Episode 8 - Hidden

The next morning was spent flying on the path to a parallel Earth. One where the notorious Black Hat resides. This is perhaps the closest Venomous, Boxman, and even Cosma have gotten to reaching his location, though they weren't sure exactly where as his operations were abundant even in his absence. While on their journey, the Professor's crew took a moment to prepare for the coming fight ahead.

Seeing the path mapped out on the coordinates, Nanini had to question Venomous with, "Why're we going here, V-Man? This is BH's territory."

"To try and finish the fight before it begins," he explained. "There's a ship that'll contain the glorbs to keep from being spread. If we can get a hold of it, we can put an end to Black Hat's plans." Venomous hunched one shoulder. "Or at least most of it considering the hero/villain war is still going strong."

Winnie turned to the man from the side window overlooking the reaches of hyperspace. "It's not gonna end if we cut the head off the hancho?"

"The real head hancho of the war is me, Winnie. Remember, this whole thing started because heroes of all kinds are afraid of another Shadowy and T.K.O. situation. Especially after my work with Catra was exposed."

"What was she like anyway, Pops," Turbo asked him.

Venomous smirked, "She kinda reminded me of you when you were a kid, Turbo. Right down to a lack of footwear."

"And being an angsty munchkin with gothic makeup, right," Boxman added.

"Angst was there but I don't remember the goth."

Vaguely annoyed, Turbo leaned between his two fathers. "Is this about me or her?"

"Like I was saying," Venomous continued. "Catra was evil but not cartoonishly so. She knew what she was and accepted it. In some ways, she was even more frightening than Black Hat what with how calculative she was…or I should say…became."

Winnie cocked her head and widened her eyes. "You mean she wasn't always like that?"

"From what I gathered, she was but it wasn't nearly as concentrated as when I met her. In a way, she's sort of like me. But she stuck to being a supervillain then became a monster." Mid speech, Venomous bore a look of disappointment upon reflection of his story. "I feel like we could've caused a lot of mayhem and I wouldn't be in the state I'm in now had that team Black Hat created not gotten in the way."

"Biggest mistake the dude made if you ask me," Cosma agreed.

Fink whispered to herself, "There's no way Cosma's got 'dude' in her vocabulary."

"What's up Minnie Mouse?"

"Nothing," Fink smiled.

Venomous continued, "Anyway, that was a few years ago. Haven't seen her since that one time. All I know is her twin arrived shortly after she died. Now it all circles back to me somehow. But at least we're close to ending it, right Sandy?"

"We're gettin' there," said the squirrel. "Nanini's got us on the right track!"

Nanini slouched back against her seat ready to have Sandy substitute for her at the helm. "Hope it's enough. I feel like I barely did anything on the team."

"Of course you've done something," Venomous assured her. "You're not just our pilot, you're our eyes and ears. Just keep it up and hopefully I won't need you all anymore."

"I'm hurt," said Turbo.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!"

Turbo pat his father's back so hard he didn't even realize he slapped him onto his knees. "Just messin' with ya dude. I know what'cha mean."

The native of Planet X casually rolled her eyes and let Sandy take over the controls while she went to get a drink of the back of the ship where Winnie and Fink were now occupying it. Trying to hide a blush, she started with a simple question.

"So uh…how're you doing today?"

"Good," Winnie quickly replied.

Fink also responded with her legs crossed, "Fine, whyddya ask?"

"O-oh! Just asking," Nanini stuttered. "I get a little bored being behind the wheel all the time, so, figured I'd walk around and chat, cause, hate to be the silent type, heheh…"

"Need to grab some water," Winnie asked. "Your face's all red."

"Right! I'll go grab us some drinks. Want anything?"

Fink grinned, "Yeah, got any sodas?"

Seeing the three young ladies bonding with each other, Venomous couldn't help but smile over it with Boxman at his side.

"The youth today…"

"Heheh," Boxman chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"Love is in the air, baby."

Sandy abruptly turned her chair back to the gang to ask an important question. "Say, when we get down there, who're we seein', cause so far we've been recruitin' furs like me an' givin' hospitals some work with them bad guys."

"The other Fink said something about a Gumball sight seeing there," said Venomous.

The pilot raised an eyebrow and brought her neck back confused. "A Gumball?"

"You'll see."

The ship eventually made it to civilization in an otherwise generic city where across from the water was an island obscured by thick layers of fog. Clearly it was Black Hat's fortress observing the town from a safe distance while his original manor, the hat-shaped castle near the place the shuttle was landing, was abandoned with parts of it removed. Wanted posters for Black Hat and his crew were posted along the walls and the billboards with barely any superheroes in sight; likely joining in the manhunt for Venomous in Lakewood. As everyone proceeded outside the ship, Venomous noted something to do with his last remark about Gumball.

"You know, cloning was always a mixed bag for me and Boxman," he mentioned. "We once made clone bodies but never used 'em cause we couldn't figure out the whole mind transfer. I even held my tongue around Cattus when we fought those Strike backups."

His son asked, "Isn't Black Hat also a clone after he got arrested way back?"

"Yes and no," Venomous replied. He's using a clone body but he's still the same mind as always. Think of it like automatic body swapping."

Cosma grinned in realization over it. "Oooh, he's like a computer virus!"

"That's about right, Troi."

"That's me!"

"Heads up," said Sandy. "Someone's hoppin' on the rooftops."

Just above everyone was a strange a thro feline sprinting and performing parkour along the roof of the manor, swinging down poles and doing a backflip to land firmly on her feet in front of the team. He wore a red hoodie with flame decals and turned to show his face. A somewhat direct copy of the Watterson boy but with thick eyelashes and a soft stare.

Venomous started their conversation, getting close to the young man. "You're the clone of Gumball. Tai, is it?"

"Ti," softly said the copy.

"Huh?"

Cosma translated, "He said yes."

"Wait, he's a man? And you understand him?!"

"Venom, you wear makeup. This isn't new."

Boxman started chuckling off to the side and hid it when Venomous snared at him.

"I've traveled the galaxy all my life," the lizard continued. "I'd recognize an alien language when I hear it."

"Right. I'm sorry," Venomous bowed. "Well, could you show us where the place us, Tai?"

Again, the clone spoke in alien tongue and walked along a brick path to the side of the old manor.

"Sincerely. I thought he was a woman for a sec, Venomous whispered. "He looks so much like his mother."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Tai spoke up.

Deep into the heart of the caverns beside the old castle, the team wandered through seemingly abandoned passageways until they came to a halt when the Gumball clone stopped dead in his tracks. Stationed within the mines was an incredibly large hangar about as vast as a chunk of the area of town they were under. But the focal point was the gigantic dreadnought sat inside. It bore a striking resemblance to the last one seen in the Toonverse, used by Cyber Catra and her Horde army; even bearing her bat-wing insignia on the roof of the nose.

"You're right Tai," Venomous stared. "This is less than good."

"So what," asked Fink. "It's another big ship to blow up."

"Not just a big ship. It's a dreadnought like the one Catra had. Sandy, did you get all that?"

On his commlink, the Professor patched Sandy and Nanini through from their shuttle.

"Yep! Looks about as close to the real deal as you can get!"

Tai spoke again in an alien dialect, "Oha ru ebo?"

"Can we stop it," Cosma translated.

"I'm not sure," said Venomous. "It looks like it's already completed. And since it's underground, chances are they'll use a hyperdrive to send it to Lakewood."

Turbo suddenly had a theory. "Why don't we just grab some help from those heroes above us an' clobber the joint?"

"And then turn me in for trying to save them? Bad idea. Plus, I'm pretty sure they're all busy back at our place."

His son shrugged, "Eh. Guess you're right."

"All we need to do is sneak in and handle the situation from the inside…as quickly and as quietly as possible."

Cosma whispered back, "Ok boss."

"WHAT?!"

Venomous' voice echoed through the caverns as nearby metal guards were alerted to his presence. These machines, both Hat Bots and reserved Echo Drones from the Toon Wars, split up and manned the giant cruiser while another squad met the Syndicate directly, aiming their guns at them. Everyone was ready to brawl when Boxman casually took a step forward with his arms behind his back.

"We'll handle these appliances, Venny," he smirked. "You get inside."

Confused, Venomous asked, "Us…?"

Excited, Boxman pulled out a small device resembling Jimmy Neutron's hypercube. He pressed a button and it ejected the robot, Mikayla, from a small portal projection. She got on all fours in a pouncing position ready to strike.

"So glad I've invested in pocket tech," her master remarked while pulling out her laser. "Get ready to rumble, Mikayla!"

As the two ran up to the drones and began attacking with Mikayla jumping on one of their heads and clawing into it, Venomous pulled up his comm again giving Sandy a new order - Helping Boxman fend against the robots. Meanwhile, everyone else proceeded to sneak into the rest of the compound, getting underneath the scaffolding and the busy construction grounds to reach an exhaust port towards one of the thrusters. Seeing no other way without getting caught, they crawled in, much to Turbo's discomfort thanks in no small part to his size.

Eventually, once in one of the maintenance tunnels, the Professor made his next move.

"This ship's a lot bigger than it looked from the outside," he stated. "Fink, Winnie, search the upper decks and we'll search the lower ones. We need to find those Glorbs."

"Ey," Tai commented.

"Oh, right. Aren't you a trooper too? Follow the girls. They'll let you know if things change."

Tai agreed and went along with the pair down the other end of the hall, leaving the rest to their devices as they explore deep into the dreadnought bearing similar architecture to a place familiar to Cyber Catra. One that took the design philosophy of taking various scraps and making something new out of them.

As he looked around, Venomous thought aloud, "This sure brings back memories…"

"You mean with the ship Catra had," his son asked.

"Yes. It's the same layout. I got to tour it when we met that day. Which means…the Glorbs should be held right around…"

He found a nearby lift and checked one of the levels, choosing level 3.

"Here."

The pumping station within the cruiser was large but empty of any Glorbs. The vats themselves weren't filled. But only one of the balconies was occupied. A wicked mistress hiding in the shadows with an unfolded umbrella held in one hand and pale skin observed the machine but didn't seem at all impressed. She was ready to leave out the exit hall when she was confronted by Venomous just outside the door.

Stunned, he looked at her, recognizing her face from old villain meetups. "Penumbra…?"

"Welcome Professor," she smirked. "I already left Miss Heed a message regarding your presence and your plan. She's not coming so long as you can do your job. With heroes from this world growing more and more erratic, it's best not to lose the only competent one to a conspiracy."

"What is your part in all this?"

"I carry the burden of providing the clone bodies Black Hat is using. That poor Doctor Flug wouldn't stop crying to me if I didn't."

Somewhat surprised, he frowned understanding the severity of the situation. "Eh, you're lucky the Toon Force isn't aware of your presence. I should have known a follower like you would do something like this."

Penumbra rocked her head from side to side and folded her arms. "Not quite. Contrary to how I present myself around him, I'm not entirely a fan of his either. And it shows in my work. Every clone body isn't perfect, lacking much of the power he had initially."

She brought her eyes towards the Whirlwind Magisword in Venomous' hand. "That's why he's been so reliant on outside abilities as of late. And every one of his plans have gotten worse than the last. That incident with the New Toon Force was perhaps the first time he has ever failed in; in spectacular fashion, I might add. It's something he absolutely cannot fathom. So he's developed these contingencies to make up for it out of pure desperation. He's become the architect of his gradual demise."

"So you've purposefully made him weaker with each backup he's transferred to," said the One Blade. "Just how many are there?"

"Enough…for now. If it's any comfort, I don't expect him or his men to come after you when you're done. As far as I'm aware, he seems fixated on that Kitra girl. And one of his latest contingencies is already scheduled to fail. Apparently, it involves a corporate mouse and taking a page from your book to work his way up the ranks to effectively take control."

"That sounds…out of character for him, but I'll take your word for it."

"Anyway, technically we're still enemies. But I'm defenseless, and the guards are already in search mode. I'll let them handle you instead. Goodbye."

Not feeling like wasting his stamina on a duel with Penumbra, Venomous silently let her leave the premises past him. He thought for a moment what Kitra and this mouse have that is so important to Black Hat beyond power. And why would he care so much about a kid born from ashes years ago? Whatever the reason, it didn't matter to him. He continued on his mission and went up to the next level where Turbo and Cosma were regrouping after a search on their end. No luck.

"You see anything yet," Turbo asked.

"Nothing. I don't sense anything, I don't smell anything. I thought we'd see the vats around here, and they're empty." He scratched his chin, "Then again, it's probably already loaded into the ship. We'd better check the overhang."

Cosma nodded, "Ok, but first, I wanna take me one'a these!"

In the room beside them where they came was a long armory containing various firearms, including a high-tech dual-barrel railgun, which Cosma claimed for herself.

"Great. Guns. Lotsa guns," T.K.O. commented.

"Yeah. We should take 'em an' burn 'em up. But not this one." Cosma hugged the weapon against her chest. "This is mine."

For a second, Venomous found Cosma's remarks ridiculous, but he instantly had an idea. "Y'know… You might be onto something again. Were there any more armories you saw on the way? Or any makeshift ones?"

"Yes."

And with that, the former superhero had an awful scheme. One which made him grin as wide as a demon.

Meanwhile, Fink, Winnie, and Tai all made it close to the upper floors of the dreadnought towards the bridge. No glorbs, but they did sneak past all the metal guards leaving the small meeting room, occupied by the villainous galactic alien, Vilgax. Winnie didn't see him as they got behind a barrier and whispered, "Hey, I smell something."

"Sure it's not just you for not taking a shower," Fink speculated.

"You wanna see me shower?"

Blushing and dribbling her words, Fink stuttered, "Huh? N-no! No! Definitely not. Nah. That won't be necessary…"

Just beyond the wall, Vilgax conversed with a hologram projection of Black Hat looking as confident as always over the next phase of their plan.

"And you're certain these soldiers you've sent me will suffice," the alien asked.

Black Hat bowed, "Indeed. They haven't failed me before. Not like those Echo Drones we used previously for one of our plans."

"Then you've served me well. Let's test the truth in your words and see if they're as effective as you say. That Ultimate person will be dealt with accordingly."

"Excellent," said the crime boss. "And if you happen to encounter Venomous like I hope, then you'll have my highest backing! The rest of your legion will be waiting for you."

"Who's the big, scary Cthulu guy," Winnie wondered.

"That's Vilgax," said Fink. "One of the roughest, toughest villains around. But like…he's Ben 10's rival. What's he doing attacking…?"

The mouse paused then her eyes widened along with her round ears shooting straight up. Tai looked at her with a questioning stare and she responded back.

"That's right. The villains from yesterday ratted him out…!"

"By the way, I believe there may be a risk of intruders aboard your vessel," Black had advised. "Security couldn't detect Venomous last time, but I've received reports of his whereabouts before. Perhaps he's found a way inside."

Vilgax squinted, sharpening his gaze, "I'll see that for myself."

"Dang it," the werewolf grunted. "He knows we're here."

Fink re-evaluated her strategies quickly and said, "This is NOT according to plan, but at least we can take him. Ben's beat him plenty of times already." She rocked her shoulders and chuckled. "I mean, how tough can one calamari be?"

Tai pointed at Vilgax again and noted something interesting. The alien was glitching. His visage shifted till it dissolved into nothing like Black Hat's hologram. It's at that moment Fink could feel a familiar presence behind her. She, Winnie, and the Gumball clone all turned around slowly to find the warlord standing idle in front of them.

"Holograms," Winnie remarked. "Neat trick."

"Small feral one, when you're tamed, you will make a fine addition to my army," said the alien. "But for the rest of you, be honored that you'll have a place in my trophy room."

"Not a chance!" In a hurry, Fink summoned a fireball in her palm and flug it at Vilgax's dome! The small explosion scorched his face, but it didn't seem to do much as he took only a single step backwards. Tai even jumped at his chest and gave him a huge kick, yet the warmonger kept standing. Vilgax grabbed Tai by the tail, hanging him upside down and kneed him. Luckily, the clone guarded his face with his arms and clawed back at Vilgax's wrist at the right time! When dropped, he spun kicked his ankle, but his opponent brought his legs up one after the other, to which Vilgax responded by bringing his fist into the metal floor! The earthquake from the impact sent a ripple that shot the three fighters up into the ceiling head-first in comedic fashion! Only Winnie could remove herself in time to grapple onto Vilgax's shoulders and try clawing at his face and breathing mask, breaking one of the feeding tubes. He caught her by the head and flung her into a pipe along the side then calmly replaced his apparatus with a backup piece kept in his pocket.

A click reactivated the machine against his mouth and injected a special fluid which swelled his arms ever so much that he appeared to be hulking over everyone around him. Soon Fink and Tai kicked themselves out of a bind and combined a flying fist into Vilgax's gut, sending them with him down the corridor into the lift! Tai pressed a button to a lower level and got out before the Chimera could reach out for him. The elevator fastly began to descend, and the large occupant came bursting out its roof flying in a single bound to the floor he was ejected from. By the time he threw the door open, all three of his foes were gone.

Unphased, he cracked his neck and thought, "Hm… At least they're stronger than Ben was when we first met."

In one of the auxillary access points of the ship, Winnie ran on all fours while Tai and Fink sprinted normally. Venomous' minion called, "Boss, Vilgax knows we're onboard! And he's gonna attack Cattus' place soon!"

"Not a chance."

Already nearing the largest part of the dreadnought, Venomous replied over his channel smirking back at Cosma wielding her new gear. "We'll have this ship destroyed before it even takes off. And I know where the gunpowder is. First we just need to take care of those glorbs, and…"

Before he could even finish, the team stopped dead in their tracks at the sprawling overhang of the cruiser, finding the center of it completely devoid of any small vessel. Let alone its passengers.

"Or at least I thought they'd be here…" He clicked his comm again. "Sandy, you don't see any vats or the Dogstar ship where you are, right?"

"No can do, Professor," the squirrel replied over the radio while battling drones. "This place is clear fer takeoff."

"What about you, Fink?"

"Nothing," she answered. "We got away from Squid Head but we didn't see anything special besides more robots."

"If that's the case, then…"

Venomous!

Cosma wasted no time. She turned around and shot at Vilgax who narrowly avoided the heavy beam of the railgun and pulled his ray shield up, along with a few button presses of the remote control he wears on his wrist.

"Black Hat warned me of your presence. But you're too late. Your allies will pay for interfering."

All of a sudden, the hangar doors of the overhang began to close. The four engines outside rotated down till their ports faced the ground. The upper guns spun to a forward position in preparation for a battle. And the rear thrusters slowly started purring, getting louder until the cave shook and nearly collapsed! Debris from the ceiling crashed into the robots facing Boxman and Sandy right after the squirrel had kicked through a Hat Bot's wide chest and Mikayla tore open another. Everyone took note of the vessel beginning to take off but no hangar door was above it. Instead, its hull began to light up. It glowed and Boxman called in.

"Venny, what's happening?! Talk to me!"

"The ship," Venomous was ready to say. "It's about to…!"

POOF!

As fast as it booted up, the entire battleship flashed into nothing like a camera. Sandy's tail plopped down against the scaffolding and Mikayla got next to Boxman trying to process what happened. To which her master said to himself, in a state of panic, "Oh no…"