Episode 6 - Drive
The investigation at the Ghoul School came up empty after two days worth of examination on behalf of the Toon Force. Venomous was in the clear for his next task, returning to Castle Rhyboflaven to hear from either Boxman or Cattus on the subject of his next move. Boxman already left the throne room, having informed the king of important business when Venomous arrived and knelt down.
"If you say 'some man you've got there', I'll end you," the One Blade grunted.
Cattus began to laugh, "Hohoho! Very well. I'm glad you could make it Professor. Lord Boxman was a great help when it came to uncovering some of Black Hat's plans. And it seems there are strange dealings going around at the Drive Yards."
"What kind of deals?"
From the corner of his eye, Venomous spotted two paws poking out of the shadows near him. A half-dressed Bimm wearing only her braw and a torn skirt strut towards Cattus with a seductive smirk, taking a seat on his legs and feeling his armored shoulders while staring directly into his eyes. As if none of this was happening in front of them, Cattus continued his exchange with Venomous.
"Unusual parts for what could be a weapon are being purchased by an anonymous source." Cattus felt the strand of Bimm's hair to the side. "Normally, EDY would have the Toon Republic informed about this."
Trying to ignore the sight but sweating in the process, Venomous replied, "But they're not doing it for some reason, are they?"
"I have a fairly rough idea of what this could be leading towards, Professor. However, I find it best to investigate with caution. This could be nothing special at all, or something far greater than we imagined it'd be. If the latter is true, there maybe a chance we can stop it."
Venomous rose up. "Alright. I'll leave you two lovebirds to your business."
And indeed he did so as Cattus and Bimm embraced the second the door shut behind the Professor.
Out of boredom, Shadowy Fink began playing a game on her office desktop. She was multitasking, looking at one window displaying the side-scroller and the other detailing business emails concerning a recent investment in Gem technology. This nearly caught her attention since there was much political discourse surrounding Gems and their leadership, with many alien races, including Planet X and the worlds Ben Tennyson has visited, prosecuting the Diamonds for their crimes. It's all boring stuff for Fink's liking.
Next to her was Robotgirl drawing something in a notebook with crayon, finishing the sketch to show to her boss.
"Look Ms. Fink," She said holding up the art.
Seeing the stick figure doodle of herself and the robots, this variant of Fink almost would have shed a tear seeing it. She grinned very naturally and paused her session to give Robotgirl a firm hug.
"Thank you Robotgirl."
Shortly, the android's counterpart, Robotboy, returned from outside the room to speak to the pair with something interesting for Fink.
"Ms. Fink, we have a visitor," he said. "It is you."
"Me," she replied with excitement. "What a surprise! She can come in. You two best head out though. I feel like she'd get antsy seeing more robots staring her down."
The metal duo responded with a bow and exited like rockets through the open window. Fink was ready to return to work when she noticed the notebook still next to her and began to call out.
"Robotgirl, you forgot.. Um. Ah, you'll be back. I'll just hold it."
She quietly slipped the book in her desk drawer and returned to focus on her tasks. But just above her view, she noticed Lincoln entering the room facing down to the floor with his hands in his pockets. His wrists adorn purple spiked cuffs and he seemed to frown, not out of grief but in anger.
Annoyed, Shadowy Fink said, "Lincoln, you're not Fink. Get outta here!"
No answer. He continued to stare at the ground perfectly still.
"Lincoln…?"
FLASH
Lincoln shot out a laser from his mouth so fast Shadowy Fink instinctively flipped her desk and hid behind cover! She kicked it from the back, sending it smashing into her employee against the door! Suddenly, Clyde, AJ, and Tommy Pickles burst through the walls sporting spiked cuffs and a purple hue. They claw at the floors ready to attack the mouse when they're abruptly blown away by the prime version of her arriving behind them!
She called out, "FINK," and had to be on her guard as two more workers, Erin and Apple, broke through the rubble about to punch her! Shadowy Fink shot at them to save her counterpart and the two of them combined their powers to unleash a large wave of energy across the office! They blasted it so quickly they severed the foundation of the roof of the building causing it to perfectly slide down and collapse to the streets below! Fortunately, the side it shattered on was an empty lot close to the complex.
Just when they thought they got them all, Lincoln recovered and backhanded Fink away, aiming for her Shadowy self as he shot her with a heat beam onto the floor! He continued to rapidly punch at her, which she guards with her arms though barely as the man started to move faster and jittery! Eventually, she let him attack long enough to examine the physical changes before she kicked him in the groin! He was dazed so much, the regular Fink ran over and slammed his forehead into an exposed steel beam over and over until he finally collapsed asleep.
Shadowy Fink flexed her hand at the sight of unconscious workers and rubble and scowled. "Urgh… You're all fired! Thanks other me."
"The heck was all that for," asked the other one. "And when did Lincoln get moves like that?"
"Probably another attempt by Black Hat to foil my plans. What're you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Vaguely."
Fink sighed, "I'm lookin' for boss. He hasn't said a word to me in months and I know you've got something to do with it. Besides, everyone's looking for him and you know your way around. So spill the tea!"
"Well it sure took ya long enough. You just missed the part where Venomous was forming a Syndicate to stop whatever Black Hat's doing this time."
Fink was stunned and her eyes lit up with confusion and fury demanding to know, "Boss has a new team and didn't invite me?!"
Cracking her neck, her alternate self said, "Out of fear of a situation like this, no. Plus if the Toon Force were to find out where he is, they'd definitely turn him in. I mean, I thought that much would've come to mind by now."
Slightly upset, Fink asked her sincerely, "But he still would've said something, would he?"
Shadowy smiled, "Why don't you go see him and find out? Head to Enterra Drive Yards and search for him at the main complex. I'm sure you'll find your way around because...I am you."
"Yeah, in name only," Fink said back. "You sound more like the Professor. And you're still wearing the suit of his stupid alter ego."
"Heheh," she chuckled. "There's nothing like rubbing in how much better you are than adorning what belonged to your enemies. Now hurry up before stepdad gets there."
"Hmph," Fink scoffed as she exited the room. On her way out, Noville, one of Shadowy's employees, happened by and was interrupted by his boss.
"Noville…"
"Oh! Yes, Ms. Fink?"
"I'm promoting you to lead manager. Your first order of business is sweeping the fires here, who you can rehire in about a week once we figure out what to do with the roof."
"Oh, thank you Ma'am," he bowed as he grabbed his broom and proceeded to brush the unconscious workers out. The moment her prime self exited through the elevator, Fink checked her drawer for Robotgirl's notebook. She flipped through the pages to check for damage and found none.
She smiled teary-eyed at the drawing and said to herself, "They really know how to play with my emotions..."
The Venomous Syndicate were greeted by a busy sight indeed. The Drive Yards, a massive space manufacturing corporation, was stationed on a planet with a series of networking rings shaped like gears. These sprawling platforms contained the factories that produced whatever wares the Toon Force or other organizations required from the old Toybots to the salvaged parts for Cyber Catra.
"Getting closer," said Nanini piloting the Irken carrier. "Good thing I have clearance at the first gate, but the rest is the fun part."
"So what's so special about this place," Winnie asked Turbo.
"They're the biggest manufacturing company in the universe," he explained. "If Black Hat wants something done, they'll do it in a heartbeat. Doesn't matter if you're good or evil either."
Suddenly on Venomous' communications, another voice spoke through from the castle of Rhyboflaven. Familiar radioed, "Hey, this is Venomous, right? If the Chairman's been working with Black Hat, he's gonna be paranoid. Security's buffed. I'm gonna try and distract him with a phone call while you figure out how to get in."
"Thanks Fam," the Professor said.
Boxman chimed in from the same frequency, "Looks like my sources were right this time, weren't they?"
"How exactly are you getting this information, Boxman? Getting answers from anyone without drawing suspicion isn't easy."
"Oh y'know. Just a bit of convincing from Nyando and word of mouth from someone who happens to know a lot about our fellow top hat-wearing friend. Although…gotta say…she sure could use some sunlight."
"Penumbra?"
"DAMMIT, I mean yes," Boxman calmed. "She asked me to keep it confidential."
Venomous shrugged, "Well, she sure won't need to worry at the rate we're going. I know Cattus is sure gonna remind me when I get back. God, I love him but he scares me sometimes…"
"Ok, now I'm more confused," Winnie swerved. "You're both supervillains but ya actually like Cattus?"
"Winnie, let me give you a little background."
The werewolf brought her chair closer and listened in along with Sandy in her yellow and black striped suit and Nanini next to her.
"Back in the war, there was a top secret division of the Toon Force called ECTO-Five. It was the name of a formula for temporarily getting ghost powers and doubled as a code for a team designed for specials ops. Even though they were villains, the Syndicate were a threat to my investment in Boxmore since they were targeting everyone. So I personally joined the secret Toon Force to provide Intel on the criminal underworld... And because I had nothing better to do after nuking my lab in a...freak experiment."
Years ago, both Venomous and Fink were in the middle of an experiment with chemicals the two were excited about. They cheekily used a sample on a glorb that immediately combusted on contact with but a single drop and nuked the whole lab!
"Yeah... I have a bad habit of doing that. Anyway, Cattus and I happened to be on the same team despite him being one of the leaders of the head organization. Obviously there was concern of me plotting something against them. But I played along and Cattus worked closely with me whenever we were deployed."
One such mission involved Venomous returning to the abandoned CN City where a Syndicate base was held. It contained hidden biotech projects labeled "BorgCys" and other related specimen ready for launch. Several armed Toybots began firing down on them from the balconies to the streets with Venomous ducking behind cover and tossing one of his beakers at the closest machine marching toward him. But the acid failed. The robot kept going until it was kicked to pieces almost instantly by Cattus rocketing down on it from the top side! He got in front of the Professor's cover and used his trusty Whirlwind Magisword to create a wind shield that bounced all the incoming missiles back at the attackers! He turned back and brought Venomous back on his feet with a firm reach.
"For a superhero, he was very respectful. Far easier to work with than the ones I'm used to dealing with back home in fact. I don't know if he just saw something in me that made him admire my talents, but he held no qualms."
"He also saved our scales a few months back," Cosma noted.
"Yes, there's... Scales...?"
Turbo interrupted, "Wait wait. You never told K.O. about that when I was part of him"
"Well then it wouldn't be a secret, would it," his father smirked.
"So Cat's just an all around good guy, huh," Nanini asked.
"Yes, but more ideal than the other 'good guys'," the Professor finished. "I'll admit, given all the things I've done, I'm surprised he still thinks highly of me."
Cosma turned to him and said, "Who wouldn't? You're well-mannered, you're intelligent, you're an affectionate father, and you're willing to adapt. You even helped Boxman back on his feet after I fired him into the sun that one time. Which reminds me. I really wanna torpedo myself for the cinematic shot."
Venomous was nearly ready to question why she would say such a thing. But before he could take a breath, he stopped and thought to himself briefly and silently updated his schemes. He smiled, "Cosma, you just keep coming up with great ideas!"
"Yay! I'm helpful!"
Sandy got up from her chair and helped Cosma over to the missile launch bay. A backup weapons section of the vessel used in the event of the energy beams failing to function.
Having overheard the conversation, Boxman commented, "That was the most compliments I've heard from Cosma in my life!"
"Yeah... I just hope Fink can say the same about me when I see her," Venomous spoke somberly. "Poor thing probably thinks I ditched her... But when the Toon Force start asking questions as to why I saved the day, they're gonna love me."
BANG
Cosma was jettisoned out of the torpedo tube cheering, "WeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Now, head to where she's gonna land."
Scaramouche interrupted, "Wait, hol' up jack. The first trip was smooth, but you're gonna go out lookin' like this? What happened to the good ol' incognito mode?"
"Yeah Einstein," Nanini agreed. "What if someone finds out you're involved with Cattus cause of the suit?"
"They won't," said Venomous. "Because they'll have their eyes on Cosma causing a scene. She's not the one everyone's after. Sandy, I'll need you and Winnie to disable the cameras at the security station. Scaramouche and me will keep going from there."
Sandy nodded, "Sho-nuff, sheriff."
While the shuttle was slowly arriving at the nearest docking station, Cosma landed firmly on her boots before a lot of activity in the huge facility. Close by, she saw a vaguely familiar face. A white rabbit person wearing a simple T-shirt and pants watching the robotic equipment moving supplies across the room.
"Hey there," said Cosma. "Don't I recognize you from…"
"AAH," screamed Potato! "COSMA! SHE'S BACK! SHE'S GONNA EAT THE PLANET! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
The bunny had begun to scurry around in a panic. So much, she didn't see the moving hover freight moving straight towards her at a decent speed!
"Nonono! Watch out," the lizard warned! But it was too late.
In her frenzied panic, Potato ran into the front end of a slowly moving cargo hauler, knocking herself out and sending her falling back into a pool of conveniently placed chemicals!
Baffled, Cosma stared blankly at the scene before Carla walked in the hangar with a group of what look like college peers. She said to them, "And this is where they produce the- OH NO!"
She threw herself over to the pool of chemicals and yelled, "POTAT! SHE CAN'T SWIM!"
"I'LL SAVE HER," said Cosma when she pulled out her Ball of Yarn Magisword. She used a single coil to tether the bunny by the leg and pull her out.
"Stand back everyone! This'll get messy!"
She proceeded to remove her red cape revealing her alternate outfit. A blue and black repaint of her original colors in the style of Cattus the Ultimate. Cosma flexed one arm to add more bulk to her muscle then shoved her fist repeatedly into Potato's stomach as everyone watched her perform extreme CPR. As the workers and tourists gathered, Carla was the only one slowly forming a large grin and blushing at the sight when Potato finally coughed up the water and found herself breathing fire!
"There we go," Cosma smiled. "Good as new!"
Trying to recuperate, the bunny rose and realized she could fly. she hovered into the air and summoned flames from her paws like rockets.
"You saved my life," she cheered along with the rest of the audience!
"Happy to help," the lizard tipped then faced Carla who stood red as a cherry cracking a drunken smile at her.
"Beat me like you beat Potato's stomach…"
Off to the side of the action, Venomous' ship successfully landed and deployed Sandy and Winnie close to the security room. The guards had stepped out to check on the accident giving the duo enough time to sneak in undetected.
"Alright, we're in," Sandy said.
Winnie palmed her knuckles. "Let's smash some cameras!"
"Hold on there partner. We gotta figure out which camera goes to what."
The squirrel stepped into the monitor room and saw a multitude of activity while Winnie locked the door behind them. Looking through all the screens, Sandy noticed a few odd things on an automatic playback before Cosma entered the building. Multiple portals spawned open out on the upper hull of the hangar while a robotic, insectoid figure had passed by.
Sandy called in, "Professor, I think someone's after us again. You'd better get your tail out there if you wanna get what'chu need!"
"Scaramouche, it's time. Turbo, you stick with Nanini in case."
Turbo sighed, "Okay..."
As the two left the shuttle, he grunted, "Man, I hate stealth missions..."
"Turbo, I never bothered to ask," Nanini began to ask. "Why're you so much taller than K.O...and everyone of us?"
He immediately perked up and explained to her, "Well it's a combination of things. Y'see, when the Toon God showed up…"
The extractor fans in the hanger run louder than usual as real-time maintainance was inactive due to the accident.
"Cool."
Already deep in the business complex of the station, the professor and the assassin split up to cover to opposite areas. Scaramouche took to the office corridors while Venomous crawled into a vent leading to the private elevator. Rather than getting in from the top hatch, he stayed where he was on the lift as he noticed the chairman, an impish older man with tan skin wearing lavish white attire, taking it up to his room. They ascended until they reached the highest point of the tower overlooking the rest of the facility and all the activities surrounding it. Once at the stop, he got out and took a seat in his wide round chamber at the metal desk and took to immediately erasing files on his computer. That was until he heard a familiar voice.
Mr. Chairman..
He was stunned. He turned towards the elevator where he just exited from. There stood Venomous, armed with his Whirlwind Magisword and partly shrouded in darkness.
"You've kept your lips sealed about Black Hat's order. Why?"
"It's business, Professor," said the Chairman. "I don't even know what the weapon is. Just get the money, say nothing."
Carefully, reached for something in his drawer and told him, "You know the rules and so do I."
The second he pulled his gun out, Venomous used his magiswords to swipe it from his hands and send him hurling against window shielding the air from the rest of outer space! The glass began to crack the longer Venomous held him with pure force of gravity!
"I'm guessing now you're going to play goodie-two-shoes and turn me in?"
Venomous smirked, "Actually, I'd rather let you do it yourself. When Black Hat finishes his work and the Toon Force finds out what you've been up to, no amount of haggling is gonna bail you out."
"No. But Black Hat will," said the man.
"Haha," the Professor laughed. "Sure. Believe what you want."
And that's when the Chairman realized his mistake. He knew of Black Hat's reputation but didn't think he'd be one of the pawns in his scheme. While the Toon Force are still in the dark as to what all this is about, when they discover the truth, the first person they'll prosecute would surely be him and Black Hat would only save himself.
As Venomous took the service lift down to the server room where Scaramouche is busy, he radioed in.
"Our Chairman's been dealt with. He doesn't..."
BANG
The sound of a single gunshot from where he came nearly took him by surprise. But he continued.
"He didn't know what the project was, but the Toon Force'll be here soon with evidence of his crimes. You found the documents yet, Scaramouche?"
The door opens and he's greeted by the assassin robot among a pile of dismantled metal limbs and leaking oil. A few of the security droids tried intercepting him, but it was no use. He had already accessed the nearest computer terminal.
"Hell yeah," said Scaramouche. "Just one problem, babe."
"What is it?"
He motioned over to the computer where an input prompt for the password was on display.
"It's locked up tight."
Venomous radioed Sandy and pulled up a hologram from a hidden chip in his glove. "You seeing this, Sandy?"
"Yeeep," she responded. "The good ol' password encryption. Veeery tough to crack. I can have Entrapta come an' handle it, but every computer's connected to one big server, an' we'll stick out like a cactus in a snowstorm."
"Curses," Venomous grunted. "I forgot. We'll need to go mobile."
"Got'cha straight," said Scaramouche. He pulled out a bite-sized chip from his fingertip and placed it in the back of the terminal where no one would work through all the cables connected to it.
"A remote hacking device... Good thinking." Venomous casually leaned to the side as he spoke. "And hopefully no one spots it while we're gone."
The two of them began to leave while the computer of the escape shuttle pinged a notification that it received the intel. Unbeknownst to them, Fink was wandering around the other side of the hallway they took to flee undetected. With security disabled, none of the guardbots were alerted to their presence making it easy for her to sneak into the server room leading to the biggest part of the complex: The private hangar. This area contained wealth of all kinds belonging to the former Chairman, including pallets stacked with gold, expensive weapons, and various other resources only the Toon Force could muster.
"Thanks for giving me no directions, Fink," said the mouse. "But at least I've got the goodies."
But before she could reach for the nearest gold bar, she overheared an insectoid flutter growing louder as it got close to her. Another supervillain, one biomechanical former queen Vexus, met face to face with Fink armed with two narrow guns mounted on her slightly modified outfit.
"I had a feeling someone involved with the Professor would come to foil my plans sooner or later," she spoke.
"You're looking for Venomous too," Fink asked.
"I was prepared to ask you the same thing."
"What? So you can kill him like everyone else wants to?" Fink clenched her fists and shouted, "Fat chance!"
She rocketed towards Jenny's rival at an incredible pace when she was met by her hand getting held firmly by Vexus.
"Hmhmhmmm," Vexus chuckled. "It seems my armor really is effective against beings like yourself."
Swiftly and effortlessly, she tossed Fink to the side where the minion landed and slid back on her boots across the clean floor.
Vexus began to monologue. "I have spent years trying to adapt to the changing times in hopes of personally defeating the robot girl and her creator. But some of the things I needed to fulfill that plan were in the hands of creatures such as that conniving Black Hat."
Fink asked another question based on assumption. "Lemme guess. You're working with him to get more powerful, right?"
"Heaven forbid," the tyrant rolled her eyes. "I'm not a fool like the rest of his lot of followers. He'd betray me the instant I step foot in his office. He doesn't know I've led his lackies here as a distraction to achieve my ultimate goal. With these weapons at my disposal, XJ-9 will have no choice but to admit defeat."
"So blah blah blah, you wanna smash a robot, you wanna take over the world, etc. Let's get this over with already!"
NOT SO FAST, FINK!
From above at the balcony of the private hangar bay, Cosma leapt down while doing a backflip and drawing her sword. That is rather sloppily as she fumbled onto the floor and instantly recovered to take a stance at Fink's side.
"I meant to do that," the lizard said quickly.
Confusingly, Fink couldn't process a response other than, "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh...
Vexus snapped, "You...! You were the one who devoured my secret base in the ruins of CN City! Let alone the entire planet!"
"Ooooooh, sorry about that. I was particularly hungry that time. Not gonna lie."
"Enough of this! Witness the power of a queen! No..." She thought to herself for a moment and smiled with her teeth. "A God."
Vexus flew up with her jets and charged for both of them with her arms spread to clothesline the two! Cosma ducked but Fink stood her ground and punched the queen in the back of the head before she could touch them! She was slammed in the floor and rolled before the mouse could crush her back with her boot! Two small shots from Vexus' guns knocked Fink onto her back, to which Cosma responds with a precise cut to the android's barrel. The next time Vexus fires, it blows out the back of the cannon and nearly scorched the side of her face!
"You're even more of an irritant than XJ-9," she said brushing herself off. "Once I am through with you both, I will personally deliver you to the Toon Force's doorstep so they can interrogate you on the Professor's whereabouts!"
The mad queen lifted rocketed up again onto her feet and swipped her claws at her, barely missing her thanks to the sword blocking the strikes.
Tired of it, Cosma took her by the arms and flipped her away saying, "Sorry, he must be out with his manfriend right now."
Just behind Vexus, Fink got up and punched a hole in the back of her jets! The thrusters stuttered and she angrily rotated to unleash a wave of red energy from a compartment in her cuffs! Fink guarded with her arms while Cosma got to the robot's side and took a swing again. This time, Vexus came prepared as she cut a hole in reality creating a portal Cosma slips her sword through! A second rift opened near Fink and almost would've severed her torso had the lizard not changed her aim at the last second!
Before she could respond, she was bashed in the snout by a ray shield projected from Vexus' arm! Fink fought back by kicking the queen in the leg, throwing her onto her knee when she starts activating more shields and blocking blow after blow while the pair switched tactics. Cosma put the sword back not wanting to cut into her partner if a portal spawns again. And perfect timing as another rift opened in front of Fink and exiting in front of Cosma which sent a fist into her stomach!
"Sorry," Fink apologized before getting kicked in the chin! Still standing, she looked around her environment for something to use against the supervillain. That's when she noticed the control room window on the second floor behind her. Cables stretched from there to the hangar shields. Vexus quickly caught onto what she was planning and almost charged her had it not been for Cosma chucking one of the pallets at her!
Safe, Fink shot a heat beam from her eyes and blew the upper booth into ashes, triggering the shields to collapse and begin vacuuming the equipment and valuables outside the chamber into space! Vexus was sent along with as she fumbled around trying to get her Rockets to reactivate, successfully doing so before the debris could hit her. Already more than irritated, she prepared to leave when it was Cosma, still planted firm on the floor, who lassoed her leg from the string of her magisword!
"Got chaAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
The One Blade was sent flying out along with Vexus who struggled to sever the cable on her way far from the private hangar! The backup metal shield doors began to shut before Fink could get blown out. With everything quiet, the mouse asked herself, "What just happened?"
Venomous and Scaramouche's fastest way out of the complex was blocked by tourists and regular robot staff. This wasn't good for the Professor who needed to remain hidden. And the only thing keeping him covered were the cameras being shut off thanks to Sandy and Winnie.
"Hurry Professor," Sandy called. "Y'all gotta run faster than a race horse in the Arctic!"
"We're close, Sandra. Just get the ship ready."
Sandy stepped outside the security room and into the main bay area, now vacant thanks to Cosma's distraction. Disappointed, Winnie almost kicked herself saying, "Aw, I didn't get to do anything... What's the whole point of bringing the squad if we're not being used?"
Right on time, the large hatch door on the floor bursts open in a loud explosion that leans the Syndicate's ship against the steel wall and its docking equipment! Out of the smoke came a large bipedal mech with bulbous armor and heavy weapons. Two cockpits were in use, shielding both Glowface and Mandark who immediately targeted Venomous and Scaramouche exiting the maintenance hall.
From the back of the mech, the gold-clad Princess Morbucks hovered in the air with her arms crossed asking Winnie, "Used for what exactly, interloper?"
In the cockpit, Mandark said to himself, "Black Hat was right. This will be so much easier than taking on the Toon Force! HAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Prepare to be crushed by two absolute geniuses," said Glowface.
Morbucks grunted, "Ahem?!"
"…And a princess."
"We'll work on that, but it's close enough."
Venomous drew his sword and looked at the floor. "So Black Hat's still sending goons to stop me, huh?" He looked back at the machine and said, "Well then…let's give him a show."
Turbo made a huge leap out the side of the shuttle to the floor. He powered up an aura around his hands and Morbucks shouted, "ATTACK THEM!"
The Mega Doomer quickly targeted Venomous and Scaramouche. But Turbo got in the way of the first incoming missile. He smacked it with one hand and threw it into one of the miniature Irken Mechs on the racks! Venomous' Whirlwind Magisword was enough to send the next shots flying in different directions besides where he stood. But when the next was headed straight for Sandy, Winnie jumped in front of it, performing perhaps her most impressive cutting technique on a moving object! She mowed it into layers of shrapnel that easily scattered around the squirrel and piling up neatly.
Morbucks took to attacking Venomous head-on, but with his son in the way, it would prove to be a challenge even for her. She started by blasting Turbo with pinkish energy beams from her gloves, then trying to use a freeze ray on him. No dice. He quietly stood there wondering what would happen next. When she got close to him, she began rapidly punching his chest, yet he still didn't budge.
"Not even the Powerpuff Girls could beat me! What makes you think you can?"
Turbo answered to her, "Well I'm still standing upright and your punches are ticklish."
He quietly backhanded her with barely any effort yet with enough force to send the villain rocketing out the hangar into outer space!
The brute turned back to Winnie and balled his fist in preparation for a fight. "Alright Winnie. I say we go for the Irken's version of a Metal Gear!"
"NOW you're talkin'," she grinned.
"Not on their watch," said Glowface who activated a signal from his controls. This radio communication spread throughout the chamber to all the Mini-Doomers still offline. Suddenly, they popped online and began breaking the locks keeping them on the racks as they marched toward the Syndicate. While all this was happening, Scaramouche started playing a tune on his flute seemingly at random. Venomous was ready to ask what it was for when he noticed something odd behind the main Doomer mech.
Inside, Mandark asked, "And what's that supposed to do? Serenade us?"
That was before a huge wad of debris from the broken locks crashed into their robot and throwing them off balance enough to come tumbling front-first into the floor! The mech tries to grapple to the ceiling with the back cables but misses the first time. A much needed distraction for the time being. The Mini-Doomers began firing rapidly at the group who splintered into different smaller teams while Sandy returned to their shuttle to assist Nanini. Winnie and Venomous made a sprint for the first three drones with them blocking and slashing multiple shots on their way to cut deep into the legs! Winnie's claws dug so deep that she climbed and stabbed as she made it to the dome where the sensors are. The mecha next to it was aiming for her, but she slid off before it could launch a missile that instantly trashed its counterpart! Venomous used the wreckage from that to whirl into the other drone! Two more machines started aiming for him when Turbo chucked a steel beam right through them all at once!
A few more began to circle the brute, launching pronged cables at him that lunged into his skin as he snarled, "Ouch...! Ow! Stop that!" The last one surprised him when it struck his back shouting, "AH, QUIT IT!"
Grabbing two of the wires, he emitted an electric charge from his arms onto the droids that stunned them. The one mech connecting to his back was instantly totaled by a precise shot from the Syndicate's ship, courtesy of Nanini and Sandy, while the other two were dragged then spun around like a bird on a leash! Turbo threw them into different sides of the room and focused back on the Mega-Doomer piloted by Mandark and Glowface as it returned to combat. The massive battle tank stomped once unleashing a ki wave that electrified Venomous and Turbo. But Winnie stood her ground. She was momentarily stunned yet had enough strength to jump and latch onto the mech's leg! She dug into its hull to pull out wires.
To her discomfort, Glowface saw what she was doing and activated the tamper deterrent. An electric barrier that quickly shocked the werewolf while she hung on!
"UUURRGH," she growled in pain!
"Hol' up there lil' doggy," Scaramouche said. "It ain't the first time I had to go for some good ol' smooth jazz."
The android began beeping and booping a tune with his automated voice as Mandark focused on him. He fired two rockets from the upper missile launcher, which Scaramouche easily moonwalked away from. Two more shots came from both sides till he pulled out two daggers from his pockets to split them! Quickly, he ran towards the machine, now charging up its plasma miniguns which diverted power away from the deterrent system. Winnie was freed and continued to dig for scrap metal as she dug into the interior through the legs. She cut like a drill up to the top joint to the middle portion underneath the cockpits, then to the other appendage. All while Scaramouche continued to bob and weave away from the mech's barrage of bullets. Soon, he stopped next to Venomous who readied his Magisword for another flurry of shots which he deflected with a single swipe! The hull was shot full of holes and Winnie popped out the foot of the machine covered in oil and other motor fluids.
"Turbo, a little help," she asked, pointing to the middle of the robot.
After palming his fists, Turbo sprinted then jumped at the center of the Mega-Doomer. A single punch easily tore through it, bringing it crashing onto its back!
Mandark shouted, "No-no-no, this isn't happening!"
"Aw, screw this," yelled Glowface. "I've been beaten by a spy family several times since the 2000's! I'm not gonna be usurped by a nutty professor and a werewolf!"
[SELF DESTRUCT ACTIVATED]
"Wait, wha-"
BANG
With both villains inside, the mech exploded into pieces! Thankfully, the Syndicate was out the way when it happened. However, Morbucks was still outside the hangar, returning to rocket punch the Professor when suddenly…
BOOM
Fink came from nowhere elbowing her into unconsciousness! The human tumbled across the solid metal floors and smashed into crate burying herself in supplies!
To Venomous' shock, he yelled, "Fink…?!"
"Boss, I've got a bone to pick with you," she darted.
"In a minute. Right now I've gotta check on Cosma before we pull out."
"Oh, she was just fighting that weird bug lady that likes to pick on Jenny."
Venomous scowled, "Vexus… I had a feeling someone else must've come along. You'd better tag with us in case."
"Fine, but you owe me an apology for ditching me."
[FINK HAS JOINED YOUR SQUAD]
Turbo smiled, "Welcome aboard, step-sis."
"Heeey Turbo! Good to see ya and not the boring you."
Scaramouche put his daggers back in his pockets and smirked, "Well pops, looks like the family's back together aga-"
BANG
He is shot to pieces from outside the hangar! It was Vexus, jetting over to the group with clear damages from her bout with Cosma. Before she could reach them, she was met with a devastating kick through two tight steel walls from Cosma's oversized foot coming from beside her! She pulled herself from the entrance towards the impact as she shrunk her bare leg back to size. And as Vexus prepared to retaliate, she was punched once in the face and knocked unconscious with a silly grin.
"Scaramouche," Cosma cried out as she instinctively teleported over to his remains. She knelt down with Venomous who picked up the android's head.
The reptile asked, "Is he dead…?"
"Nope," said the assassin's severed head when Venomous dropped him and screamed, "HOOOAAAAAAGH!"
Everyone began to laugh as Venomous calmed himself down pouting with another scowl, "That's not funny!"
"This ain't the first time I've been a head, chief," Scaramouche replied. "Just gotta get me a new torso."
"Looks like yer in the right place for that," Sandy nodded.
Sirens started blaring when security began rebooting itself. The cameras haven't reactivated yet, but now the guard robots are scrambling in the halls and heading toward the hangar.
"You better get yer tails outta this joint, babe," Scaramouche told Venomous.
"Thanks Scaramouche," said the Professor.
The rest of the Syndicate quickly fled back in their ship without the robot hunter. The moment the guards swarmed in, they spotted his head winking at them while they proceeded to assess the damages, and an unconscious Vexus and Morbucks.
"Anyone got a spare torso? Those two ladies took mine."
"Nice to see you again Fink," said Cosma as she hugged her, nearly crushing her. "I love the other you but nothing beats the original and your cuddly face."
She let go and Fink took a breather. "Well...glad to be back...?" Facing Venomous, she asked, "Boss, why's Cosma acting so weird? And you'd think a sorry would be nice for LYING OVER A MONTH AGO?!"
"I'm sorry, Fink. I only left you in the dark because I was…"
Cosma answered over him, "He trained with Cattus for months after someone shot me in the head trying to kill him."
"Well, yes. But there's more to…"
"YOU GOT TRAINING FROM A SUPERHERO," Fink shouted!
"I had to! I did it to protect you! You know how much Black Hat has in store for each of us now."
"Its not about Cattus! It's about the fact that you lied to me again because you thought I couldn't protect myself! I mean, Shadowy's gone! You're better than that."
He stopped and thought of his minion's words. "You…don't mind me training with Cattus?"
"Not really," she shook. "I actually worked with him once when you were sick for a secret mission. He's a lot cooler than those two goofs with the swords and K.O. No offense Turbo."
Turbo grinned. "None taken."
"Huh. I never really knew you respected anyone like that," said their father. "Didn't know you were holding a secret like that for this long too."
"Well, I guess that makes us even," said Fink folding her arms.
"I'm sorry Fink. Nothing I say is gonna make up for all that, but...I tried to hide what I was doing because I didn't wanna lose you over another one of my mistakes. Especially after Turbo, or I guess the prime K.O., killed you and me."
Sandy paused, "Killed ya...?"
"Wait, people died," asked Winnie.
"Yeah, when Shadowy took over, T.K.O. drained everyone to make himself stronger...right after killing Shadowy," Nanini explained.
"That would've been me too if it wasn't for the Toon God and his virus," said Turbo.
"That's...really why I didn't want to involve you, Fink," Venomous continued. "Sure, TKO was always in K.O., but Shadowy…"
Fink interrupted him by name, "Venomous... Seriously. You think I wouldn't know that? I just wanted to hear ya admit it without biting your tongue this time. That's enough of an apology for me right there."
"You can...forgive me?"
"Well yeah. I mean your my step dad, ol' man. Even the other me thinks so, and this is after she got ambushed by some of her guys."
"She was ambushed?! Is she alright?"
"Better than alright. Not a scratch on her."
Venomous sighed with relief, "Oh, thank God. I'll be sure to talk to her again when we're done here. In the meantime, we have documents to go through while we're mobile. Thanks to Scaramouche, we have remote access to the servers of the Drive Yards, and Sandy can take a look at what Black Hat's ordered."
"I can read but I don't like doing it," Fink shook. "That's your department."
"Heh. You get used to it after a few years of tax work."
Venomous spun a seat around to sit at the ship's secondary monitor near of the back where Sandy began searching through the files made visible through the network.
"Let's see what we've got here."
"While we're at it, if y'all got iced, howdja come back," Sandy wondered.
Cosma answered, "Oh, I came back down to Earth to yell at Boxman and found K.O. all by himself. Said something about a President of the Universe I think."
"Must've been his imagination, cause I vaguely remember seeing a poster of the guy in CN City," Turbo shrugged.
"I wanted answers from him, so I brought him to space with me to clear his head when he shot back all the glorbs he absorbed and POOF! He was gone."
"Y'know…I don't think you ever told me that, Cosma," said Venomous. "Now I know."
She gave a thumbs up, "And knowing is half the battle!"
G.I. JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE
Venomous froze, "Where'd that come from?"
While he flipped through the documents on display, Winnie walked up to Fink with her arms behind her head and lightly tapped her boot with her foot as she smiled at her. "Nice to see another fuzzball on the team. Y'know, dogs tend to chase mice."
"This mouse got claws," Fink smirked. "And you're supposed to be…?"
"Winnie Werewolf. Enid mentioned ya once. She was our class' witch turned ninja turned superhero."
"How come you're with boss?"
Winnie nearly sharpened her claws as she explained, "Cause I wanna get back at BH for sendin' goons who tried icing me. Yeah, I'd love to hang out with Enid an' her pals, but with what's goin' on back home, it's better to keep my mouth shut."
"Amen," said Nanini at the helm. She didn't turn around as she said it though, trying to hide her blush seeing both Fink and Winnie together.
Meanwhile, one of the files on the server contained schematics for the machine which supplied the former Cyber Catra with artificial Glorbs. Another slide also detailed a test with a modified version of regular Glorbs used to enhance the Sky Pirates; Mao Mao's arch enemies.
"Isn't that Orangusnake's team," asked Turbo.
"Sure is," his father nodded. "Guess they were beta testing the project before we even knew what it was."
He flipped through another page detailing a saucer-like design. Combined with the bottom half of the vessel, it created a cruiser shaped like a fire-hydrant with antennae and satellites poking around the dome.
"And…isn't that the ship shaped like an offensive stereotype?"
Recognizing the design, Cosma said, "Aw great. The Dogstars. I love those guys, but I don't wanna be around 'em cause'a that thing. Who models their ship after a fire hydrant?!"
"An' why would BH want it," asked Sandy.
"It says it was retired for scrap at the Drive Yards a few years ago," Venomous read. "But only its top half is still up for sale for how durable it is. Since it's the command bridge, I shouldn't be sur… Oh no."
"Whaddya mean oh no," Turbo questioned.
"IS BH trying to conquer the universe with a fire hydrant," Winnie joked.
Venomous rotated back to the rest of the team. "Smaller. He's not necessarily trying to rule our planet. He's going to manufacture Glorbs like the ones we saw at the school. Since they're highly unstable, he needs a device sturdy enough to contain them. And once they're unleashed…"
"Everyone'll turn into monsters," said Shadowy Fink at her computer. She reviewed the documents Venomous copied overnight and was surprised at how much work was put into them. She realized, "So that's what that order was for, and why my workers attacked me. Guess Black Hat corrupted them and had them try and take me out of the picture. If it's what we're thinking, the blast could spread and transform an entire population!"
"Specifically an entire planet," said Venomous. "But the most obvious target is Lakewood. Now that we know what Black Hat's planning to do though, we can figure out how and when he'll be carrying the saucer to the city."
"So he's going to make everyone in Lakewood more aggressive or vile than they already are? Like that's a new concept. You'll get him."
"I sure hope I can. He's a tricky fellow. He has backup for his backups. And that's discounting the followers he has under his belt."
Saying that, he noticed Robotboy and Robotgirl standing next to his former minion like they did the last time he visited. He asked, "Speaking of, what's up with those two?"
"My robots? Why don't we let them introduce themselves?"
"My name is Robotboy," said the blue one.
"I am Robotgirl," said the pink one. "Pleased to meet you!"
Venomous stroked his chin. "I've heard of you both but never seen you in person. I thought they were property of someone else."
Shadowy Fink explained, "Well, these two aren't the original. I once borrowed them during a business venture and copied their files to make another pair. Anais upgraded their cognitive capabilities, patched a speech impediment, and I struck a deal with a robot-tournament league to make their creator's number one fan its proud owner…sponsored by me. So if anyone asks, just remind them that these two are in fact my children… I mean minions."
"That…"
"Hm…?"
Venomous' eyes glistened, "I said something like that to Boxman once. I never expected you to take up after me after I made so many slip ups with you."
"Boss, mistakes happen. Doesn't mean I hate you because of them. And if it's any reassurance, when I was left with Turbo all those years ago, you told me you were proud of us. I never stopped believing in it and neither should you."
"Gosh, I love you, Fink. Thanks."
"Shame those heroes from Lakewood aren't going to feel the same way about you as I do," she said leaning back against her chair. "But that's their mess. You keep doing you and save their butts before the Toon Force does it for 'em."
"That's right," Venomous pondered. "If we've been doing this off the grid, how could anyone have known you would be working with me? Unless…"
"Unless there's a mole on the loose…Or it's just another one of Black Hat's coincidental scare tactics to hunt you down. He is searching for you after all, so it's not unlikely that he'd go after family to elicit a response. In the meantime, I'll be searching for more leads. I'll let you know when I get one…right after I buy myself a new desk."
She asked the robots, "Do you two think I should get mahogany or steel?"
"Mahogany."
"Really? I figured since you're robots, you'd prefer metal."
Robotboy scoffed, "Not. Cool."
Shadowy Fink bowed her head, "I'm sorry."