my first ↑vig!
The good Evil Doctor to be seen here just recently found out that his newest invention, the death-ray, is just perfectly suited for joining aquatic cartilage and human tissue. While welding the head of a ↑Galeocerdo cuvier upon his latest victim, the latter’s comrades have discovered a sneaky path into his well secured laboratory …
    It’s not a mere tradition but a rule that supervillains, ↑mad scientists in particular, build their secret hide-outs and laboratories within or right above active volcanoes at the brink of eruption. In sharp contrast to public opinion this has significant advantages.
    When ↑Shego asked ↑Dr. Drakken why he built his lair right inside a volcano, he replied: “Well, you know, it just substantially reduces the costs for heating.”
    Quite plausible, isn’t it? Everybody requires heating. But there’s yet another angle to it, because besides heating mad scientists—unlike us—require amounts of energy on unprecedented scales.
    Take e.g. our Doctor’s death-ray. Do you have an idea what that contraption consumes in terms of electricity? Geothermal heat here furnishes complete independence. Hence the lightning rod atop the roof is out of service.
    Another rule from the same tradition dictates that despite of access to seemingly inexhaustible resources, and despite of superior intelligence and cunning, a twisted path into the villain’s sanctum sanctorium is always left open, so that his heroic enemies can defeat him. In our case here it is a trapdoor—which we always deem to be most appropriate—leading to the volcanic caverns filled with poisonous gas.
    Quite frankly, why the ‘rule of the vulnerable fortress’ is in effect is beyond us. It might have something to do with dramaturgy or deus ex machina as some suggest. But those rationalisations seem to be a bit far-fetched. It’s more likely that we are dealing with something cultural here. Naturally, our Doctor could have sealed his sanctum sanctorium hermetically. But the archetypical supervillain just needs the confrontation with the heroes, hence he leaves the trapdoor open.

With my debut vignette’s cast I was very lucky. Mr. Kurt Russell immediately and enthusiastically accepted the role of the Doctor’s arch-nemesis, somewhat reprising his role as ↑Snake Plissken. For fighting at his side, and leading ahead up the ladder, I was able to get Mr. Robert Downey jr. The third team member, and I am especially proud of this, although you can’t see her face—which is a pity—is played by Ms. Milla Jovovich. Leaves us with the Doctor … yes, it’s Mr. Vincent Price himself!

[In the face of me not being much of a photographer, building it all black was not quite a bright idea …]