Episode 4 - Syndicate

Back at another secure location familiar to Cattus outside the main kingdom of Lyvsheria, Shadowy Fink walked with her former boss along a path to an old hangar.

She explained, "I took some time to think over what you said about a base, boss. But I feel that'd be stretching it a little. If someone were to find you through data breaches or just stumbling in the wrong place, all your work would be easy pickings."

Venomous admitted as much. "It's true. That was how my own team found my secret lab back in P.O.I.N.T.'s glory days."

"That's why I've decided to go mobile."

The hatch doors to the warehouse opened where they were met by the sight of a sizeable Irken vessel carefully being reconstructed from the sides and the front. It had been visibly damaged from a previous battle. And it seems Sandy Cheeks the squirrel and Entrapta the engineer had taken the task of rebuilding it.

"Howdy, Professor," the squirrel waved!

"Take a look at our handy work," said Entrapta, grabbing a wrench with her long ponytail. "Isn't it beautiful?!"

Nearly speechless, Venomous simply said, "It's...exceptional."

"I salvaged it from the hero/villain fight at the big city," the alternate Fink mentioned. "No need to waste it when it's free."

"Fink, you've made your old man proud," said her old boss. "But how can I be sure this is under the radar?"

"Cause my lips are sealed," Entrapta said.

Sandy added, "Plus, makin' stealth ships ain't really somethin' the Toon Force're used to havin' these days when they got ghosts turnin' things intangible."

"Stealth," Venomous smirked. "That's even better. How much do you all want in return?"

"Nothing," said Fink. "I just want you to do some damage again."

"I'm good," Entrapta replied. "I just like building things!"

Sandy stepped closer to the professor. "An' I can join yer crew, Venomous. I can be your engineer in case somethin' breaks down like a Cadillac hittin' 60 on a freeway. That'd be more than enough to satisfy me."

"Welcome aboard," the Professor tipped. "Oh, and if you're here, does this mean the sponge is joining you?"

The squirrel shook, "Nah, just me. He's too old for this now that the timeline's been messed with enough."

"What about Catra's look-alike? She spotted me at the castle months ago."

Entrapta quickly answered, "She knows, but it's our little secret. We think it's funny."

"Then let's keep it that way."

Venomous' phone rang and Turbo dialed on the other end.

"Someone else from Lakewood I know has plenty of skills in piloting huge ships like what Fink showed me. I'm headed to 'em."

Venomous agreed, "Do it. That'd be fantastic cause, honestly, I'm a good driver but not a good pilot. That's more of Box…"

He paused and remembered his partner. The proud owner of Boxmore. "Boxman! All this time I've been training and I completely forgot about him!"

"You'd better go check on him less he suffers from a migraine trying to look for you like he used to," said the other Fink.

"Agreed. Let me know if you find anyone else. Sandy, if you and Entrapta wanna add more mods to the ship, be my guest. But keep this to yourselves. No one else needs to know what we're up to."

Sandra tipped, "Can do, Big Boss."

Entrapta folded her arms and grabbed her tools with her hair. "Trust me. I haven't even shown you the ship's final form."

It was on the deserted streets away from the floating P.O.I.N.T. island and Lakewood Plaza where a young member of Planet X was speeding on her fruit-colored motorcycle. A rebellious one named Nanini who previously attended the same class as K.O. and Dendy. She knew the celebration after graduating wasn't going to last long. She was more of a lone wolf, and heroes as of now haven't been her style.

As she drew closer to the sandy plains on a cloudy day, she put on breaks seeing Turbo stood firmly in the middle of the road, tall enough to flatten her with one stomp! She removed her helmet and yelled, "Hey, what're you doing?! Out the way big guy!"

Turbo motioned with his hands, "It's me, Nanini! Don'cha recognize my skin tone and wicked hairdo?"

"No. You look more like K.O.'s edgier half."

"I AM," he humorously shouted.

"Huh. Guess K.O.'s got himself a big brother…" She stopped thinking to herself for the moment and continued, "Well whaddya want? I'm kinda in the middle of steal- renting a motorcycle."

"You remember Venomous?"

"How could I not? He's pretty much the reason I'm on the run because anything even remotely evil would land me in jail."

Turbo nodded, "Well he wants to stop all that and give you the chance to drive something bigger. A stealth ship."

The alien woman paused to consider the circumstances. "He wants me to pilot a ship for him? Sounds desperate to me. Besides, he can ask someone from the Toon Force to help him out."

"He can't. Y'know what'll happen to him if word gets out of what he's doing against Black Hat."

"That evil dude from the Toon City thing?"

The titan nodded, "Yep. The law stepping in means jail time for both of 'em. Plus more restrictions on Lakewood and Boxmore, meaning YOU.

Nanini folded her arms. "Then what's in it for me apart from my freedom?"

"You know how much Dad's got in his wallet? Ask him. He'll give you hundred thousands if you let him."

"Well…money's not exactly what I had in mind. But I'll come with. Now let's get outta here before the feds show up."

TOO LATE!

Like lightning, several P.O.I.N.T. soldiers and graduate heroes descended from the grey sky surrounding the pair. Punching Judy, Trudy, and even Enid took positions along with the regular guards expecting to fight when they noticed Turbo's familiar face.

"T.K.O…?"

He nodded, "Sup Enid?"

"But…I thought you and K.O. were in sync with each other."

Turbo was stunned hearing Enid say that. "He didn't tell you about me…?!" Comedically, he made a fake sniff. "I'm hurt…"

Judy broke the heart-to-heart by getting between them. "Hate to interrupt the get-together, but I think someone's under arrest for stealing Drupe's bike."

"I wasn't stealing it," Nanini pestered. "I'm just borrowing it for a few days."

Turbo quietly created an aura around his hands in preparation to strike back.

"You gals can keep the bike. But she's mine."

Rather than attacking directly, he threw his fists into the ground creating a shockwave that blew the heroes back! While they were distracted, he grabbed Nanini and teleported off to nowhere with her in tow. As Enid recovered, she looked at the unoccupied motorcycle and the rest of her surroundings trying to work out what just happened. She was never informed of a twin of K.O. existing outside his subconscious, nor the fact that he is so calm compared to when he previously possessed K.O.'s body. Neither of these added up…

Boxman remained in his cabin waiting for Venomous to return for a fairly long time now. Ever since the rise of Shadowy Figure, he hasn't forgiven himself like his son has for his Turbonic half. The former professional supervillain has messaged him every now and then to see if he was alright. But he would get no response. Only Fink would update him on his whereabouts from the last she spoke to him, yet this didn't add up to him. Why would the Professor, of all people, be on the run and neglect to tell him about it? Is he afraid of the Toon Force taking him in too or just the crime circuit?

Ding-Dong

He was just getting some tea from the kettle when he heard the doorbell ring. Grabbing his mug, he walked over to the front door, looked out and saw none other than Venomous himself! To his surprise, he dropped his drink and clapped!

"There you are, Venny! Where've you…"

That moment, he saw the look on his boyfriend's face and the suit he was wearing along with Cosma obscuring her suit with her dark cape. Quietly, the Professor took a knee and bowed his head while the alien replied, "Hey Box-Round!"

He fainted…

Minutes had passed after Boxman collapsed at his doorstep. Venomous even grabbed more tea for him and sat next to him as he was asked question after question for everything that's transpired. Both the Professor and Cosma explained how Black Hat was hunting them down and that the Mini-Toon War had escalated to an alarming degree to the point where the Toon Force may need to engage the planet. Once Lyvsheria and Cattus the Ultimate were brought up, it became clear to Boxman the scope of the situation.

"So that's where you've been this whole time, huh?"

Venomous bowed, "Yes… And I'm worried that's where you're better off staying if things go the way I'm predicting."

Boxman reached and placed his clawed hand on the One Blade's shoulder. "Venom, honey, I can fend for myself. It's you I'm worried about. You've put yourself up to a pretty huge deal this time."

He felt the man's arm and felt a new bulk that he hadn't felt on him before.

"And I can tell you've got the strength for it. Tell me, have you been lifting weights?"

"Cattus forced me to," said the Professor. "Point is, I'm gonna be taking matters into my own hands to try and make things right. I've hurt both heroes and villains before, and now I've gotta save them before they destroy themselves or get annihilated by something of my design. Black Hat's in charge of Shadowy's underworld now, and I can't have him continue his work."

Boxman grinned, "And I know you can do it, Venomous. I've never seen this spark in you before. All I can say is, don't waste it."

He was met with an equally warm smile from his partner. "Thanks Boxman. But…I really do think you should head to Rhyboflaven for now. Black Hat already has forces gathering around the universe, and there's no telling how many he plans on targeting to get to me."

"I've got a better idea. Why don't I join your crew instead? After all, you need a destruction buddy."

"I'd ask, but I already got Cosma. Still, if we need you, I'll let you know. Otherwise, I could really use you and Cattus to keep me informed of what's going on."

"Not exactly what I was aiming for, but whatever." Boxman shook Venomous' hand. "It's a deal!"

Beside them closer to the door, Cosma began to sniffle and shed a tear seeing the two men bond again.

She expressed joy when she said, "You're so cute together. Oh my God!"

Confused, Boxman asked, "Hey, how come she isn't angry at me for existing anymore? And what's with the ditziness?"

"She's…in good spirits as of late," said the One Blade.

"…I can live with that."

At the bodega, it seemed that things have finally calmed down in Lakewood. At least for a while. K.O. had been speaking with his mother and Radicles while on break trying to calm his nerves after being asked many things. "What's the strongest gear you have? How come you're not out there with us? Is everything ok?" He spilled all this to those in the room and they were shocked over how bothered he was about this since he's normally able to answer very quickly and join the fun without hesitation. But he's not a kid anymore. He's thinking of a lot more complex topics now than he has in the past.

"Yeah, business is good and all, but what's the point when everyone's just gonna kill each other," K.O. moped.

"Truth be told, I never really thought of that as heroes evolved," his mom said. "I know it's hard at first, but I get the feeling, like always, it's gonna get better step by step."

"Yeah, she's right," said Radicles washing his hands. "Folks in Rhyboflaven and Amity are always improving somewhere, and it usually turns out great at the end! Maybe it's just a natural part of life. Let it sliiiiide."

K.O. shrugged, "Well…maybe you've got a point. It's just, the way everyone's approaching things bugs me…"

He was ready to add to his point when Enid burst into the room set on speaking to him with, "I just saw a copy of the edgy you. Who was that?"

He darted, "You found Turbo?!"

"Who," Radicles wondered.

Carol was surprised and asked, "You never told them about him?"

K.O. tried to make light of it and crack a nervous grin when he answered, "I guess not…"

"I thought it was just Fink who had an alternate, not you," said Enid.

"Well…uh…it's complicated but that guy was a clone of my Turbo half when the war ended. Timeline stuff happened."

"How come you didn't say anything?"

K.O nearly fumbled his words, "Well… He's a nice guy, but just the thought of him being closer to Venomous irks me…"

"Don'cha mean Shadowy," asked Radicles.

"Same dude," his friend said back with a sigh.

Carol gave her input knowing how Turbo was when they last saw each other. "I'm not a fan of your father either, but I wouldn't circle your brother out like that, sport. Not even Fink. Come to think of it, I never spoke with her at all, have I?"

"Not like a one-on-one," K.O. clarified to her. "Why would you wanna talk to her though? She's evil. Then again, all she does is compete in gaming tournaments these days since Dad's not around. Kinda wonder if she or her other self's looking for him."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were hiding him on some island or something," Radicles joked.

"Could be."

"Just don't let your father get to you like he did everyone else," Carol said to her son. "We'll get him someday, but right now, we've gotta worry about pulling ourselves together."

K.O. nodded, "You're right… Someday I'll see him…which really sucks to say."

"I know hun. Believe me, I know…"