Unknown to the villains, our heroes had just been taken to meet Dr. Orpheus who would soon supply them with some disturbing info.
"And to what do I owe the nature of this mysterious visit?" Orpheus asked the heroes "if you're here to visit my dear pumpkin, I'm afraid she's currently at her place of education."
"No sir, actually, we've come to see you" Axel explained.
"See, we're interesting in learning about the location of the Reality Gauntlet and we heard…" Kim began.
"So, the visions were true" Orpheus said, "someone is attempting to reforge that accursed glove."
"Reforge?" Kim asked, confused "we were told that there was another one that was lost."
"Indeed there is" Orpheus began, "but there is no time for that now. If you know of the Gauntlet, then you must know the powers it can bestow upon whomever possesses it."
"Sort of" Axel said "we were kind of hoping you could…"
"There is little time" Orpheus continued "if we are to stop the gauntlet from being reforged, we must act fast!"
"What's he talking about KP?" Ron asked.
"Well, Danny did mention that he destroyed the original gauntlet" Kim said "perhaps someone is trying to rebuild it."
"But who could have that kind of technology?" Ace asked.
Suddenly, Plasmius & Magnacat burst into the room. "I think I know who" Kim added.
"You!" Magnacat shouted "is there nowhere on Earth where we can free from your constant interference?"
"Maybe the Equator" Ace suggested "it's pretty hot there."
"And it's going to get a lot hotter in here" Plasmius replied, firing an ectoplasmic blast.
"Get down!" Ace shouted, ducking the blast; the others scattered and prepared to attack their foes.
"Eh, I'll take monster boy, you bust that no good ghost" Ace said to Axel.
"Consider him busted" Axel replied, running towards Plasmius as Ace did the same for Magnacat.
The evil Gorka turned his hand into a mace and extended his arm to smash Ace, but his martial arts training allowed him to dodge the blows.
"You'll have ta do better than that doc" he said.
"Oh, I intend to" Magnacat replied, turning his mesmeric powers on Ace, "submit to my will rabbit, serve me!"
Seeing his teammate in trouble, Axel turned to help him, but got caught by a blast from Plasmius.
"Not today little hero" he said "I haven't forgotten how that mystic power of yours did a number on me when we last fought."
"Leave them alone!" Kim shouted, swinging at Plasmius, compliments of her grappling hook. Plasmius simply went intangible so she passed right through him, then became solid and turned around and grabbed her.
"A notable effort" he said "but a foolish one nonetheless."
"Now I'll order their bunny friend to destroy them" Magnacat replied "a truly ironic death for such noble fools."
"Release them, or face my wrath minions of evil" Orpheus replied.
"You plan on stopping us, old man?" Plasmius replied "let's see you stop this."
He split himself into four doubles "destroy him!" he ordered. The three copies swarmed towards Orpheus but he blasted them with green energy he fired from his fingers.
"Mere child's play" he said "don't you have anything more powerful?"
"Hypnotize the blasted fool, before he blasts us!" Plasmius ordered his teammate.
"Don't give me orders!" Magnacat shouted "I do what I please!"
While they argued, Magnacat couldn't keep his full focus on Ace. He snapped out of the spell and blasted the evil Gorka with his heat beams.
Seeing what happened, Plasmius attempted to blast Ace, but was quickly knocked aside by a Jo-Lan burst from a recovered Axel. The two villains regained their wits long enough to see their newly refreshed foes ready for a fight.
"You guys ready for some more?" Ace asked "cause we're ready to go."
"Perhaps a retreat would be a wise option" Plasmius suggested "I don't know if even we could handle both of them, plus the necromancer."
"Very well" Magnacat replied, before turning to face the heroes "you may have won this round, but we shall return, and next time…" he didn't have a chance to finish his threat, as Ace blasted him again.
"You talk too much doc."
Plasmius quickly grabbed his teammate, activated his forcefield, then ghosted both of them through the floor.
"Man, they got away!" Ron said "lucky they did too, or I would've unleashed the dragon on 'em."
"Sure you would've Ron" Kim said, obviously not believing him.
"So doc, you were saying something about the Gauntlet being reforged?" Axel asked.
"Indeed" Orpheus replied "perhaps I should start from the beginning."
----
Back outside the compound, the two supernatural villains returned to their colleagues.
"I don't see any sorcerer, so I'll assume you two failed" Shego replied.
"Hold your tongue, if you wish for it to still be part of your body!" Magnacat shouted "we had the necromancer, but those accursed heroes somehow beat us here."
"His power, combined with theirs, was too much for even us to take" Plasmius added.
"Vilgax isn't going to like this" Drakken said "so now what do we do?"
"We wait" Magnacat said "first we'll obtain some backup, and then we'll try again. Those heroes are tenacious, like cockroaches. But every roach has a weak underbelly, and it's simply a matter of attacking theirs."
"What don't you ever talk normal?" Shego asked, "jeez, it's like listening to Dr. D explain one of his stupid plans."
"My plans are not all stupid!" Drakken shouted.
"Really? Remember the whole, 'mind control shampoo' fiasco?"
"Okay, that was kind of dumb" Drakken replied.
-----
Back inside the Venture compound, our heroes were shocked at what the necromancer had just revealed to them.
"Well, this definitely isn't good" Axel said "with something like that at his disposal, Vilgax could be unstoppable!"
"Well we're not going to let that happen" Kim said "Dr. Orpheus, we'll do whatever we can to prevent those villains from rebuilding that weapon. But we may need to stay here, it's obvious that you factor into their plans in some way."
"I believe they wish to use my powers to re-energize the glove" Orpheus explained "for even if the glove and gems are rebuilt, without magic, the Gauntlet is useless."
"Then what are we worried about?" Ron asked "if they don't have any magic, we don't have to fear them."
"Maybe not, but everyone else here does" Kim explained "they failed to capture the doc before, so next time, they'll certainly target one of his loved ones."
"That's why we need ta stay here, until we can make sure that Gauntlet is destroyed for good" Ace added "I just wish we knew where they was keeping it."
"I shall search the astral plane for its' location" Orpheus said "in the meantime, you'd best visit Mr. Venture and request his permission to stay over."
"I hope he'll give it" Kim said "but I'm sure he's a reasonable man."
----
Elsewhere, in an old abandoned warehouse, the forces of L.A.M.E were also plotting a way to get the doc.
"A direct attack against him won't work sir" Charmcaster reported "my uncle told me about this necromancer and he's quite powerful, despite his demeanor."
"Then how do you suggest ve handle him?" Phibes asked.
"He does have one weakness; his daughter Triana" Charmcaster explained, showing a picture of the teenaged Goth, "if we were to kidnap her, Orpheus could be forced into doing our bidding."
"Und you have a plan to kidnap this girl?" Phibes asked.
"Yes sir" Charmcaster replied "when I'm finished, the Reality Gauntlet will be yours."
"See that it is" Phibes replied "I did not come all this vay for failure!"
----
Back at Venture Industries, meanwhile, Axel had explained the situation to Dr. Venture, who wasn't impressed at all.
"So basically, you Justice League wannabes need to stay here to protect us from some group of villains, led by an alien, that are trying to recreate a mystic glove?" he asked.
"Not the way I would've spun it, but yes" Axel replied.
"Why does all the weird crap always happen around here?" Venture asked "just once, why can't a supermodel visit or I get a million dollars or something? No, I always end up dealing with aliens or costumed crazies or some other stupid thing."
"So, can we stay?" Ron asked.
"I guess" Venture said "just don't touch any of my inventions, they're very valuable. You can sleep in the guest wing of the house. Brock, escort them there please."
"Follow me" Brock said, leading the heroes out of the den and down the hallway.
"I know it's not my business to pry, but the doctor seems really cranky," Ron said.
"He's just upset, things haven't been going well for him" Brock explained "just leave it at that."
He stopped and opened the door to the room; "here's where you'll be staying" he said "I hope they'll be okay."
"It looks all right" Kim said, "thank you."
"If you need anything, I'll send over H.E.L.P.e.R, he's our robot" Brock said "so good luck, or whatever."
"Man that guy creeps me out" Ron said, after Brock had left.
"Never mind that now, we need to be on alert in case E.V.I.L attacks again" Axel said "I think our best strategy is to divide into groups and cover a different part of the building."
"I call Kim!" Ron shouted grabbing his redheaded girlfriend.
"Eh, then I guess I'm with you doc" Ace said to Axel.
"Okay, we'll cover the north, you guys take the south" Axel said, "if anyone sees anything, we radio each other."
"Got it" Kim replied "let's head out."
What will our heroes find in the dark recesses of Venture Industries? None other than the Venture Brothers themselves. All this, plus Brock clues Kim in on life as a crimefighter.