TOON WARS LEGACY

VENOMOUS

Episode 13 - Bells

Everywhere, unconscious beings were slowly regaining their strength and rising up; albeit with help from the Toon Force. Danny and Jenny were tended by the Watterson clones along with Penny and Carrie while MaBarnacle and Simone applied their potions to Cattus and Nyando's bruises. While limping around the ruins of the town, covering the gash in his chest, Laserblast searched for Carol and their son, first stumbling upon Boxman sat against their ship and covering his missing eye.

"Took ya long enough," the short one snarked.

Laserblast remarked, "Let's just say I was occupied," just when his arm began to spill.

"Mutation?"

"Mutation."

"Wouldn't be a first," Boxman replied as a Gumball clone brought ice and an eyepatch.

Behind Laserblast, Tai returned with another ice pack to give to the Professor, which he applied to the scar on his face. Wincing from the pain, Venomous bowed, "Thank you, Tai."

The neko nodded and wandered back to the awakening crowd. Seeing stretchers being delivered by carrier shuttles, the Professor felt compelled to head in their direction towards Gar's. Stunned, he stood motionless as his eyes quickly drew towards K.O.'s body being examined by Dendy, who performed CPR even with an arm encased in a cast.

"K.O.!"

His father ran towards him and got on his knees, resisting the urge to intervene as Dendy was about to administer a potion to her husband's bandaged face.

"Do not worry," she assured him. "As terrible as it is, the healing agent is working just fine. He should be 75% healed in 3 seconds."

And as predicted, K.O.'s skin began to heal ever more slowly and his bandages could be removed. Holding his head, Dendy kissed him and was met by a hug from him as he opened his eyes to see hers and his father's.

"Oh, hey gorgeous," he said to Dendy. "Where were you the whole time…?"

Straightening her goggles, she smirked, "By the sound of it, it seems you may have lost a number of brain cells from head trauma."

K.O.'s eyes rotated to Venomous, "Thanks for being my hero again, Dad."

Surprised, Laserblast's eyebrows rose and his cheeks blushed. All he could do was grasp his son's hand and bow.

"You're welcome," he said before departing for the streets.

Just across what used to be the plaza's parking lot, Winnie, as well as Nanini joined Fink in a kiss while holding each other. Just their way of celebrating, Venomous thought as he took notice of Carol rubbing an ice pack on Mr. Gar's leg, sitting on his stretcher, with Sandy taking an interview by newscasters near them. Laserblast thought about joining them but he stopped himself. He looked at his mangled limb and pictured only his Shadowy self laughing back at him. Even now his influence could be felt just by looking at all the people being carried away and healed.

Beside him, Boxman, now with a patch over his missing eye, reflected, "Ah, the luster! I was wondering when I wouldn't have to see annoying, tall, dark and gruesome and his cronies again!"

He pat Laserblast on the back. "Imagine if his plan had worked and we'd have to deal with an army of Black Hats!"

"Technically it wouldn't be a first since the virus fiasco," his husband cocked a shoulder. "But we aren't done yet."

"What's there to do besides clearing your name?"

Not a single sound was heard from Laserblast as he looked at Boxman deeply. Realizing what he means, the short one sighed, "Oh... Guess I'd better prepare for the party then!"

"Thanks hun."

Squeeing, Boxman blushed as he ran off, "Ooohohohoho!"

While he left to visit his robots putting themselves together and celebrating with their father, Turbo reunited with his Dad but didn't wear a smile. His eyebrows dropped and he told him, "Dad...its over. Everyone knows what you've been up to… Now what?"

"I'm proud of you, son."

"...You sure you don't wanna tell your real kid that?"

Laserblast looked up to his son's face and put his hand on his chest. "You've proved yourself to be everything I couldn't out there. You've kept a level head when no one else could. You're a strong leader, you've got a strong body, you care for others... That's what being a hero is like even if you don't have the powers to back it up."

"Well...thanks," Turbo shrugged. "But you don't usually say that unless it's serious. What is it?"

"I, uh…didn't wanna say this in front of KO and Fink."

While commotion was brewing around them, masking their conversation, Turbo looked even more concerned than when he first spoke. He folded his arms and nodded quickly, trying to keep his sight on his Dad.

"Ok... Sucks to have to hear you say it, but it's gotta be done. You uh...you'd better keep tying those loose ends before you go."

"Thank you Son."

"It's what I do, Pops," he said before hugging Laserblast one last time.

Elsewhere, Enid and Radicles were being carried via stretcher to the Irken transports where the medical equipment was stored. Beside them were Foxtail, Rippie, and Elodie still unconscious but hooked to a vital display. Tragically, the deceased were brought to a different ship in front of them, with Potato holding back tears seeing friends among them.

Carol attended the duo who were quickly panicked at the sight of the fallen, unable to move from their injuries.

"Carol," Enid began to speak, "Please tell me K.O.'s ok."

"He's safe, Enid," she assured her. "Black Hat's gone…thanks to my ex of all people."

"We almost killed your son," Radicles whimpered.

"It wasn't your fault. And you're not alone. Everyone's got a taste of what K.O.'s been through."

Enid chuckled, "Definitely screamed adolescence to me."

Near their carrier, Nyando spoke to Prohyas and Vambre whose magiswords were decompiled and put in their pouches.

"You two were insane back 'dere!

"We know, chum," Prohyas said with pride. "We know.

Vambre quickly said, "Don't jinx it, Prohyas! He probably has a comeback for us."

"Why would I," Nyando asked. "That was genuinely cool! I NEVER see ya do stuff like that!"

"Wait, ya didn't think we were cool before," Prohyas wondered.

"Eh, 5/10."

Taking a seat against a boulder, Venomous took to applying a cast over his arm. Shadowy Fink arrived and sat next to him to listen.

"It's funny," her step father began to say. "Black Hat said this was meant for Mao Mao yet he circled back to me. Hmhm... I made some Hell of an impression on him."

"You always underestimate the impression you make on everyone to be frank," she remarked.

He asked her, "Do you ever wonder how things could've been if I didn't hide in that sewer? Like if I was honest and stayed with my team?"

"Well for one, you wouldn't have met me. And second, we might not have had folks like K.O. or Turbo running around."

"…I guess not. Fink…"

"You don't have to tell me," she interrupted. "I know you're proud."

"That's not it. And yes, I am, but… Well… I think I've got a business proposition."

The mayor of Toon City, the more mature version of Timmy Turner, was nearly finished counting the piles of money on his office desk dumped by Anais Watterson and Tai. Shadowy Fink was there watching along with Turbo who patiently waited on the estimation.

Turner flipped through the cash, "55 million, 756 thousand, 488 dollars…"

As he wrapped up, Anais handed him pocket change and finished his total.

"32 cents." He took the mallet next to him and tapped it once. "Congratulations! The Drive Yards are yours!"

"Wwaaatii," Tai cheered!

"AAAAAAH," Fink screamed and kissed Anais! "We're going to be rich!"

"We already are," said the rabbit rubbing Shadowy's cheek.

Turbo smirked and folded his arms, "So you've planned this business transaction from the beginning?"

"Of course," said the rat. "Granted, I didn't expect the CEO to remove himself from his trial of existence, but everything still fell into place! Now every aspect of the company belongs to us. Which means whatever is outsourced to Voxmore, the Toon Force, and perhaps less-than-heroic buyers would have to come from our facilities."

Future Timmy leaned forward, "If that's the case, then that means Black Hat's gonna have a harder time getting his resources from outside his circle. Or whatever's left of it anyway."

"I also confess Tai was hired to watch over Venomous' progress from a safe distance until the time was right."

"I'd say it turned out ok," Turbo winked at the neko.

Anais asked, "Didn't your step father say he had a business proposition as well?"

"He did," said Fink. "It's to do with the Toon Force and Voxmore. He wanted me to come to you first, Turner. With P.O.I.N.T. in shambles, there's plenty of room to rebuild."

"How exactly?"

"By putting both companies under one roof, we could introduce new heroes to the world and keep a good balance of power going. The Toon Force just works in ways that P.O.I.N.T. - and whatever alliance exists in Black Hat's world - doesn't. So its of Venomous' belief that we can unite them to prevent another Black Hat or Glorb situation. After all, you saw what happened when they acted alone these past months. And while Voxmore IS a villain's provider, with it under the TF brand, the BH organization will be powerless to seize it."

Future Timmy stroked his chin and swiveled to the office window. "That's an interesting prospect, I won't lie. I just hope your old man is willing to sell a bad guy's work to the good ones."

"If he wasn't, he wouldn't have informed me."

"In any case, I'll reach out to the rest of the council about it. Personally, I think it sounds a little bit iffy considering Voxmore is a villain's brand. But considering just about every new evildoer in your world is unaffiliated and you and your father are the only shareholders left, this could be a good deal."

Anais clapped, "Well in the meantime, I say we celebrate our transaction. Any drinks? Purple Flurp or a fine wine?"

Timmy chuckled as he reached into the cooler under his table, "Well, I don't drink the latter, but I've got plenty of the former right here."

For the moment when she grabbed a glass, Shadowy Fink looked at Turbo who tilted his head, wordlessly asking what's on her mind.

"Hm... I've been thinking of adding a subsidiary for new products…"

She tapped her drink with everyone else in a toast. "CosTech! Hahahahaha!"

Dr. Flug made haste for the hidden labs of Black Hat Island. Or rather, one of two island. Inside, he ran for the cloning bays where nearly a hundred identical bodies of his master were stored, fully clothed and exactly the same as before his imprisonment thanks to Mao Mao. A few Hat Bot guards accompanied the Doctor, standing close by.

"These bodies still don't have full access to Black Hat's power like the last one. But they'll have to do."

Suddenly, the robots were disabled. A control switch pressed by Vilgax from the shadows was crushed and the alien towered over the trembling scientist.

"Yes, this is a mighty fine fortress for one such as your leader," said Vilgax. "He should have transferred his consciousness into one of these bodies by now."

He grabbed one of the Hat Bot's wrist cannons and charged it.

"And it will be the last one he ever gets."

With the press of a button, the gun began to zap a continuous beam through the many vats in the room! Two of them exploded near Flug, and with the bodies fallen next to him, he began to drag them away from the chaos behind. Through a hidden door in the room, he brought the two clones into an escape pod, which he jumped into and launched before Vilgax could shoot them down! Even with two of Black Hat having escaped, the warmonger had atomized all the others and admired his work.

Seeing the Hat Bot guards still intact and with the rest of the island at his disposal, he pondered, "Perhaps his promise of an army had truth in it after all…"

It begins to rain in Rhyboflaven as Laserblast, back in his old outfit wearing a heavy cast over his mangled arm and bandages over the scars on his face, stood silent on one of the castle balconies. He looked up at the cloudy skies thinking to himself. But somewhere in the sounds of the natural shower, there were church bells ringing. Perhaps his imagination from the funerals being held on his world. Two more sounds, footsteps, drew closer to him. But he didn't turn around. Cattus wasn't in full attire this time; now missing the top of his royal get-up wearing only an undershirt.

Without looking, the Professor said, "You hear it, don't you? "

Indoors, one of the highest members of the Toon Force, Danny, visited the training rooms Venomous and Cosma frequently visited for the few months they spent. Inside, the lizard's original attire was kept folded and tidied up by Bimm, who gave it to Potato next to her.

"I promise Bimm. I'll honor her and Colewort by fighting evildoers like Black Hat no matter what."

Nearby, Danny remarked about the room and recent events, "So this is what Venomous was up to… Collar me impressed."

Entering the room, Familiar and Nyando visited Phantom.

"I'll tell ya, watching V-Man get his non-existed butt kicked by Dad and Simone never gets old," said the prince.

Familiar asked Danny, "You're not upset about Cattus stretching the truth about his trainees?"

"Not really," Fenton said. "I kinda figured he was involved with Venomous' agenda from the beginning. I just didn't have solid proof until we got to see his uniform."

"So what's this mean for Professor?"

"Personally - and just cause he branded himself an evildoer - I don't think we should let him off the hook entirely. Sure, he stopped a disaster. But he's still responsible for that Shadowy Incident and giving Catra a power boost. If he isn't arrested, he'd probably be under house arrest, and we all know what he'd do then."

"Yeah, I know he'll work his way out of it somehow," Familiar nodded. "Or at least operate behind the scenes. Still, at least he wouldn't have to stay like that for too long."

Nyando wondered, "Would he even accept it?"

"He hasn't said he wouldn't. Plus he's been handling his affairs a lot lately. I think he wants to hold a press conference at Voxmore later this week."

The day of, Venomous drove down the scenic routes of town. He slowly rode through the beachside looking out at the sun now that the skies were clear as day on his world. He could see himself building a sandcastle with a young Fink while Boxman's robots were enjoying themselves nearby.

In the main streets, he pictured himself in the old days battling mechs with Carol. And in the skies, he saw their son making huge leaps in the air, smiling.

"It seems your journey has come to an end, Professor," Cattus previously told him. "Unfortunately, my task to prosecute you still holds true."

As Laserblast got near the Voxmore lot, crowded by civilians and members of P.O.I.N.T. and the Toon Force, he parked his car towards the side entrance and put on his jacket as he got out.

"Now that the Republic is aware of your presence, it would only be a matter of time before you're imprisoned for your crimes. And I know it's hardly a good living after all you've done in the short time we've had."

Instead of going inside, he walked towards the front to the podium where Boxman was waiting.

"Venomous…Laserblast…in honor of Cosma, you are no longer my acolyte, but my friend. It has been a wonderful run!"

As both Professor and Boxman wrapped up their speech to the press who pried their mics close to the stage, they announced,

"And so, we're pleased to announce that…"

"We'll be donating all of Boxmore to Lakewood Plaza and the Toon Republic," Boxman finished.

Among the masses, Jimmy, K.O., and Carol were all stunned at the business move. Neutron in particular raised an eyebrow and K.O., Enid, and Radicles' eyes lit up.

With the audience rambling amongst themselves and cameras flashing, Laserblast faced Boxman.

"You can head out while I handle the rest."

"Are you kidding? I wanna enjoy the fireworks too," said Boxman. "Let's do it!"

While the two head back in the large facility, Enid commented, "I can't believe they're actually doing it!"

"Yeah," Rad chuckled. "All these years of them fighting us and we can all chillax at their place."

But K.O. said nothing. His mother asked, "You ok sport?"

"Since I visited the place before, I thought we'd never get this far…"

"I'm just thrilled your father finally found himself. Even if it took decades to get here."

As the conversations continued for a few minutes, Radicles started asking, "Say, they're taking an awful long time, aren't they?"

" Just a little," said K.O. "But they said they left the contract in their office. I'm sure it's nothing to…"

BAAAANG

The entrance bursts into flames and the sides of the facility start combusting! The ceiling and the walls immediately began to crumble as the crowd panicked and scurried away from the chaos! With the blasts detonating the pavement around the building, all everyone could do was watch until some of the smoke cleared.

K.O. called out, "DAD…?!"

"Venom," Carol almost ran in before she stopped herself, cocking a smirk. "Wait, I know what's going on. It's just another way to fake his death and get away from prosecution. Besides, he wouldn't risk Boxman's life."

"Hey, yeah!"

Carol was the first to enter, making sure to avoid the flames burning the rubble next to her. She cleared the debris at the entrance looking for clues, and soon came across Venomous' jacket.

"See? He's perfectly fiiiiiAAAAAAAAGH!"

Everyone froze and K.O. ran up to his mother at what she was seeing. Enid and Radicles almost stepped in to intervene but they stopped themselves. Their friend got on his knees and sighed, "Dad… No…"