his eyes steely, "You don't get to make that decision."

"Of course I do!" Dylan shouted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to see if my minions survived. And so help me if they're dead, I'm going to make you regret it."

"Well, better start planning," John said darkly.

The player opened his inventory and unleashed hell, dropping coins of all kinds in front of Dylan to keep him from moving. Dylan used his hatbot to block them, sending his dueling gloves at his enemy while activating his shoes to fly away. John instantly clapped, spawning the earthen tentacles from before.

"You won't be able to run off again!" John shouted. "I'll be waiting here for you!"

Dylan realized he'd have to fight John, or else the player would never stop. Or perhaps he could just leave and respawn somewhere else. There was no way John could find him with how random spawn points were.

It was a good a plan as any right now, as Dylan's main priority was reaching Skyline. He had to see if Mabel and Cass were okay. His two original minions were special to him now, and he hated the idea that he might lose them. Sure, World of Supers was a game, but that didn't mean Dylan couldn't care about his creations.

Not to mention Brunhilde, Saul, and Skyline itself. Dylan loved his creations, and losing them to an abusive person like John roiled Dylan's gut. No, Dr. Zlo would save what he could and rebuild from the aftermath.

Plan solidated, Dylan turned to John and recalled his drones. The coins flew at Dr. Zlo, striking him like a torrential downpour. Dylan felt thousands of tiny pricks as his health depleted to zero, and the death screen appeared.

You have been defeated by Justic. For losing the fight, you have been docked reputation. Your current rank is now A. You will reach S rank after 70 more escapade(s)!

Dylan deleted the message, respawning a bit away from the fight. Instantly, something struck him. Surprised, Dylan turned in the direction to see John standing nearby.

"What the fu–" Dylan said, only to get cut off as more coins struck him.

Again the death message appeared, docking Dr. Zlo's reputation once more.

Dylan respawned again, instatnly rocketing into the air.

But not even that was enough. John appeared again, and more coins struck the villain, striking him down like a fallen angel. The death screen appeared again, docking Dylan for more reputation and some equipment loss. Vert's "contribution" to solving faction wars in full effect.

You have been defeated by Justic. For losing the fight, you have been docked reputation. Your current rank is now A. You will reach S rank after 66 more escapade(s)! You have been defeated by Justic. For losing the fight, you have been docked reputation. Your current rank is now A. You will reach S rank after 58 more escapade(s)! You have been defeated by Justic. For losing the fight, you have been docked reputation. Your current rank is now A. You will reach S rank after 48 more escapade(s)! Your equipment has broken! You have been defeated by Justic. For losing the fight, you have been docked reputation. Your current rank is now A. You will reach S rank after 32 more escapade(s)! Your equipment has broken!

And so it went until Dylan had only his rocket shoes.

Your equipment has broken!

Scatch that. Dylan had nothing left, not even the rocket shoes.

However, instead of despair, Dylan only felt anger. All his hard work. All of that time invested. Wasted because an idiot couldn't deal with rejection.

The player debated logging out. If only to deprive John of the satisfaction of standing over Dylan. But he realized that wouldn't work. John wouldn't rest until he'd proven himself or something. No, better to take it now instead of later.

"Finally got rid of that mobility," John taunted, stepping toward Dr. Zlo.

"Why?" Dylan asked.

"Because you have to see the world isn't nice!" John exclaimed. "People aren't going to let you be. Especially not when you're popular. So this is for your own good. You have to see just how bad things can get so you understand how to protect yourself."

Dylan rolled his eyes at the words.

"What are you, my parent?" Dylan spat.

"No, I'm your friend," John answered.

Dylan laughed, low and guttural, "Friends don't do this! You f*cking moron! You don't break a friend's work to 'show them how the world works!' That's not anything close to friendship. It just makes you a bully."

"I am not a bully," John growled.

"Well, you're definitely a cheater then," Dylan replied snidely. "Or was finding me every time I spawned sheer luck?"

"No, that was smart thinking," John said proudly. "All I did was find a loophole in the system and exploit it. Exactly like every other gamer does!"

"And what's that?" Dylan asked.

Dylan had no reason to keep pushing John, but he knew it would keep the man talking while Dylan prepared messages. He needed his other friends to know what John had done. And he needed them to know so they could help him in the future. Dylan wasn't about to say this was a one-on-one fight, not after John got Skyline involved. No, this was all of Menagerie's problem now.