Well, here's the last chapter at long last! I hope you've all enjoyed this story, and stay tuned to the end of the chapter for a sneak peak at the next Hero League adventure!
Thanks for reading!
(I own squat, and wrote this purely for fun, nothing else.)
Locked away in his lab, Robotnik toiled away tinkering with different devices, putting together what looked like a suit of black armor.
"Tell me again how this will work?" said Vlad, as he sat nearby, watching.
"It's simple," Robotnik replied without turning away from his work, "your 'ecto-cancer' was brought on by exposure to highly concentrated ghost rays, correct?"
"Yes…"
"Well, by using your ghost powers, you only fed the disease until finally it has left you in this state. However, by blocking the effects of the disease with ecto-ranium, the rare anti-ghost material, we can nullify its effects. This suit will do just that, but will concentrate only on the cancer, giving you full access to your powers again!" Robotnik turned to Vlad with a grin. "Not to mention, I'm putting in a few additions that you'll no doubt find quite useful."
Vlad, intrigued, looked down at the nearly complete armor. "For all the hype," he said, "it had better be worth what you charged."
"Not to worry," said Robotnik as he put the finishing touches on the suit, "You won't be disappointed…"
Outside the lab, the other villains were sitting around, waiting for their next plans. Ember read an old magazine, Freakshow watched TV, and Shego filed the claws on her gloves as Drakken paced back and forth around the room.
"What exactly is your problem?" Shego asked her long-time boss.
"There's evil genius-ing at work in there, I know it!" Drakken moaned. "And they didn't even ask for my help!"
"Yeah, see, that could be because they require evil geniuses."
Drakken was about to reply when Og ran in, panting for breath. "Oh, it's the ogre," Drakken mumbled. "What's wrong with you? Lose your talking donkey or something?"
"Why aren't you watching the prisoner?" Ember asked.
"Og was watching him," the ogre replied, "but then little demon man asked for water, so Og gave it to him."
"So, what?" Shego asked. "Now he has to go, or something?"
Og shook his head. "Nuh-uh, demon spit at funny paper circus guy put up and it got ruined. Now demon call Hero League for help!"
"What?!" Freakshow roared. "You imbecile! Now he'll lead them right to us!"
Drakken, in a state of panic, turned to the lab door and pounded on it. "Masters! We've got a situation!"
Inside, Vlad had already donned the now complete armor, which was completely black except for the gloves and boots, and a combined V and P similar to Danny's insignia on his chest which were all white. He was also wearing a greenish-blue Dracula-like cape. He was laid out on a table, as Robotnik fiddled with some machines and generators which created so much noise that Drakken's shouting and knocking was unheard.
"Now, we have to jump-start the suit's battery," Robotnik explained, "in order for the suit to work. It will take only a minute, but I must warn you… it will hurt a little." Without another second's hesitation, Robotnik flipped a switch, and several generators shot out bolts of pure energy which hit Vlad right in the chest. He ground his teeth and clenched his fist against the surge of electricity that coursed through him, but finally relaxed when the generators were switched off.
Robotnik, after shutting down all the machines, stepped forwards towards the table, and smiled manically as Vlad's fingers twitched. "It's alive…" he laughed, rubbing his hand in typical mad scientist fashion. "IT'S ALIVE!!! Ah… I've always wanted to say that."
Vlad sat up, slowly, and rubbed his head. "How do you feel?" Robotnik asked.
Vlad paused a moment, but finally turned to Robotnik with a grin. "Better than ever," he replied.
Finally, the two heard Drakken pounding on the door, and Robotnik opened it.
The blue villain fell face-first into the room, while the others rushed in over him.
"The idiot ogre let Hiei destroy that charm-thing!" Shego fumed. "Now he's probably called the Hero League!"
"Let them come, then…" all eyes turned to Vlad as he stood to his full height. Then, to their surprise, he became surrounded by two black rings that passed over him. When they faded, he was transformed into his ghost form, and the black armor had changed to white, as well as his white gloves, boots and insignia which change to black. His blue cape was now blood red, just like his eyes. "Now Daniel and his friends will come to us," he continued, "and the end of the Hero League shall finally be at hand! But first…" He turned to a nearby monitor and turned it on, showing video footage of Hiei, obviously taken from a security camera earlier. "I believe its time to weed out the traitor."
"A traitor?" Drakken asked.
"Yes. Someone had to have alerted the Hero League about that bomb. It couldn't have been Hiei; therefore it had to have been one of us. And lo and behold, one of us has not been one-hundred percent loyal to the cause…"
The villains watched the audio-devoid camera footage with anticipation, and saw to their surprise that it was from Ember's turn to guard Hiei. The villains scowled in disbelief at the way she flirted with him, but the real shock was when she leaned over and kissed him passionately on the lips.
Everyone turned to glare at the ghost woman, whose eyes widened in shock. "Wait," she said, backing away, "you can't think that I… I mean, we did, but I didn't… Look, it's not what it looks like!"
Suddenly, Vlad lifted a fist and from his wrist he fired a small dart which hit Ember in the shoulder. The dart gave her a shot, no doubt from some kind of ghost power nullifying technology, and she fell to the ground.
"Og," said Vlad, "Escort our sleeping beauty to a holding cell." Og nodded and picked Ember up, then carried her away. "And as for the rest of you," he turned to the others and smiled, showing off his fangs, "We have to prepare for our guests."
Meanwhile, Danny and the others were on their way to the location Hiei had mentally shown them, which was the abandoned warehouse on the edge of Amity Park.
Sora piloted the Specter I and landed nearby, and the heroes got off the ship and approached the building only to find all doors and entrances locked tight.
"What do we do now?" Sonic asked.
"Considering there's a secret hideout full of villains who have our friend held captive," said June, "may I suggest we take the direct approach?"
Danny grinned as he nodded, and his hands began to glow with a green aura. He raised his fists and blasted the nearest door off its hinges with an ecto-blast. "Direct enough for you?" he asked, and he led the others inside.
"Alright," said Danny, "according to Hiei there's a hidden lab under this warehouse. We need to find the entrance, get Hiei out, and stop Vlad and his gang."
"Not necessary, Daniel," Vlad's voice boomed from several speakers and his face appeared on a large screen which descended from the ceiling. He was in his human form again. "Welcome, Hero League. I've been expecting you. I trust you remember my associates… the Villain League?" A large hidden door on the wall opposite the League rose up, revealing Robotnik, Og, Drakken and Shego, all ready for battle. "As you can see, we've all prepared a welcoming party for you. Or should I say a farewell party? Get them!"
As ordered, the villains jumped into battle. Robotnik, in his mech, fired on Jake and Danny who both flew out of the way, while Og jumped into the air towards Juniper and Sonic. The blue hedgehog barely managed to push the Te-Xuan-Ze out of the way before the ogre came crashing to the ground.
Shego flipped with acrobatic skill over to Clover and kicked her back. Sora helped her up again, as the black haired villainess raised her glowing green fists. Drakken was not far behind her.
"Wanna trade?" Clover asked.
"No problem," Sora replied, and he raised the Keyblade to deflect an attack from Shego.
Jake, blowing fire at an oncoming missile, tried to get closer to Robotnik's mech, but was having little success. "Hey, Danny!" he called. "We need to take this tech-creep's weapons out!"
"I know!" Danny replied, trying to doge anti-ghost missiles. "But he's making it a point to keep us at arms length!"
"Give it up!" Robotnik laughed. "My mech is armed to the teeth with specially designed missiles! You can't dodge them forever!"
Sonic, meanwhile, was zipping around avoiding Og's fists while June was on his back, holding onto the ogre's neck for dear life. "He's not getting tired!" she shouted.
"Just hold tighter!" Sonic shouted as he zoomed out of the way of Og's left fist, only to hop away from the right. "Try and cut off his airways! Haven't you ever seen that part with the giant guy in 'The Princess Bride'?"
"This isn't a movie, Sonic!" June shrieked. "Its real-life!"
"What's your point?"
As Sora fought off Shego, Clover flipped over to stand before Drakken, who stood smugly with his hands behind his back.
"What, no fancy device, or weirdo invention?" Clover asked tauntingly.
"No, I thought I'd do this the old-fashioned way," Drakken replied, "man-to-man. Er, um, or man to woman, as it were."
Clover couldn't resist laughing. "Wait, you? Fighting? Yeah, right! In case you haven't noticed, I'm a martial-arts master with all kinds of super gadgets, and all you have is blue skin, an ugly outfit, and…" Suddenly, Clover was knocked to the ground and when she got back up she saw that it was some kind of flowery vine that appeared to be growing from Drakken's back. "…And apparently you've got plant powers nobody told me about…"
Drakken grinned triumphantly. "Indeed. How's that for flower-power?!" He laughed, but suddenly bright yellow petals grew around his head. "Oh, darn it, I thought I'd gotten rid of that!"
Danny and Jake, still held at bay by Robotnik's missiles, were beginning to get tired of flying around, and were starting to run out of flying space as the missiles began to reach farther and farther.
"I've had just about enough of this!" Danny shouted. He turned towards Robotnik at the first chance he got, and taking in a deep breath he let loose a ghostly wail which sent the missiles headed for him right back at the mech.
Robotnik shouted as his mech was rocked by the explosions, and Jake saw this as an opening to swoop in and blast the mech with a fireball. Robotnik barely managed to jump away before his invention blew up, only to be met by Danny.
"What's up, Doc?" he asked before he delivered a punch to Robotnik's jaw, which sent him to the floor unconscious. Jake landed nearby, and they turned to see Sonic and June still busy with Og.
"Need help?" Jake called.
"Nah," Sonic replied, still dodging the behemoth. "We're good!"
"Speak for yourself, you blue rat!" June shouted, still holding tightly to the ogre's throat. Finally, Og began to grow short of breath, and collapsed to the ground.
June rolled away from the ogre, panting for breath, when Sonic stood over her smiling. "Told ya it'd work," he said.
"If I weren't so tired…" June gasped, "…I would kill you…"
Sora parried all of Shego's attacks with the Keyblade, but she never seemed to tire. "You're not a bad fighter, kid," she admitted as she tried to claw Sora's chest.
"Well," Sora replied, narrowly avoiding a punch, "you're not the first crazy green woman that's tried to kill me."
"Aw, and here I was hoping I was your first." She delivered a kick that sent him staggering back, but he managed to regain his footing and raise the Keyblade before she could hit him with a blast of green energy. "But then again, I've always liked men with experience."
"Yeah? Then how about this?" Sora raised the Keyblade and brought it down hard, and Shego barely managed to block the attack with her arms, saving her from a blow to the head. But then Sora spun around, swinging the Keyblade right into her middle, and sent her flying.
Clover tried to avoid the flowery vines which were shooting out at her, but soon found her arms and legs tied together, as Drakken laughed to himself. "Well, well, well, looks like I've gained the upper hand! Any last words?"
Clover frowned, but suddenly a smile came over her face. "Yeah," she replied. "Duck."
"Duck? What kind of last word is…? Ah!" Drakken was knocked over when Shego slammed into him. They both fell to the ground, entangled in Drakken's vines.
Clover, breaking free, stood and grinned down at the two. "You know, you guys are almost a cute couple. When you're immobilized, that is."
Meanwhile, Freakshow hid nearby, watching the fighting. "Looks like its time to gracefully bow out," he said, but grinned as he took out his staff. "But, first, time to tie up some loose ends…" Silently, he headed off towards the room where Hiei was held.
"Everyone okay?" Danny asked, as they all assembled together.
"No sweat," Sonic replied, earning a glare from June. "You'd have thought Vlad would've learned by now that these guys just don't cut it."
"Oh, you'd be surprised what I've learned." At the sound of his voice, the League turned around to see Vlad walk in, wearing his new armor. "Bravo, Daniel, bravo. You and you friends have done well, but I'm afraid the game has come to an end. And I win."
"Um, are you blind, or something?" Clover asked. Then she saw his armor. "Ew, apparently you are, or you wouldn't be wearing that."
"Its over, Vlad," said Danny. "Come quietly, and nobody gets hurt."
"Oh, but Daniel," Vlad said with a smile, "Where would the fun be in that?"
"Vlad, you're a sick man and you have no powers. I don't want to fight you."
"Once again, you've reminded me why your grades were always so low. Prepare for your doom, Hero League!" Suddenly, Vlad was surrounded by the black energy rings again and transformed into his ghost form, much to Danny's shock. "Yes, Daniel, Plasmius is back in town!"
Vlad leapt into the air and landed with a thud in the middle of the League, and fired a huge wave of ecto-energy that knocked everyone over.
"As you can see," he gloated, "Robotnik was kind enough to design this suit for me. And he even gave me a few extras." Sonic, the first back on his feet, tried to zip behind Vlad to knock him down, but instead found Vlad suddenly behind him. "Like my new enhanced speed?" he asked, before he punched Sonic, sending him down to the ground.
June jumped into the air and came down to kick Vlad in the head, but he turned quicker than June expected and grabbed her foot, then threw her down to the ground. She flipped back up and tried to punch him, but he caught her fist and squeezed hard, forcing her to her knees.
"Enhanced strength, as well," Vlad sneered as June whimpered in pain.
Jake, eyes burning red, shot into the air above Vlad. "Let her go!" he shouted, and shot a jet of flame at him.
Vlad just grinned and tossed June aside before a force field formed around him, absorbing the flames. "Like my heat shield? It can absorb heat of any kind, concentrate it…" suddenly, the flame shot back at Jake, knocking him to the ground. "…And fire it back."
Next, Sora tried to attack with the Keyblade, but Vlad caught it in his hands, and an electric shock shot from them and traveled through the Keyblade into Sora, who fell unconscious to the floor. Then, Vlad reached out a hand just as Clover threw a concussion grenade and without a second thought crushed it in his hand before firing a net back at her.
Danny, the last to recover, glared at his old foe who smiled cruelly back.
"And now it ends, dear boy," said Vlad. "Finally, after all the times you've ruined my plans, and my life, I will finally have my revenge."
"I've said it before, Vlad, and I'll say it again," Danny replied. "You are, and always will be, one seriously messed up fruit loop!"
With a roar, Vlad lunged for Danny. Danny flew into the air and the two zoomed at each other like jousters, before they collided in the air. Danny punched Vlad in the gut and the jaw, and Vlad returned the favor with a kick to the chest and an ecto-blast to the face.
Finally, they broke apart again. Danny was huffing and puffing to regain his breath, but Vlad just smiled.
"Give up, yet?" he asked smugly.
"Not on your after-life!" Danny shouted back, and threw another punch. But Vlad simply went intangible and allowed Danny's fist to pass right through.
"When will you learn, child? With this suit, I am invincible!" Suddenly, however, Vlad felt an electric shock that forced hit to his hands and knees, and he suddenly returned to his human form. "Wha… what?!" he moaned. "How?!"
"That's what I'd like to know, too," said Danny, equally surprised. He heard a soft chuckle and was even more surprised when he turned around to see Robotnik walking up, holding a small remote in his hands.
"You!" Vlad hissed.
"Did I fail to mention the remote control override system I installed?" he asked.
Sonic and the others, who were just recovering again, were also slack-jawed in shock at the Robotnik's revelation. "Whoa, wait!" Sonic called. "What's Ro-butt-nik doing taking out the bad guy?"
"I suppose you're all wondering, aren't you?" Robotnik asked. "Its very simple. You see, I made an arrangement with your friend, Hiei. He made an offer I simply couldn't refuse, and I agreed to sabotage Vlad's plans."
"So it was you who warned us about the bomb?" Jake asked.
"Exactly. And when I built Vlad this suit, I also installed a few safeguards to render him harmless. I've deactivated all the suits weapons systems and effectively disabled his ghost powers again." He turned to give a cruel grin to Vlad, who glared daggers at him in return. "It was also Hiei's idea to get you to think the traitor was Ember. And you fell for it, completely."
"Wait, where is Hiei?" Clover demanded.
"Oh, not to worry, dear. I have a feeling he's doing just fine."
Meanwhile, Freakshow snuck down into the room where Hiei was held, staff at the ready, but was horrified to see only an empty chair and broken ropes.
"Oh, this is definitely not good…" he said, and started to back out of the room. But then, a sword swung out of the shadows and was held too close for comfort against his throat.
Hiei moved behind Freakshow, who trembled terribly. "What's the matter, human?" Hiei asked in his most venomous voice. "I thought you found demons fascinating. Aren't you the least bit interested in seeing first-hand how one kills its prey?"
Freakshow forced himself to laugh, though it came out more of a weak chuckle. "Y-you wouldn't really… kill me, would you? …Hiei?"
"Why don't you take a guess, Freakshow?" Freakshow swallowed nervously and clamped his eyes shut. Hiei slowly lifted his sword into the air, then brought it straight down on Freakshow's head. But, just before it struck, Hiei turned the blade so that the flat side hit, thus sparing the gothic circus master.
Freakshow turned around, dazed, and slurred "you're dethpicable…" before falling unconscious to the floor.
Hiei could only shake his head as he sheathed his sword. "I must be going soft…"
Later, the police arrived to carry all the villains away to maximum security prison. They had just loaded them all into the transport with the Hero League keeping close watch, when Drakken shouted "Curse you, Hero League! You think you're all that, but you're…!"
"SHUT UP, DRAKKEN!" the other villains shouted, and he slunk low in his seat.
Robotnik, who had given himself up willingly, was the last to be loaded up, but was allowed to stop and talk to Hiei. "You will hold up your end of the deal, I trust?" he asked.
Hiei nodded. "The money will be wired to your account as soon as possible." Robotnik nodded back, and was escorted into the transport which drove off.
Danny turned a confused look to Hiei and said "what money? I didn't think you had enough to bribe him."
"I don't," Hiei replied, "but I promised him he'd get double what Vlad was paying."
"And just how is he gonna get that money?"
Hiei just gave Danny what could have been a grin. "I trust you're still dating the Manson girl?"
"What?" Danny's eyes widened. "Oh, no! I can't! Hiei, they hate me as it is!"
As the transport drove off, Clover noticed Ember wink at Hiei through the window, and a funny look came over her face. "Hiei?" she said. "Robotnik said that you'd gotten Vlad to blame that ghost girl somehow. Exactly what went on while they had you prisoner…?"
Suddenly, Hiei became very still. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was at a loss for words. "Well… of course I had very limited options, and… well, I needed to find some way to incriminate someone so that Robotnik's and my plan wasn't discovered…"
Suddenly, Sonic began to laugh. "Oh… my… God!" he chuckled. "Looks like our favorite samurai was playing 'jail house rock' with that ghost chick!"
Hiei, turning red with anger, drew his sword and rushed after Sonic, who ran away at top speed. "Get back here, rodent!"
"Hey!" Clover called and ran after them. "I want an answer!"
Danny, Jake and June laughed, but then Jake turned to Danny. "So, what exactly do you think Robotnik wanted to do with that money, anyway?" Danny could only shrug.
Later, in his cell, Vlad paced around, wincing as though in pain. He still wore a smaller, lighter version of his armor under his clothes. And while this version didn't have all those weapons or allow him the use of his ghost powers, it did keep his disease in check. But it wasn't the disease that caused him pain; it was the blaring sound of opera music coming from the next cell.
"I'll get you for this, Ivo!" he shouted, pounding on the wall. "I swear, you'll pay for this!"
Robotnik didn't hear. He just sighed contentedly and sat back as he watched the opera come to a close on his television.
"Thank you for watching," the announcer said. "Tonight's program was made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and viewers like you…"
Robotnik sighed again, and placed his hands behind his head. "I do so enjoy the opera…"
The End
Next time on Hero League…
"You know THE Team Possible?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, we go way back," Jake replied. "We worked together years ago, and we've been friends ever since."
---
"I'm sorry it had to end this way, Mr. Possible," Sevarius' voice said over the speaker, as Ron looked around for an escape. "But unfortunately, you now know too much about my experiments. Rest assured, your death will not be in vain, but will be of the greatest contribution to science! And don't worry, I'll be sure to give your dear Kimberly your regards."
Just then, a strange blue gas filled the chamber, and Ron began to cough. What am I gonna do… ? he thought, just before he blacked out.
---
Kim brought her car to a stop and got out to see what all the commotion was about. But what she saw as the smoke cleared was a terrible shock. For standing there was an all-too familiar figure, his shirt torn, his hair disheveled, and an odd blue aura around him as he stood in the middle of the wreckage. She wanted to run to him, but then he looked at her, his eyes glowing bright blue, and he rushed off into the night. Kim hit her knees, as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Ron…"
---
Jake turned with a look of sadness to the others, and shook his head. "I don't know how I can do this…" he said. "I don't know how I can force myself to bring down one of my best friends…"
---
Next time:
Hero League 3: Unstoppable.