TOON WARS LEGACY

VENOMOUS

Episode 9 - Fire in the Skies

BANG

In the middle of the dreadnought moving through hyperspace, Turbo and Vilgax's fists collided with each other's faces! The warlord bashed the human with his shield, but a quick shot from Cosma's railgun disabled it and sent him to his side. Turbo seized the chance to tackle him onto the ground right against the edge of the large balcony where he punched him once then missed the second time. Vilgax's laser eyes shot TKO away from him. And as he rose, he used the same trick on Venomous who blocked the beam with his Magisword. One strong current from the Whirlwind forced the alien to slide backward and nearly lose footing. Anticipating a sword fight, he deployed his wrist sabers, blocking and slashing at the Professor before he was cornered by Turbo from the other side, getting punched in the head again. Venomous then got a slash in, cutting into Vilgax's arm. And while they're going at it, Cosma tries aiming her gun for a clear shot at the Chimera's legs. Seeing them constantly moving faster, she switches to his head, and cocked a smirk as she pulled the trigger.

An attack that ended up hitting the wrong man when Vilgax grabbed Turbo with both hands and brought him in front of the beam to get blown off the balcony and crashing deep into the deeper sections of the hangar! The warlord then took Venomous and threw him at Cosma, breaking the cannon she wielded! Just before Vilgax could hit her though, she grabbed his fist and said in a tone that wasn't as friendly as she became, "You are not the only alien in this room with the power to kill."

Slowly, the lizard grew larger and larger. She brought Vilgax down on his knee while having his hand crushed till he drew the strength to pull away. He tried stabbing her arm with his saber then another strike at her gut, but she shrunk down, so tiny he didn't see her. In a few moments of silence, the floor beneath him exploded into flying chunks of rubble from Cosma bursting into titanic proportions! As she ascended, she kept her hands massive while shrinking back to normal size to slam down on the evildoer! But even with that and a few more hits, Vilgax activated his saber and cut her hand.

"AGH," she shouted holding her split palm. She brought the rest of her body to normal to engage in a brief sword fight, followed by her lasering the man in the face and severing one of his tentacles. Vilgax didn't take this lightly as he backhanded Cosma away. But Venomous returned beside her to deliver a strong whirlwind that blew the Chimera onto his back! When he rose, the Professor made his way to chop his head open when Vilgax caught the blade and snapped it and kicked Venomous deep in the gut! He knocked him so far he fell onto the floor barely recovering from such a strike.

Vilgax taunted him with, "What other tricks do you have in store now, Professor?"

Stealthily, Venomous grabbed a controller from his side pocket and pressed it.

"This."

KABOOM

All the rigged weapons caches combusted loudly across the ship's interior! The explosions were so massive they burst outside and into the engines causing significant damage that knocked it out of hyperspace!

Elsewhere in Lyvsheria, Bimm was outside the manor walls tending to a small garden in the middle of the afternoon sunlight. She was smiling and finished gathering all the vegetables and fruits for the day and sticking them in a basket. All was quiet when she turns around and a sudden BANG cuts her off…with the now ruined dreadnought floating above the land facing the castle! Her smile, having already faded, becomes a look of worry, holding tighter onto the basket when she gets an abrupt sense of dread.

In the burning levels of the ship, still coming apart after the explosions, Winnie, Fink, and Tai kept their sprint going with the werewolf wondering, "Geez! Is your boss trying to get us killed?!"

"I was ready to ask the same question," said Fink.

[STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED! ENGAGING BACKUP POWER]

Turbo was buried partly under rubble from where he fell in the main hangar and felt the underside of the overhang beginning to fold open. He quickly freed himself and leapt to the next floor where Vilgax held onto the surface trying to get his bearings from such force. With the blaring red lights and shadows of the large space, it made it much harder for everyone to see each other. But not for the two aliens in the room. Cosma recovered and got back to work swinging at Ben's arch enemy; this time joined by Turbo whose fist shrouded in a flaming pink aura met with the warmonger's spine! Vilgax quickly swung back with a smack to the human's cheek, followed by the two getting into a flurry of punches until Turbo kicked the squid along his side! Cosma's heat vision rocketed the supervillain across the room. But when he's about to be attacked again, a huge girder comes crashing between him, Venomous nearby, and the rest of his foes! Seeing the world underneath the hangar bay, Vilgax realized he was as close to victory as he could get. The castle was right in view of the ship and both Cattus the Ultimate and his family are still inside. As he considers it, Winnie gets in the way and cuts his bulky arm while on her way to the rest of the gang. Fink, meanwhile, helps her boss up from the wreckage he's been nearly stuck under. Thankfully, he stood up well and gave her a head rub.

Venomous smirked, "You did a number on him before he faced me, didn't you? Good job."

"I know," Fink winked.

"I grow tired of this, Professor," said Vilgax pressing another switch on his controller. "Guards, deal with the intruders."

Those that remained of the Hat Bots onboard were quickly deployed across the facility. Every possible defense protocol was activated along with the outside guns aiming squarely at Castle Rhyboflaven. But not for the castle itself but rather the man standing on the balcony of the throne room: Cattus. His son along with three more people, modified clones of Bimm made from the same lab as Tai, stood by him in preparation to fight.

"BH sure knows how to make things personal, ey Dad," Nyando commented.

Venomous radioed the king immediately. "Cattus, Vilgax brought in a dreadnought! We've caused a lotta damage already, but he's already sending his men!"

"So it would seem," Cattus nodded. "Are you ready to let the truth out?"

While sliding from side to side against some of Vilgax's heavy blows, getting saved by Fink at the last minute, he replied, "If it'll save the only place I can call home and rubbing my success in the Toon Force's face, then I guess I am!"

Fink sped kicked Vilgax's leg into an unusual position then elbowed his dome forcing him on his knee! For a moment, the minion had gone fully turbonic, spawning a huge fireball that she slammed into the alien who still withstood the impact! The next time Fink tried to hit him, he caught it and shoved her aside, focusing his efforts on a seemingly unarmed Venomous. However, he wasn't unprepared. With the loss of his Magisword, he resorted to a hidden weapon in his arsenal. His laser-launching helmet from his time as a superhero finally came in handy as he blasted Vilgax straight into the chest! Its energy burned into the conqueror's armor, exposing bits of its inner workings to his amazement.

"Huh. Maybe I should've used this from the getgo," Venomous remarked.

"VENOMOUS," Boxman called from the comm link.

"Boxman?!"

"Nanini got your signal back. We're headed back to ya!"

"N-no wait! It's too…"

WHAM!

Vilgax struck Venomous straight in the face, planting him into the metal floor! The next strike and Fink got in front of it to hold it back long enough to knee the alien's gut twice and push him.

She realized, "No matter what we do, this guy doesn't let up!"

"That's why he's feared in the villain's circle," her boss explained.

Behind them, the Hat Bots attacking the rest of the group were faring well keeping them busy using numbers over their own strength. Turbo tore off one of their limbs and beat another with it, but was shot in the back by one a distance away from him. He tossed the appendage into it, yet was hit in the back of the head. Still, Tai intervened by jumping onto and severing the head of the attacking droid. He took the cables in its neck and piloted it to shoot at the other units with Winnie carving holes into a few of them. This didn't stop another one of them from blasting the one Tai is using into pieces while knocking Winnie away. Cosma, on the other hand, wasn't doing any better. She tackled the one charging for the werewolf and cleaved another one in two with her Magisword. But one that was closest to her lasered her to the rubble! Two more fired a combined missile at her, absolutely nuking where she sat before she got up just barely missing it. This time using the coil of her sword to tie both bots up and swinging them into a few more surrounding her. One tried to grab her from behind, though it didn't expect her to turn around and while getting bearhugged, blowing heat vision through its chest to let go! The black oil from it gushed across her body, and Turbo felt the wet of huge puddles underneath him when he went to lunge his arm through one of the heavy machines!

Elsewhere, as Nanini brought her shuttle out of hyperspace just in beside the castle, numerous Toon Force-owned Irken vessels arrived alongside her. Commanding one of them were Danny Phantom and Jenny Wakeman, just taking notice of the battle in front of them.

"A Horde dreadnought," Jenny said stunned with her ears fluttering twice.

Danny asked over the radio, "Who's in there, Cattus?"

"Cosma the One Blade is facing Vilgax," the king responded. "And it just so happens our prime suspect is in there with them."

"What...?!"

Jenny quickly got on the phone calling from across the Universe to signal Lakewood. Specifically K.O. and his crew. From there, K.O. Was still on the process of investigating affiliates of Voxmore, getting so far as to question Darrell at his ranch with Carol, Enid, and Rad backing him up.

"Wait, so you genuinely don't know what's happening," the young man barked.

Darrell waved his hands, "Hey I already told you guys I don't! We all kinda kept our distance from Venomous after what he did. But, we know Box-Pops is with him."

"Can't you call him," Enid asked politely.

"I tried, but he won't pick up. Just goes to voicemail. See, look."

The robot showed everyone his phone which did as he said. The system read, "If you'd lik to make a call, please dial, NINE ONE OOOOONE," with a horrified tone in Boxman's voice.

"I think your Dad needs to change his voicemail," Rad suggested.

"He only listens when he wants to," Darrell sighed and bowed his head.

"There's only two more supervillains we haven't asked yet," K.O. pondered. "And I know just who to start with."

"You're going to see Fink, aren't you," Carol asked.

"Yep! All I gotta do is rough up her attitude a bit and she'll confess over the whole thing! If we're lucky, both Finks're in their office in Toon City."

Concerned, Enid wondered, "By yourself, bud?"

"She's my rival. I'll take care of her."

With nothing else to say, he took his leave using a supersonic jump into the clouds, planning to return home to use a portal there to get to Toon City. But just after he flew away, Carol spotted his phone on the ground, having fallen out his pocket. It rang; a notification played stating an attack is held in Lyvsheria.

Carol read the details and her eyes were caught onto the mention of her ex being in the mix. "An attack?! And…Venomous…!" She growled and clenched her fist irritated over the thought of the man she used to love.

"We can take 'em," Radicles assured her. "He's no fighter like Fink is."

"'Preciated as always, but…I think I wanna pay him a visit myself. Plus the Toon Force are already on it. You two need to make sure my boy's alright because I'm worried his quest to find his father may be driving him nuts!"

"We will," Enid nodded.

"And if you see Father, tell him to change his voicemail already," Darrell waved.

One huge blow to Vilgax's side sent him fumbling around thanks to Fink's strength. Couple that with Venomous' laserblasts and they make for a seemingly unstoppable pair. That was until one of the Hat Bots shoots the both of them back and Cosma is forced to intervene after supersizing for a brief moment to stomp on the machines keeping her occupied. Vilgax isn't planning on dealing with her any longer, hailing two more troops to come aid him as they begin to corner her. She easily mowed one of them down, but one coming beside her grabbed her Magisword and tossed it toward Venomous' direction. Just as soon as Cosma smashed through the last robot and turned her attention to Vilgax, the Chimera had grabbed the gun arm of one of the ruined machines and fired it at her! Once in the stomach, and twice across her chest and forehead!

The blasts were so devastating, the lizard fell to her back with a flaming hot aura burning from her wounds. It seemed she was down for the count as the warmonger got closer to finish her off when she sat back up to glare at him with obvious fury in her eyes that, for a moment, flashed blue.

"Although I'm disappointed I can't face Tennyson today, I appreciate the challenge you all gave me."

SMASH

From a portal beside him, Carol came speed kicking straight into his head! He collapsed and slid across the steel floors trying to reorient himself while the human tended to Cosma who quickly began to heal from her injuries. Seeing the color scheme of the one who trained her, Carol realized…

"Oh my Lord, you really are a hero!"

She grabbed onto the former supervillain and helped her up on one leg.

"Let's get you out of here, buddy."

"N-no wait," Cosma warned. "Your son and husband!"

One of the huge Hat Bots was totaled by Turbo smashing it with a severed arm from a different robot and kicking its head into another. Seeing his mother, he quickly perked up getting near her.

"How you doing, sport," Carol asked.

To which Turbo smiled, "Better now that you're here."

BEWOOP BEWOOP

The alarm of the ship's interior went off signaling the deployment of a large gun in the overhang. It stretched just enough that it poked outside, aiming for the large manor facing it. Turbo tried to destroy it as it geared for a shot with a heavy beam to its barrel, but it was shielded well. And it was already fully charged.

"You're too late, Venomous," Vilgax gloated. "The ship's main gun is fully charged. Your precious place of refuge will be left in ashes."

But at that moment, the cannon's firing mechanism abruptly malfunctioned, bursting into flames along with a trail of small explosions running deep into the cruiser!

"Agh, just how many explosions can this thing take," Winnie growled!

Quickly, Vilgax took his wrist communicator to contact Black Hat over a projection.

"You promised me a fleet and a dreadnought capable of decimating entire cities. Yet you could not provide a superweapon that functions as intended!"

Black Hat smirked very cockily over the notion. "On the contrary, Vilgax. It is functioning precisely as intended."

Vilgax's eyes widened in abject shock. "What...?!"

"Indeed. You've found Venomous like I asked. But I have a better reward for you. I'll be sparing you from seeing the chaos I'll be dealing onto Lakewood and its so-called heroes. Enjoy your quick death."

[WARNING: WARP DRIVE UNSTABLE]

Venomous caught onto what was happening announcing, "It's gonna blow!"

"You've deceived me…! Mark my words. You WILL pay for this, Black Hat," Vilgax barked!

"Well you'll have to run fast if you want to have any hope of reaching me." Black Hat's distorted face got closer to the screen. "OH WAIT, YOU CANNOT! Farewell, alien."

[WARNING. WARP SYSTEM CRITICAL! EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!]

Black Hat's transmission cut off and Venomous acknowledged the rest of the team.

"If the warp core is broken, there's a chance it'll destroy more than this ship."

Vilgax continued with, "It would take everything beneath it to the grave..."

"Can we stop it," Turbo asked.

"I'm not sure there's enough time, but I'm gonna check anyway," his father answered. "Nanini, bring the ship to the overhang for a quick evac."

Getting the message, Nanini responded, "I sure hope y'know what you're doing."

"Follow me to the engine, Venomous," Vilgax motioned. "We have a common enemy now."

Cosma stepped forward still hunched from her rapidly healing wounds, "Which block is it on?"

"Block C."

She grabbed onto both Vilgax and Venomous and in a flash teleported them deep into the ship with her.

"Huh," Turbo hunched. Forgot she could do that."

As everyone began to board Nanini's shuttle, being helped inside by Sandy, Tai, and the Planet X native herself, those on standby at the castle who anticipated a rough fight ahead were left confused wondering what was happening with the dreadnought.

"Now what're they doing," Danny pondered.

Equally confused, Cattus replied, "I don't know, Mr. Fenton…"

Once in the chamber coming apart with the unstable warp drive with exposed wiring breaking from the seams, Vilgax could see the obvious extensive damage done to it. It wouldn't be long before everything exploded, taking him, those with him, and all of Rhyboflaven with it.

"No...!"

"AAAGH, the controls are fried," Venomous shouted! "And it's too fragile to remove. One wrong move and it'll quicken our deaths. The only thing I can think to do is put a casing around it to reduce the blast radius. But there's no time!"

Hearing that, Cosma stood silently. She didn't have any silly ideas this time around, realizing the severity of the situation. Even Vilgax scrambled his sights trying to find a solution.

Over the radio, Nanini understood what was going down. "Then…this is it, isn't it?"

Winnie shook her head and hugged tightly onto Carol, "No no NO! I don't wanna die now! I'm too young!"

"Nanini, get yourselves outta orbit," Venomous ordered. "You did a good job. All of you."

But the pilot refused. She said, "No! I've already spent so much fuel getting here! There's not enough to escape! And even if I could, I signed up for this ages ago! I'm not gonna leave you alone!"

"Yeah, and I'm onboard," Fink added. "You left me, Turbo, and Box Boss for months! I'm not trying to lose ya over this!"

A wave of thoughts immediately hit Carol hearing Fink say that about her step-father. More for Turbo who quietly grasped that this very well could be the end. He only palmed Fink's shoulder to comfort her before the nuke could commence.

"K.O's not gonna know what we've done to save his butt. But hey…maybe we can get resurrected like when the Toon God attacked. Then again…that's kinda pushing it too, isn't it?"

Venomous turned to face Cosma one last time. "I'm sorry Cosma, for dragging you into this mess. There's nothing we can do. But at least that's one problem solved, right? Earlier you asked if I considered myself a hero or a villain. And honestly…I think I'm leaning back to the former."

"How many seconds do we have left," she asked him.

"I'd say 20. But…"

Suddenly, she grabbed both him and Tennyson's nemesis by the arms and teleported them to the ground outside. She then began to supersize before Venomous stopped her mid-shift, shouting, "Cosma, what are you doing?! It's too late! This whole planet is doomed!"

Cosma paused and thought long and hard.

"...I've left so many systems to rot, Venomous. I won't make the same mistake twice."

With another long look at the Professor, she swelled up again to the point where she towered over not only the cruiser but the castle behind her. Everyone watched as her maw engulfed the whole vessel and she teleported off to nowhere.

For a few moments, the whole of the Toon Force stood motionless trying to process what happened. That was until an incredibly huge explosion of energy burst just outside the planet's atmosphere! The skies briefly went dark as the sun was blocked out from colorful rays passing by. And soon, all was quiet.