Hi everyone. Here we are with the final part to this thrill ride of an episode, and I've got quite the surprises in store here. This episode has been a lot of fun to write and I'm so glad it was so well received.
With that being said, let's get started.
Part 3
The small army of zombified GIW agents roamed aimlessly around the perimeter of the besieged base. They had done so ever since Undergrowth infected them with his mind-control spores and that was all they could do without orders from their controller. This included the mindless Operatives O and K…
And they were the first to aimlessly walk into a red portal that suddenly opened in front of them. Across the perimeter, multiple red portals opened up either directly below or right in front of each of the zombified GIW members, with Agent Alpha being the last of them. In less than a minute, every agent had been cleared out from the area.
"And that's the last of them." Breach said from a nearby hilltop alongside Kim, Ron, Zak, Fiskerton, Rufus, Zon, and Komodo.
"Where'd you send them?" Zak asked.
"My own personal pocket dimension where I used to keep Greenville" Breach answered. "Don't worry, they're not hurt and they won't hurt anyone else while they're there. Once we finish up here, I'll send them right back."
"Have I mentioned how awesome it is to have you and your cool portals on our side now?" Ron asked with a smile while Rufus gave her a double-thumbs up.
"You can stand to mention it more." Breach smiled back.
"That takes care of one problem, but if the Cabal is hear, they're probably watching outside too." Kim said. "Meaning, they know what just happened and they know we're onto them."
"Couldn't be helped." Zak stated. "I don't know what they're up to this time, but we're going to stop them." He said with Fisk nodding and grunting in agreement.
Breach then opened a portal for her friends. "This should take you all directly inside where the bad guys are, but I gotta get back and help the others with Undergrowth and Vortex. But if you happen to see Van Kleiss in there, kick his teeth in for me."
Kim grinned. "Oh, my pleasure." With that, she and her group leapt into the portal that Breach made before she closed it and opened a new one to take her back to Amity Park.
Meanwhile, the city of Amity Park continued to shake as the team of young heroes and their available allies threw everything they had at the titanic ghosts, who in turn, retaliated with everything they had as well.
Flying closer to the ground, Danny unleashed his Ghostly Wail on Undergrowth, the force of it pushed the oak-armored plant ghost back and sent him crashing into an empty building. While he was down, Rex had flown with his Boogie Pack right above him before gunning straight for his exposed chest, which Undergrowth tried to defend himself against by firing a volley of spiked wooden balls, but Lance provided cover fire with his Manus armor's gatling cuffs. Rex then withdrew his flying build and quipped his Smack Hands again, his right fist spinning with incredible speeds that when he fell and landed, he was able to drill directly through Undergrowth's oak-armor and carve a hole straight into him. Rex then flew back up as Sam and Jake came in, the American Dragon unleashing his fire breath while the ghost girl created an Ecto construct resembling a buzz-saw, which lit with her ghostly flames, and drove it down into him. Both fiery attacks blasted and cut their way through most of Undergrowth's form.
However, Undergrowth had once again begun to rise as his damaged body regenerated rather quickly, including the damaged oak armor. Once risen, he unleashed his own attacks on the Avengers flying around him. He stretched out his armored fist straight for Rex, who tried to shield himself with his Block Party, but the force of the punch was enough to send him flying through several buildings. He stretched his body toward Lance as he tried to fire his rockets at him, but Undergrowth shielded himself with one arm before smacking the armored soldier away with his other, knocking down into the street. He then grew a multitude of wooden spikes all over his body and shot them in all directions as Danny, Sam, and Jake tried to evade or blast them away with their respective powers, but all three were quickly overwhelmed and shot down.
Undergrowth was about to advance on his downed adversaries but grimaced in pain as a series of Ecto-blasts and missiles were shot at him from the Fenton RV. Undergrowth growled as he directed a series of plant tendrils to grow and ensnare the Fenton vehicle and attempt to crush it with both Jack and Maddie inside. Fortunately, a red portal appeared above both of them to port them away just as the armored vehicle was crushed like a tin can.
The Fenton parents appeared safely behind the ghost shield, thanks to Breach as she turned to address them. "Are you two, okay?"
"We're fine, thanks." Maddie assured.
"Sorry about your vehicle." Breach apologized.
"Eh, I'll just build a new one." Jack dismissed. "Maybe add a fudge dispenser."
Breach smiled. "I actually like fudge. But put a pin in that." She got serious. "I'll help the others, you two stay here in case any of Undergrowth's plants get through."
"Leave it to us." Maddie said as she and Jack drew a series of their own Ecto-weapons, ready to hold the line, while Breach opened a portal for herself and stepped inside.
In the sky, Vortex had fired a pair of large heat-beams from his eyes toward Illana, but Chromastone flew forward to take and absorb the blast before retaliating with a multi-colored energy blast of his own, striking Vortex and causing him a great deal of pain. This momentary openly allowed Valerie to fly in close as she threw three of her grenades at Vortex's face, which exploded to harm him even more. But that also angered him as he created a sphere of cold energy in his hands and threw it at Valerie, which hit its mark and froze up most of Valerie's armor and caused her to fall, but Dani was quick to come in and catch her.
"I gotcha!" She assured as she tried to use her own powers to punch away at the ice.
"Thanks…" Valerie breathed in relief.
Illana, Octus, and Chromastone fired a tri-attack of their own, blasting lasers and energy bolts at Vortex, who dispersed his body into several smaller clouds to avoid the blasts before circling around the trio, forcing them to come together as the clouds all took up Undergrowth's face and opened their mouths to blast lightning at all of them in an all-consuming attack.
However, multiple portals opened around the three flying Avengers to protect them from the lightning bolts just as more portals appeared behind each of the Vortex-clouds to send the lightning back at them, striking Vortex and causing him to holler in agony before the clouds came back together higher in the sky and reformed Vortex's main body.
"Thanks, Breach." Illana said as Breach herself appeared half-way through a hovering portal beside them.
"Kim and the others are at the GIW base." She told them. "But even if they do beat the Cabal, it's not going to stop these two."
"We're too evenly matched!" Chromastone stated. "Even with our whole team and Danny's friends, they can take everything we're throwing at them! Octus, Illana, we might need the big guns for this."
"I agree." Octus said. "Breach, get us to Lance."
"I understand." Breach created another portal that sent the three of them back closer to the ruined street where Lance, still in his Manus armor, was recovering.
"Lance, we need to form Titan!" Illana told him.
"Right." He was already on-board. "Do it Octus."
Not needing to be told twice, Octus' body grew to enormous size as he absorbed the Corus and Manus armor. Once inside, his circuitry began to merge with the two armors, Illana and Lance both being removed from their respective suits as machinery grew around them, and all three of their minds linked together.
A bright white flash illuminated throughout Amity Park as everyone, all the Avengers, all their friends, and even the two enormous Ghosts, had their attention drawn by the sudden and dramatic appearance of the mighty Sym-Bionic Titan that stood tall above everything else. He was at least twice as tall as Undergrowth's current appearance, something that caused the plant-ghost to balk.
The whole Avengers team, as well as Dani and Sam, who had seen Titan before, only looks with either smirks or smiles of relief, while Valerie, who hadn't seen it, felt her jaw drop, as was also the case with Jack and Maddie inside the ghost shield.
"Oh my… god…" Maddie balked, covering her mouth with one hand.
"I have got to get me one of those!" Jack exclaimed excitedly.
Within City Hall, Jazz felt herself fall back on her seat, seeing Titan for the very first time with her own eyes as her mouth formed a perfect O. Tucker was tempted to laugh at such a reaction, if he wasn't filed with such relief and excitement.
Acting quickly, Breach was able to use her portals to send all her friends and allies to a nearby rooftop that was some distance away from the upcoming battle so that they would be out of the way, while also being close by to jump in at a moment's notice if anything went wrong.
Titan quickly noticed this as well and went on the attack, gunning straight for Undergrowth as he was the closest. Titan pulled back its fist and threw it at the shocked Undergrowth, who tried to shield himself with his armored body, but Titan's fist not only smashed through Undergrowth's defenses, but it also sent the plant ghost splattering all over the ground. Titan wasn't finished yet though as it pulled back its other fist and threw it with much greater force that it tore through what was left of the Undergrowth as well as most of the street beneath them.
Titan then felt its back being struck by a multitude of intense lightning bolts, though its armor proved capable of protecting it from the attack as Titan turned back into the air to see the enraged Vortex and retaliated by converting its right hand into an energy cannon and fired a powerful energy blast that blew away most of Vortex's body as the weather ghost screamed.
"Holy… what the hell is that thing…?!" Valerie exclaimed in shock as she, Danny, Ben, Rex, Jake, Breach, Sam, and Dani all stood together to watch the fight ensue.
"That Valerie, is Titan." Danny smirked with pride.
"Oh this is gonna be good…" Dani beamed with excitement, like she was watching a giant kaiju movie.
"It always is." Rex agreed.
"Hold on a minute…" Valerie spoke up as she faced the Avengers. "You mean to tell me… that you guys have a giant robot… on your team."
"Yep." Jake confirmed.
"And you can call on it anytime." Valerie went on.
"Well… Illana, Lance, and Octus have to be together to form Titan, but yeah." Breach answered.
"So why the hell are you using it only now?!" Valerie exclaimed. "Why not right off the bat?! We were kinda fighting for our lives!"
"Because Titan's usually used as a last resort!" Ben stated firmly. "If we don't have to use it, we won't."
"We can't become too dependent on it, or else we're not gonna get stronger as a team." Danny added.
"They got a point." Sam agreed. "Trust me, Val. That thing is best used against other giant monsters or even gods."
"Gods." Valerie double-checked to make sure she heard that. "Actual gods."
"Well… it only went up against one god so far…" Jake said with a wince. "But you get the point."
"And since we threw everything, we had at those two blowhards, I think Titan's our best option now." Rex added.
With that being said, all eyes turned back to Titan as it and they all saw their two ghostly enemies reconstitute themselves. Despite being pummeled to pieces, Undergrowth's form began to regenerate from the ground, while Vortex's cloud-like body reconstituted itself as well and descended closer, both ghosts facing Titan who easily towered over both of them, though Vortex hovered to be on equal-level.
"Well, this just got… interesting." Vortex said with a challenging grin as he clenched his fist, surging with electricity.
"No matter what sort of devices you meat creatures can build… it still pales in comparison to the forces of nature and the rightful rulers and masters of this planet!" Undergrowth proclaimed.
"As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Vortex attacked first, creating a massive sphere of lightning in his hands and threw it at Titan, who crossed its arms to form an energy barrier and tank the blast. When the resulting smoke began to clear, Titan was not the least bit damaged.
The giant mechanical hero faced both ghosts together as it motioned with its hand to bring it on.
Undergrowth was next, sending hundreds of large plant tendrils forward along the ground to bind and ensnare Titan. However, a pair of saws appeared from its forearms to cut its way through most of the vines and free itself before forming its sword in one hand and charged Undergrowth, who charged with his massive frame in retaliation. Generating as much hardened oak as he could around his arms to act like gauntlets, as well as grow wooden spikes at the knuckles, Undergrowth threw a punch just as Titan swung its sword…
Which carved through the armored fist and most of Undergrowth's arm like butter, much to Undergrowth's own horror.
He didn't have time to react any further as Titan grabbed him by the face with one hand and his remaining shoulder with the other before it pulled out Undergrowth from the ground like a gardener would pluck a weed, taking most of his roots with him, and then threw him into the air. Titan then formed it's bow-and-arrow weapon and let loose an explosive arrow, which pierced the flying Undergrowth and caused his body to explode.
Vortex broke his body apart into clouds just like before and reformed them around Titan, which began to grow and combine as a massive green storm cloud began to encompass all of Titan, complete with a skull and glowing red eyes at the top, as if it were an iron maiden made out of storm clouds. Lightning surged all through it was Titan was being struck by lightning bolts from the inside.
However, a series of bright lights began to shine throughout the storm cloud before it exploded outward, blasting away most of the storm, courtesy of Titan's glowing hands that had previously shot out bursts of energy. Compared to that Mutradi storm phenomenon that Steel accidently created, Vortex was child's play, and Titan was much stronger now than it was back then.
Already many of the observing Avengers as well as their friends began to cheer at Titan's apparent victory.
"Is that it? Did we do it?" Illana asked.
"Even if they can regenerate, it should be a while before they recover." Lance said. "We can have them contained before that happens."
"Wait… I'm detecting an unusual energy signature coming from both of their remains." Octus voiced with concern.
Suddenly, all the crushed and blown away plant fragments of Undergrowth began to glow a bright yellow as they ascended into the air. And it was not just that, for many vapors of steam from the dispersed Vortex condensed to form clouds and turned yellow as opposed to their usual green. The clouds and plant pieces all slowly came together at a single spot as Titan faced this odd phenomenon.
"What's going on?" Lance questioned.
"This energy signature… it's not quite Ecto energy, but it is similar." Octus reported. "The frequency is rather familiar and it…. Wait. That… can't be possible."
"Octus…?" Illana looked a little nervous.
"This energy… it matches the same frequency as Van Kleiss' nanites!" Octus exclaimed in shock.
GIW Base – Five Minutes Earlier
Drakken chuckled as he continued to watch the Avengers' battle against Undergrowth and Vortex from one of the monitors around the basement. "Oh, now this is good TV." Drakken laughed. "I can watch this all day."
"Perhaps you'd best more focus on what we came here to do and not the distraction we sent to our enemies." Van Kleiss said somewhat irritably.
"Meh, relax. I already copied all the data on the Anti-Ecto converter, so we should be able to make our own improved version easily enough." Drakken dismissed.
"Then it seems we're done here." Vlad Plasmius said. "Time to take our leave before…" He however caught notice of something on another monitor, and that was the security feed outside of the base where all the zombified GIW agents were sent away by Breach's portals. "The Avengers are here!"
True to his word, a portal appeared in the middle of the chamber as Kim, Zak, Ron, Rufus, Fiskerton, Zon, and Komodo all dropped down and faced the three members of the Cabal.
"Well, look who decided to rear their ugly heads again." Kim scowled while the trio of Cryptids near them growled and snarled at their enemies.
"Kim Possible, and friends." Drakken glared back.
"Quite the dramatic entrance as usual." Van Kleiss noted. "Though your timing still needs work as we already have what we need."
"So, all we gotta do is keep you from leaving with it." Zak said as he drew the Claw and Fang. "Should be easy enough."
"Yes, you could fight us…" Vlad began as he smirked. "Or… you can join us in watching the rest of your friends meet their demise."
"Dude, whatever you guys are planning, it's not gonna work! Cause we kicked your butts every time." Ron said. Right as he said that, they all turned toward one of the monitors to see Titan form in Amity Park and immediately began to overwhelm Undergrowth and Vortex. "See what I mean?" He said with a confident smirk.
"Titan, baby!" Rufus pumped his tiny paws.
However, rather than appear to be shocked or angered by the appearance of the Avengers' most powerful asset, the three members of the Cabal looked more amused than anything else as they chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Kim questioned.
"Tell me, do you know what this is?" Vlad revealed the object they were seeking to claim. "The Anti-Ecto Converter. It was built by the Guys in White, designed to convert the Ecto energy of any ghost-based lifeform into harmless carbon, essentially destroying a ghost on a molecular level. Though it was untested, those idiots decided to use it on Undergrowth and Vortex when they attacked their base."
"Well, it obviously didn't work cause they're still kicking and about to have their butts handed to em." Ron said, referring to the screen that showed Undergrowth being blown apart by Titan's arrows and Vortex blasted away by energy produced from Titan.
"Correction, it didn't work the way they wanted. But it suited our needs just fine." Drakken replied.
"What did you do…?" Zak questioned, looking more than a little unsettled.
Van Kleiss smirked. "I'm certain Rex has told you all of how I previously lived off my world's nanites. Though that is no longer the case, and I'm certain you are wondering 'how'? Allow me to explain. Thanks to the resources and abilities of my newfound allies, I was able to convert the nanites within my own body as a form of energy, one that keeps me sustained." He showed his gauntlet. "Though I still need to be recharged, so-to-speak, modifications to my gauntlet have granted me the ability to absorb other forms of energy and convert it into that of the same that sustains me, so I'm no longer limited to nanotechnology. Of course, given I had the ability to inject my nanites into others and create EVOs, wouldn't it stand to reason I can still do the same? Just without nanites?"
"And… we have here a special device that is supposed to convert Ecto energy into carbon." Vlad continued, referring to the Anti-Ecto Converter. "Given our own modifications to it… and bit of reverse engineering… Those fools in the GIW just transferred that very same energy directly into Undergrowth and Vortex without any of them realizing it!"
Kim and Zak looked in genuine shock and even horror, while Ron just looked confused. "Okay, can someone translate?" He asked as Rufus shrugged, not understanding that either.
"Van Kleiss' nanites are now a form of energy that he and his pals infused with Undergrowth and Vortex!" Zak exclaimed.
"An EVO-Ghost hybrid." Drakken shared a grin with his colleagues. "Let's see what I can do, shall we?"
Van Kleiss smirk only grew as he clenched his gauntlet, the central unit in its palm glowed a bright yellow as he remotely activated and triggered the dormant energy they had placed in their ghostly pawns.
Amity Park
Titan backed up slightly as all the other heroes looked in genuine shock as all the glowing yellow plant fragments and vapor clouds came together and swirled around each other, condensing and mixing together to make up one giant mass, which quickly began to take shape.
A giant yellow tornado had formed and took a semi-humanoid shape with massive arms. Much of the yellow plants formed at the base of the whirlwind arms and took the shape of hands, which extended with thorny vines to spread around each arm and toward the central chest area, before coming together to take the shape of large plant tendrils that wrapped around the chest like a giant X. From the back, two large tree-branches grew out and extended before a surge of electricity shot out from each of them, taking the shape of wings made entirely out of lightning. It's lower body was still that of a swirling yellow twister, it's head took a more distinct shape as the whirlwind at the top began to become so cold that snow formed to take the shape of a monstrous looking face resembling Vortex's. Wooden spikes came out from the top and back of its head, which were set ablaze with heat energy resembling a flaming Mohawk. Its eyes shined to life with a blood red as this monstrous being set loose a roar that would echo to the heavens.
"What in the name of Galaluna…?" Illana muttered in pure horror.
"Incoming!" Lance's warning came too late as the Ghost-EVO hybrid flew down at lightning speed, the force and speed generated by its wings, to grab Titan by its shoulders and slam it down, dragging it across the ground and through multiple buildings before stopping. As the monster pinned Titan to the ground, multiple vines and tendrils extended from its arms to bind Titan before sending an electric shock through its body. Though its armor did protect it, all three that made up Titan could feel the force of the shock.
"We have to break out of this!" Lance stated.
"Emitting energy pulse now!" Octus announced.
A powerful wave of pure energy shot out from around Titan to blast away the electrical vines as well as slightly push the Ghost-EVO back. Titan immediately flew into the air to get some distance with the monster flying after it, easily matching Titan's own speed.
While airborne, Titan drew its bow-and-arrow again and set loose a volley of arrows at the approaching beast. However, the flames from its head grew even more as the monster spun around to generate a massive vortex of flame to shield itself from the explosive arrows and quickly closed the distance between it and Titan. The flames exploded outward as the raw force pushed Titan back. The monster threw out its arms to extend more of its plant tendrils, but Titan formed its sword to slice away at them and tried to go on the offensive, flying at the beast to impale it. However, the monster only growled as it channeled extreme cold energy into its wound, which began to spread along the sword and toward Titan's hands. Titan was forced to abandon the sword and fly back, it looked down to notice its frozen hands, with Octus inside channeling some energy to melt the ice away before it gazed at the monster that pulled the frozen sword from its body, the wound healing in a manner of seconds and easily crushed it to pieces within its grip.
The Ghost-EVO raised its arms to create a massive storm-cloud which spread throughout the sky and directly over Titan, right before a multitude of lightning bolts were directed straight at Titan, forcing it to erect a pair of shields in each of its arms to block and as many of the bolts that it could, but they were too quick and too many as Titan was struck from all sides.
Down below, all the Avengers could only watch as the flashes of light lit up the sky.
"Okay… can someone explain to me what the heck just happened?!" Valerie questioned.
"Those ghosts… combined…?!" Jake questioned as he looked towards the Phantom Trio. "Did this ever happen before…?"
"No." Sam shook her head. "We've never seen anything like this."
"The Cabal… they must have done something… but what…?!" Dani questioned.
Danny's eyes narrowed as he accessed his comms. "Tucker, Jazz, are you seeing this?"
"Yeah… and it's insane!" Tucker stated as he and Jazz couldn't take their eyes off the screen.
"This shouldn't be possible!" Jazz exclaimed. "Plants and storms are dependent on each other, but they can't combine! It's not… it just can't…"
"Tucker, can you still see what's going on at the GIW base?" Danny asked. "Who exactly in the Cabal is there?"
Taking a moment to focus, Tucker turned his attention back to the monitor that showed the live footage of Kim and the others fighting the three Cabal members there. "Vlad's there… and, I don't remember their names off hand… but there's a blue guy that can grow vines from his body… and another guy with a metal arm."
"Van Kleiss." Rex growled as he, Ben, and Breach shared concerned and serious expressions. "Someone, he's turned them into a single EVO."
"A what?" Valerie questioned.
"Basically, a mutant." Breach translated.
"A mutant ghost? That's new." Sam commented.
"Is there anything we can do to stop that?" Dani questioned.
"I've got maybe one or two transformations that should help but…" Ben said, looking at the Omnitrix.
"Then go up there and help them." Danny said. "The rest of us have to stay down here just in case there's anything else we need to worry about. Any more rogue plants or anything else like that. I don't know what that thing can do, but I'm not taking any chances."
"What about Kim and the others?" Jake.
"We'll have to trust they can stop the Cabal." Danny said, sounding mentally exhausted. "I'm sorry… but we're already spread too thin. And I don't think any of us can help against… that."
He gestured to the sky once again as Titan continued to clash against the Ghost-EVO. One look at that, and everyone there knew that there wasn't a single thing they can do to match that. Rex might have his Omega form, but that was still unstable and couldn't be sustained for long, not to mention the potential memory loss that could happen from that.
"Danny's right." Sam agreed reluctantly. "None of us can stand a chance against that."
"I'll do what I can to help." Ben activated his Omnitrix and transformed into one of his most powerful forms: Atomix and flew straight up into the rampaging storm and fight well above the city.
Titan had been stuck on the defensive as it did its best to protect itself from the relentless blasts of lightning that struck it from all sides. However, this also left it vulnerable for its mutant adversary to go on the attack, shooting itself forward while also bringing its arms together, wood and plant-tendrils merging and growing to create a massive spear-like weapon from its arms resembling an evergreen tree. It shot with intense speed, ready to strike the defenseless Titan.
Fortunately, a green energy shot at near-light speed from the ground and blasted away the physical weapon the monster had generated. It and Titan turned their attention to the sudden appearance of Atomix, who already had an attack primed and ready.
"Haa-mee-na-haa-mee-na-haa-mee-na!" Atomix had generated a sphere of atomic energy in its hands and threw it at the Ghost-EVO, resulting in a bright and powerful explosion of green energy to blast away much of the monster's body and send it flying backwards.
"Comrade Titan, I shall assist you in vanquishing this abomination!" Atomix declared towards Titan, who nodded in response.
"Ben…" Illana breathed in relief. "Maybe we do have a chance."
"Octus, you said you detected Van Kleiss' energy inside that thing, right?" Lance recalled. "Is that an EVO?"
"I'm not sure." Octus answered. "I'm not detecting any nanites, but the energy within it is striking similar. It seems to be some kind of bonding agent that is keeping the Ecto-signatures of Undergrowth and Vortex bound together."
"Can we do the same kind of thing we did with that other monster Van Kleiss made?" Illana asked. "Find a way to break it apart?"
"Since there are no physical nanites, the exact same process won't work." Octus said. "I'll need time to figure out a solution."
"Then we'll buy you that time. Illana, you and I have to take the helm." Lance stated.
"Understood."
Both Titan and Atomix faced the Ghost-EVO as its body had completely regenerated before letting loose another thundering roar.
"Face us, beast!" Atomix challenged as he and Titan flew to engage the monster.
GIW Base
The basement laboratory had been torn apart as the heroes and villains there engaged in a no-holds-barred brawl with one another. Vlad flew down to fire a volley of violet colored ghost rays at Ron, who back flipped to avoid most of them before backing toward a wall. Thinking he had him cornered, Vlad flew in close as he generated a sword made of his own Ecto-energy and swung it towards Ron, who fired up his blue Mystic Monkey Aura and gave a martial arts chop to shatter said sword, much to Vlad's surprise. But the evil halfa growled before he threw a punch towards Ron, who caught in his fist while Ron threw a punch of his own, which Vlad caught. They both pressed their strength against one another for a time before Vlad flew straight up, taking Ron with him, and spun his body around before letting go to send Ron crashing into a wall.
But while airborne, Zon flew down with a caw, grabbing at Vlad by the shoulders to force him down. As Vlad struggled, Zon bit and clawed away at Vlad's ghostly body with her fangs and talons, but Vlad quickly turned intangible and phased through Zon before blasting her in the back to knock her down to the ground.
"Filthy animal!" Vlad fired another ghost ray at the prehistoric reptile while she was down, but Kim quickly jumped to grab the blast with her Battle Suit's gauntlet and threw it back at Vlad, blasting him away.
"You okay, girl?" Kim asked Zon, who gave an affirming squawk and nuzzled against Kim in gratitude. "Great but… look out!" She quickly pushed Zon out of the way and jumped back herself to avoid the extended gauntlet from Van Kleiss.
While the mad scientist retracted his gauntlet, Kim used this moment to try and rush him, while also sliding underneath the swipe from his gauntlet as it returned to him. She slid right up to him and pushed herself up from the ground with her hands to kick him in the face and knock him back. But he quickly steadied himself as Kim closed the gap, the two engaging in hand-to-hand combat as Van Kleiss threw a punch, which Kim parried with a swipe of her arm and threw a kick, but he was able to catch her foot before flipping her over to slam her to the ground. But Kim quickly activated her Battle Suit's bubble shield to push Van Kleiss back as she got up to face him.
"Whatever you did, reverse it now!" She demanded.
"I couldn't even if I wanted to." Van Kleiss said with a grin. "I only create EVOs, I can't cure them. Though I doubt this is one even Rex would be able to cure."
"Must have taken a lot of energy to make that thing." Kim said as she paced around him. "Yet you're still going strong. Let me guess, you charged up beforehand?"
"Observant, aren't you, young lady?" Van Kleiss noted. "While also prying to learn of a possible weakness. But I'm not so easily… UGH!" He was interrupted as he felt an intense pain shoot through his shoulder, courtesy of Komodo, who had turned invisible to sneak up on him and bite down hard on his shoulder, the intent of ripping a chunk of it off.
"No, but egomaniacs like you do have a tendency to monologue." Kim said with her own grin, having purposely distracted him.
Komodo's bite was enough to cause severe bleeding as he remained invisible, yet Van Kleiss was able to locate him at the epicenter of his pain, reaching to grab the giant reptile with his extended gauntlet and threw him away. He took a brief moment to address the wound on his shoulder, but this also left him open for a large piece of equipment that had been hanging on the ceiling to drop on top of him.
"Thanks, Rufus!" Kim called to the naked mole rat, who hung on a chewed-up rope and waved back with a smile.
Drakken threw out several vines towards Zak, who rolled away to avoid most of them as he launched the grappler from his Claw at Drakken, who was able to quickly grab it with his vines, just as Zak wanted as he did the same with the Fang and hit those very same vines. When both the Claw and Fang were close to each other, it trigged a brief reality pulse from the Matter-Anti-Matter collision that caused those vines to melt. But Drakken discarded them before growing more vines, which he wrapped around his arms to increase their physical strength and defense as he rushed to strike Zak, who leapt backwards and allowed Fiskerton to rush and tackle the blue-skinned mad scientist.
Fiskerton grumbled as he tried to keep Drakken in a headlock, but Drakken grew more vines from his back near his legs to grab Fisk by his own legs and pry him off before throwing him away. However, Zak threw out the grappler from the Fang towards Fisk as he landed on a wall and perched himself onto it. Fisk caught the grappler with his left foot and pulled on it to bring Zak closer to him, who swung to knock both his feet into Drakken and knock him down.
However, they were both blasted by a pair of Ecto beams from the recovered Vlad as he rejoined the fray. Fortunately, Ron had also rejoined the battle as he ran underneath the unsuspecting Vlad and jumped up to land a superman-like punch into Vlad's chest to send him flying and crashing into the ceiling.
Amity Park
The sky continued to flash as Titan and Atomix engaged the Ghost-EVO hybrid, which shot a multitude of enormous tree-like missiles from its body, many of which were either lit on fire, surging with lightning, or encircled in an icy whirlwind. Atomix created a large sphere of nuclear energy and threw it outward, it then exploded to create a large energy blast to obliterate all the tree projectiles, thus allowing Titan a chance to fly in with a scythe and deliver a diagonal slice that completely cut the monster in half. Just as before, they saw that the monster was slowly regenerating, but Atomix used this literal opening to fly directly into the monster just as the wound closed.
"NUCLEAR WINNER!" A massive blast of nuclear energy erupted from within, green energy shooting out from all over its body before it finally exploded.
*BOOM!*
Titan flew backwards slightly to gain some distance. At the epicenter of the resulting vacuum from the blast, Atomix flew to regroup with Titan before facing the gap in the sky.
"I am hopeful that did it."
"It did not." Titan itself spoke. "We sense that energy even now slowly coming back together." True to Titan's word, streams of yellow vapor slowly became visible and were already coming back together.
"I don't understand how that didn't work!" Lance stated. "Atomix is powered by nuclear energy! That should be able to obliterate any plant and overpower any storm!"
"We have to remember that Undergrowth and Vortex are ghosts and therefore do not operate under the same laws of physics as the same elements they embody on this or any other Earth." Octus informed. "But it's not just that. Whatever the Cabal did to combine them into this made them significantly stronger. Their Ecto-energy has mutated and become something else."
"Just like an EVO…" Illana noted. "But it if it doesn't have nanites…"
"I actually might have an idea." Octus said. "You remember what we did to stop that Mutradi storm when we first getting the hang of Titan?"
"We opened our armor and re-directed all its energy back at it to disperse it." Lance recalled.
"I think we may be able to do something similar." Octus explained. "There may not be any physical nanites, but the energy does work on the same frequency as those of Van Kleiss. I've also managed to better understand the same kind of unique signature that Rex's nanites operate with, as well as his unique ability to cure EVOs and de-power nanites. If open our armor and allow that monster to strike us with an electrical attack, I can transform that same kind of energy Van Kleiss employed to keep this beast together into its polar opposite, which would cause it to break apart. But there is great risk, and we may need more power than what we currently have."
"Could Ben's power as Atomix help? If he channels all his power into us, would it provide us with the boost we need?" Illana asked.
"Yes, that should work, but it'll have to be precise." Octus answered.
"Then let's do it." Lance said.
Atomix and Titan both saw that the Ghost-EVO was already coming back together. Its cyclone body being the first to manifest while the plant-like appendages were regenerating on a near-molecular level.
"Ben, listen." Titan got Atomix's attention. "We have a plan to stop this. We'll open our armor to allow us to strike, but we will need more power. Can you produce exactly 200 million electron volts?"
"Ha! Such a thing would be child's play for the master of nuclear energy!" Atomix boasted.
"Then let's get it done! Follow us!" Titan flew straight up into the sky with the living nuclear alien right behind it. Not long after that, the Ghost-EVO had managed to fully reconstitute itself. It noticed Titan and Atomix flying straight up and perused them.
Within a matter of minutes, the duo had broken free of Earth's atmosphere and made it into space. They waited less than a minute for the hybridized beast to fly and meet them above the planet.
"Get ready. On our signal." Titan told Atomix as he flew behind the larger robot. Titan then shot a beam of energy from the palm of its hand, striking the monster's chest. Though the damage was minimal as it quickly healed, the intent was to provoke into attacking with something similar, and that seemed to work. The Ghost-EVO raised its right hand, which surged with lightning before blasting it at Titan.
"Opening armor!" Titan's arms expanded as its clear armor detached from its body to expose its inner machines. The lightning-attack struck the central heart unit and was absorbed directly into Titan. "NOW!"
"HAA-MEE-NA, HAA-MEE-NA, HA-MEE-NA!" Atomix's hands were brought together to unleash a massive beam of green nuclear energy which shot into Titan's exposed back, toward an circle like opening that was on the opposite side of the heart-unit that was absorbing the monster's electrical attack.
"Ready to re-direct all absorbed energy!" Illana grunted.
"Operational systems beginning to fail!" Octus alerted.
"Fire back now!" Lance exclaimed.
The last of the lightning was absorbed up into Titan front just as Atomix fired the last of his own power into Titan. A massive beam of white energy was then shot directly at the Ghost-EVO in front of them. The whole beast was encompassed in the blast as all the energy that kept the two separate Ecto-energy signatures bound together was broken apart before it finally exploded.
*BOOM!*
A massive explosion erupted high above the planet's surface. One so big that it looked like a nuclear explosion had occurred in orbit, almost like a miniature sun had formed in the sky. All the Avengers and their friends in Amity Park were speechless at the sight of it.
They spotted a meteor-like phenomenon streaking through the sky before it fell back to the planet's surface and crashed well away from Amity Park's city limits.
"Breach!" Danny exclaimed. Without another word, Breach opened a portal for all of them.
A large crater had formed upon impact as Ben, Illana, Lance, and Octus were battered and lying at various spots all throughout. Octus was the first to recover, quickly checking all of their vitals and saw that despite being injured and exhausted, they were alive, much to his relief.
Ben was the first to wake up with a groan, slowly pulling himself up. "Anyone else have ringing in their ears…?"
"D… Did we do it…?" Illana stuttered as she tried to push herself but fell down slightly.
"I am no longer detecting that energy the Cabal was employing." Octus informed. "I believe we did it."
Lance chuckled. "Good."
Breach's portal opened up at the ridge of the crater where she, Danny, Sam, Dani, Jake, Rex, and Valerie stepped out and saw that their friends were still in one piece, much to their joy. Illana smiled emotionally while Lance and Ben both smirked as the latter gave a thumbs up.
GIW Base
Vlad growled as he, Drakken, and Van Kleiss had saw everything through the monitors.
"Looks like your plan failed." Zak stated as he, Fiskerton, Kim, Zon, Ron, Komodo and Rufus faced them, and all of which still looked ready to fight.
"If I were you guys, I'd surrender." Kim told them.
"Yeah, really wanna take her up on that." Ron advised with a triumphant smile.
Drakken scoffed. "It doesn't matter, we got what we came here for."
"Savor this victory, Avengers. The war will still be ours." Van Kleiss said as he quickly activated a device in his hand, one that opened a white portal below them, causing them all to fall in as they vanished from sight.
"Ah man, last-minute villain escape!" Ron pouted while Rufus blew raspberries.
"So lame." Fiskerton ran his hand down his face as Zon and Komodo growled in frustration. Kim and Zak both shared looks of disappointment, but there was also relief as their friends managed to pull off a massive victory.
A few hours later
As the citizens of Amity Park returned to their homes, and reconstruction crews worked to fix up the damage around the city, the Avengers and their friends had gathered together at Fenton Works to rest and recover, while also going over what they had just went through.
"You kids were something else out there!" Jack said proudly. "You beat back those ghosts and you did with style! I'll have jumpsuits prepped for each of you!"
"Heh, thanks Mr. Fenton, but I think we're good." Illana replied with a smile.
"Damage to Amity Park was surprisingly minimal, which is pretty incredible considering the amount of collateral damage Vortex and Undergrowth are both capable on their own, let alone together." Tucker said.
"How exactly are you able is this city able to afford so much reconstruction anyway?" Ben asked.
"Vlad was a multi-billionaire and mayor of Amity Park a while back." Jazz answered. "After he was exposed, all his funds and assets were seized by the IRS. Since Amity Park is not only the home of Danny Phantom, who saved this whole world several times, especially after the Disasteroid incident, but it's also a frequent target for ghost activity, the government let us put it all in a specially secured account that we can use to pay for damage control."
"So basically, Vlad's paying for all the damage?" Ron asked.
"Pretty much." Tucker confirmed with a grin.
"No skin off our bones." Danny said, crossing his arms, only imagining how Vlad himself would react to something like that.
"What about those Guys in White creeps?" Jake asked.
"After that monster was taken down, all of Undergrowth's mind control spores died and turned back to normal. Same with the Masters' Blasters." Breach answered. "Once that happened, I dropped them all off back at their base."
"They kinda remind me of the Huntsclan back home…" Jake commented. "So, I don't think it's a good idea just to let them off the hook."
"Well unlike the Huntsclan, they're not really cult but a part of this world's government." Lance said. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be keeping an eye on them. Especially if they were able to make that Anti-Ecto converter."
"I wouldn't worry." Valerie said. "With all the damage done to their base, it'll be a while before they're back up and operating again."
"And, before Breach brought them back, I hacked into their data server and deleted all files and research on that weapon of theirs." Tucker added. "So yeah… I think we're good."
"So, what exactly happened with Undergrowth and Vortex anyway? Are they... ya know, dead?" Dani asked.
"Can they even die? They're ghosts, aren't they?" Jake asked.
"They're not dead." Danny answered. "Paid a quick visit to the Observants and they saw the whole thing. Vortex and Undergrowth were separated and most of their powers and bodies were scattered across the planet by that explosion. It'll be a while before either of them ever recover and regain their full strength."
"Which means we won't be seeing them for a while." Sam said with a sigh of relief.
"Even if they do, I think they'll think twice before messing with the Avengers again." Rex commented with a grin.
"But those two were just a distraction." Zak said seriously. "The Cabal said they had what they came for. That Anti-Ecto Converter?"
"We brought it to our lab, and we'll take it apart to get a better idea of how it works." Maddie said. "Maybe even reverse engineer it to find a way to create a counter-measure for whatever Vlad and his new pals come up with." She said that name with an extra dose of venom.
"I've also copied the schematics for it as Tucker hacked into the GIW system." Newton added. "We can work something from our end too."
"The fact they were able to use it to bring together two giants like that and create a monster that almost overpowered Titan is kinda scary." Kim said nervously. "And I've got a sinking that's only part of whatever they got cooking up now."
"Well, whatever happens, you kids can count on us." Jack said in assurance as he stood with his wife.
"Thanks Dad." Danny smiled before it turned into a serious expression. "Cause I got a feeling we'll need all the help we can get."
Meanwhile, at the Cabal's hideout, Vlad, Drakken, and Van Kleiss had returned to inform Modula on the events of Amity Park as the four of them sat at their table together.
"Hmm, the loss of Undergrowth and Vortex is disappointing." Modula commented. "They had potential use as a weapon, especially if they were able to push Titan to their limit as that combined monster."
"Regardless, our objective was still reached." Van Kleiss pulled pressed a button built into his side of the desk to display a holographic projection of the Anti-Ecto-Converter and its blueprints. "We should be able to construct our own device rather easily with our own resources."
"But we'll still need quite the power source if we want it to perform to optimal levels." Vlad commented. "Even a nuclear power plant wouldn't produce nearly enough power."
Modula smirked as he reached into his coat. "Then I suppose it's a good thing we've held onto this." He revealed the Alpha Rune.
"Nice to know we still got something out of that whole Dagon-fiasco." Drakken said.
"Indeed." Modula looked at the Alpha Rune with an ambitious grin. "The Avengers frequent interferences will cause inconveniences in the future no doubt… but that future belongs to the Cabal!"
The End
Thus concludes Episode 1 of Season 2 of the Avengers of the Multiverse. The young heroes were able to defeat the merged monster of Undergrowth and Vortex, but the Cabal still got what they needed.
What are they planning this time?
I will be taking a month-long break or so before I start episode 2, but I will continue it soon. I appreciate all the patience and support you've all given me throughout this story. I think Season 2 has kicked off with a bang, but it won't all just be action. We'll be looking more into the members of the Avengers and some of their friends outside the team as their own relationships and characters change and develop throughout their journey together. Season 1 was something of an introductory part for this series, now we get into some of the more personal and even trauma-related stuff in later episodes, as well as exploring more character interactions.
Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this episode. I'll be back with Episode 2 after about a month.
See ya soon. :)