Venomous Syndicate

Venomous Syndicate is the fourth installment in the Toon Wars: Legacy series centered around Professor Venomous from *OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes* fighting to overthrow the late Shadowy Figure's criminal empire, now ran by Black Hat. All while preventing the escalation of a Mini-Toon War on his home world. It was planned early on in the series' production to follow immediately after the release of Dark Disney but was delayed till New Years Day 2023 to work on the Gameverse Expansion and improve the formatting of the writing. It also introduces illustrations for each chapter to test the style of future original publications and to make it easier for readers to follow along. Chronologically, this occurs between the time skip of the finale of the original cartoon and the end of Dark Disney, starting precisely 2 years following The Watterson.

## Development

Originally, Venomous Syndicate was planned for a late 2021 release to mark the anniversary of Toon Wars and Toon Wars: The Final Days. However, after having issues with the formatting used for Dark Disney, as well as a rushed schedule for release, Frozarburst pushed the story back to late 2022. to address these issues. In the meanwhile, the first storyline in the Gameverse Expansion for Toon Wars: Legacy was posted instead, introducing the prose format and new lore outside the Toonverse. Though it only began in January, Dust and the Sweeper became an overnight success, garnering many views and praise from fans of both Blinx the Time Sweeper and Dust an Elysian Tail for various improvements, especially in comparison to Frozar's previous style of writing. Thanks to this, it was then decided to finally upgrade the next stories for Toon Wars Legacy from a modified script format to professional prose, beginning with Magiswords Darker; a mini-series made for the Tales of the Toonverse line.

As continued posting for Dust and the Sweeper went on, the complete Synopsis and outline of Venomous Syndicate was finalized and scripts for the crossover were being rewritten to better fit the narrative. Original titles for the story were "Venomous Bounty" and "No More Heroes." But it was later decided "Venomous Syndicate," or "Venomous" was enough. Some teasers also included several hints at Mighty Magiswords becoming a major part of the plot as concept art depicted the Professor in a modified version of Cattus the Ultimate's original show attire, and featuring characters from the show along with Venomous and Cosma. The latter is also confirmed to be a key player this time around; with no spoilers, Frozar says her arc is special.

Once Frozar began production on his longtime original projects following the success of Nicktoons Wrath, which introduced one of his characters, Venomous Syndicate was given extra development time as the year drew closer to an end. It was around that time that artwork was being made for each chapter like an actual storybook to make it easier for readers to follow along, draw in new readers, as well as provide context for those who suffer from dyslexia. Each drawing would be done in the style of each respective cartoon. However, this wouldn't be available on Fanfiction.net, which lacked the ability to upload images. Venomous Syndicate would finally be uploaded globally on New Years Day, 2023 as per tradition. There was also a new bonus miniseries posted after the finale named "Super Bunn," as well as a public sampling of Frozar's original work.

## Plot

### OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes and Crossover Forces

As characters would cite numerous times, Professor Venomous was previously involved in both the Shadowy Incident and the formation of the Horde Syndicate prior to Crossover Forces. His monstrous alter ego was responsible for unleashing a wilder version of K.O. on the Earth using its full supply of Glorbs while providing Cyber Catra with a machine capable of producing artificial ones for her army. Both these instances did not fall under the radar when the Toon Republic was established, and Venomous quickly became a priority target once civil war broke out on his planet.

Although Shadowy was killed by Turbo K.O. at the end of the day, his scheme coupled with the Virus Incident by the Toon God prior led to many heroes and villains fearing another event worse than the last. Through the years, those of P.O.I.N.T./Lakewood Plaza Turbo would begin to act more aggressively towards villains to the point where glorbs were employed for a brawl in Toon City, causing significant collateral damage. This forced the Toon Force to isolate their world from the rest of the Toonverse and monitor them for any signs of an outbreak of war.

### First Strike

One day, Venomous returned to Voxmore with his space suit made when he terrorized other planets with Fink shortly after he was freed from Shadowy's influence. He was met by immediate resistance from heroes from Lakewood who considered him their primary target but were effortlessly dismantled when he ejected each part of his suit on them. Inside his base, he was greeted by Cosma waiting for him in his office to discuss current affairs as the "Miniature Toon War" was beginning to escalate, alarming even her. Venomous initially feigned interest since the outbreak boosted Voxmore's profits. However, as Cosma pointed out, this would also force the Toon Republic to seize all assets for both Lakewood and Voxmore if the war wasn't brought to an end. She only asked if he considered himself a hero or a villain by now since it all circles back to him.

That was until the two were ambushed in a surprise attack by three duplicates of Strike; the villain from Crossover Nexus/CN City Incident. One of their beams struck Cosma through the head intended for Venomous who summoned his army of outsourced Hat Bots and reserve Boxbots to protect him. Though even this would prove fruitless as they're all frozen by the clones' medusa cannon. All seemed lost when Cattus, now going by the Ultimate title, arrived with his son Nyando to rescue them. While they faced the copies, Cosma quickly recovered thanks to her biology and proceeded to help Cattus and Nyando destroy the last of the Strikes. However, her injuries caused her personality to regress to that of someone excited and child-like rather than her usual bossy/authoritative, smooth-talking demeanor.

With the clones defeated, Cattus informed the Professor that he was sent to prosecute him for trial due to his part in the Horde Syndicate. Though as evidenced by the arrival of the Strike clones who were previously in storage thanks to Black Hat, it seemed there was more going on than initially discovered, prompting Cattus to invite Venomous and Cosma to his castle in Rhyboflaven. Meanwhile, Mojo Jojo would arrive in Black Hat's fortress to report on the clones' defeat, having been the one to send them after Venomous. The head supervillain would dispose of the monkey, who turned out to be a robot duplicate sent by the original safe in Townsville, and demand the death of the Professor. Despite their previous losses, Black Hat struck a deal with the space warlord, Vilgax, to give him the means of conquering his galaxy in exchange for Venomous' life.

Back to safety, Venomous was met with hostility from the Warriors for Hire but didn't care. He explained how the clones were part of an old crime syndicate Shadowy and Black Hat used to run. Thanks to intel from Hali and Nyando, they rightly deduced that with Shadowy gone, Black Hat wants the criminal underworld to himself and wants Venomous completely out of the picture. At first, Venomous considered asking Cattus to handle the situation for him since he doesn't have powers. But the king offered an alternative: Train Venomous into becoming a One Blade to regain his strength and overthrow Black Hat, potentially ending the Mini-Toon War. Seeing how this could benefit him in the long run to retake control of the crime circuit, Venomous reluctantly agreed.

### New Tricks

Back in Lakewood Plaza, K.O. attended a virtual meeting with Jimmy Neutron and Danny Phantom in regards to the incident in Toon City involving heroes from P.O.I.N.T. K.O. admits to them that he feels partly responsible as all this circles back to the crimes of his father and by extension himself. However, Danny and Dendy try to comfort him saying that he can't blame himself for the actions of everyone else. Danny also confirms that Venomous was around Boxmore recently but cannot find him nor Cosma even with evidence that the latter was injured in a fight. Unbeknownst to everyone, Cattus didn't give them the full report of what happened and was in the middle of training Venomous, which he estimated would take around 4 months to complete. Cosma also participated from time to time, eventually becoming a One Blade herself themed after Bimm and borrowing techniques from the likes of Samurai Jack and other swordsmen to create her own style. Around the 3rd month, Venomous remembered to call Fink anonymously to keep her up to speed without giving away any details on his whereabouts, chalking it up to being on vacation with Boxman after Strike's attack. He's frozen all of Voxmore's assets to protect his resources and keep his cover before cutting communications entirely. Venomous discusses this with Cattus admitting he feels he failed Fink and K.O. as a father and doesn't want to put them all in danger. But Cattus assures him that they love him and would be proud of him for going out of his way to save them even if they couldn't forget his crimes or involuntary abuse. He gives Venomous the chance to move forward with his plan against Black Hat in the state he's in or spend his last month with the final stages of his training to become a full One Blade; the latter of which the Professor agrees to ensure his victory.

### Worthy

After a short but hard fought spar against Cattus the Ultimate in single combat, Venomous concedes realizing no matter how hard he tries to defeat him, he cannot hope to kill him even when the opportunity is there. Cattus continued to counter virtually every move the Professor threw at him, with Venomous understanding killing him would lead to the entire planet and possibly the Toonverse coming after him in response. He surrendered, but this meant he passed the test understanding the consequences of his actions and fully assuming the role of a One Blade.

With his mission complete, he and Venomous set off to form their own syndicate in hopes that their team can help them put an end to Black Hat's plans. However, Venomous also has ulterior motives for the crime circuit with the intention to take over once its current head is dethroned. It's then that he decides to pay Shadowy Fink, the alternate future version of prime Fink, a secret visit in Toon City where they discuss the plan in detail; Shadowy Fink already made fully aware of his training thanks to Cosma and Bimm. She had Turbo and by extension Nanini selected for the mission and commissioned a heavily modified Irken shuttle for a mobile headquarters provided by Sandy Cheeks and Entrapta.

Turbo K.O. in particular was an interesting choice as he himself was K.O.'s darker side separated thanks to the Toon God. But by now, he's fully matured and wonders if Venomous got as much of a welcome or even considered visiting his family after all he's done. Personal matters aside, he retrieved Nanini but was encountered by Enid and a few others near Lakewood who chased after the alien for stealing a motorbike. Before they could question Turbo for answers, he teleported with her to Venomous and company, leading Enid to ask K.O. why he's never brought up his twin to his friends; even Carol wondering as much as she assumed they already knew. He admits he didn't want to associate with Venomous nor his darker side, but his mom believes he shouldn't circle out Turbo due to the actions of another man.

Once all the other members are gathered, Venomous finally returns to Boxman's cabin to inform him of his plan. Not wanting to put him in harm's way, he suggests moving to Castle Rhyboflaven for the time being. Boxman volunteers to monitor the team's progress from there and inform them of any sudden happenings in the criminal underbelly with Nyando.

### Ghoul School

To fill in for Boxman on the away team, he hires Scaramouche who provides expert support on the field thanks to his gravity-manipulating flute. Cattus tells Venomous of strange energy readings being detected at the Ghoul School a distance away from Lakewood, suspecting it to be part of Black Hat's grander ambitions. Together, Venomous and his team go there and find Winnie Werewolf, one of the school's residents and a friend of Enid's, tied up by members of Black Hat's villains searching for the Professor. She directed the team to the school itself where Hatbots, Jasper, Father, Ice King, Black Cuervo, and a clone of Dementia (the real one believed to have died at the end of Crossover Forces) guard Dr. Flug and a shipment of raw unrefined Glorbs. These glorbs in this early liquid state are highly unstable with varying side effects. However, as demonstrated by Turbo, they could also be used as a bioweapon as one shot caused an explosion that completely atomized Copy Dementia. The rest of the villains attempted to fight back while the material was being loaded through a portal to Black Hat's lair, but Winnie arrived in the nick of time to aid Venomous' crew while Cosma faced Jasper and sent her fleeing back to Earth.

Although their enemies were beaten and left for custody, Dr. Flug still managed to escape along with the shipment of Glorbs needed for Black Hat's secret agenda. Fortunately, this gave the group an idea as to what it could be and led to Boxman and Nyando learning more behind the scenes.

### Drive

The next day, Cattus informed Venomous of a strange deal that was made at Enterra Drive Yards between its owner and Black Hat's organization. While the team heads to the station, Shadowy Fink is suddenly ambushed by her own employees; corrupted under the influence of experimental Glorbs from Black Hat's men. The prime version of Fink arrived just in time to end the scuffle and come to learn from her counterpart that Venomous was secretly hiding in Castle Rhyboflaven, informing her of his current mission.

On said mission, to keep the main facility busy, Venomous opts to have Cosma launched in the hangar sporting her full One Blade attire so all eyes can be drawn onto her. This plan worked, even going so far as for Cosma to save Potato from drowning when she fell in chemicals that gave her powers. Once Venomous and Scaramouche reached the Chairman's office, he explained himself to the professor who left him with a warning that once the Toon Force finds out, he'll surely be on trial for his part in aiding a terrorist. Made worse when his association with Black Hat gets factored in. Unable to grapple with both, the Chairman offs himself shortly after Venomous and Scaramouche left to find the server room to get information on Black Hat's project.

Meanwhile, when Fink arrives in one of the private hangars, she interrupted by the sudden appearance of former Queen Vexus, who's returned from decades of exile to exact her revenge on XJ-9 using the Chairman's stash of weapons and her refined armor and abilities. She's also led the villains who've sided with Black Hat to the Drive Yards to deal with Venomous themselves as she sees no interest in him. These evildoers in particular, consisting of Mandark, Glowface, and Princess Morbucks, countered the team at the hangar they arrived in. Fortunately, with Cosma's help, as well as Winnie's sharp claws and Scaramouche's flute, they were able to dismantle each of the villains in their separate arenas.

Even with this victory and Fink joining the team after Venomous apologizes for leaving her out in fear for her safety, Scaramouche's body gets destroyed by Vexus before she was crushed by Cosma. Thankfully, the robot assassin's head was perfectly intact and he elected to stay behind to keep Venomous; whereabouts unknown.

In regards to Shadowy Fink's attempted assassination, the question of how the workers were infected and where Venomous was led to the theory of an "inside guy" cropping up. But before investigating, the files Sandy Cheeks accessed remotely from the server reveal not only plans for a second dreadnought based on The Invincible, but another vessel in the form of the top half of the retired Dogstar Patrol Ship, which EDY held for scraps. As Venomous pieced together, the ship's durability and carrying capacity would be enough to hold the unrefined Glorbs gathered from the Ghoul School, and the attack on Shadowy Fink was merely a beta test for what to expect once the ship reaches its destination; the goal being to turn everyone in its radius fully turbonic.

Fortunately, they know now that the ship itself is contained within the dreadnought, which will be commanded by Vilgax as part of his deal with Black Hat. In the meantime, when returning to Lyvsheria, the team comes to find out that Cattus and Bimm had already left the castle for a night out, assuming Venomous had returned an hour ago according to Witch Way. The moment the team entered, they were ambushed by wild animals and a group of villains in the basement consisting of Orangusnake, HueHue, Aquamarine, Morbidia, Gateaux, and High Roller. As the critters are dealt with, Venomous, along with Boxman, Fink, Turbo, and Simone handle the rest of the evildoers; though Orangusnake and HueHue end up escaping back to Pure Heart Valley.

As it turned out, the villains only knew of Venomous' location from Witch Way overhearing a conversation the Warriors for Hire had over the Professor's training with Cattus. This intermission, on the bright side, bought Shadowy Fink enough time to find a new lead on the dreadnought's location in the form of Tai, a clone of Gumball Watterson born during the incident with Spectra Corp.

### Hidden

Tai stated that the dreadnought was located underneath Black Hat Manor, abandoned following the organization's defeat in Crossover Forces. While Nanini and Sandy stayed with the ship, the rest of the team with Boxman and Mikayla as a distraction were led deep into the caverns where the cruiser was docked, intended to be teleported to its target once completed. By the time they broke in, however, the ship was finished and Vilgax already reminded Black Hat of his end of the deal to destroy Lyvsheria and Venomous with the cruiser provided to him. Unlucky for the team, the warmonger already sensed they were coming and gave chase. But before he could encounter Venomous himself, the Professor stumbled upon Dr. Penumbra in the area meant to house the glorbs. Before she left, she explained that she was responsible for providing the clone bodies of Black Hat but purposefully made each weaker than the last, stating she wasn't entirely a fan of his either. While she doesn't go into detail on her end-goal, it seems she's aware of his contingencies and has been working to mitigate the damage the heroes would inevitably face, including Black Hat's latest objective to reach the Disneyverse and take over from the inside.

After their conversation, Penumbra departed and Venomous was cornered by Vilgax who launched the dreadnought for hyperspace with everyone onboard. Fortunately, Cosma and Turbo had activated a number of bombs kept in the ship's many armories, which Venomous detonated causing significant damage that kept it from firing on Rhyboflaven. With the ship in full view of the kingdom, the Professor knew the Toon Force would immediately be informed but was ready to expose his whereabouts as he was close to completing his mission. That was, at least, partially done as the Glorb Vessel was missing in the overhang.

With the Toon Force informed, KO and his allies were about to be updated when K.O. suspected Shadowy Fink or the prime Fink would be more than aware of their step father's absence and where to find him. He dropped his phone on the way to Toon City when Carol got the message, teleporting over to the fight against Vilgax to save a wounded Cosma from one of his attacks, recognizing the lizard as a fellow hero thanks to her rescue at EDY. Even with her reunion with Turbo, whom she treats as a son the same way as K.O., this victory doesn't last as Vilgax activates the ship's main gun, only for it to overload and blow out the hyperdrive. As Black Hat revealed, he tricked the warlord into pulling this invasion to have Venomous, Cattus, Bimm, and everyone else in Lyvsheria in one place so that the dreadnought could detonate and take them with it. With the hyperdrive broken and unable to be shut down, everyone was ready to die when Cosma evacuated all aboard the cruiser and grew to titanic proportions. Now assuming her original personality, she devoured the ship whole and teleported to deep space where it exploded safely away from the planet, sacrificing herself to save it.

### For Cosma

After Cosma's sacrifice, Carol went to confront a distraught Venomous but was caught off guard when Fink yelled at her, explaining that he was trying to save everyone when Cosma took the fall. Those in the Toon Force present were equally stunned at this revelation and were informed by Cattus about his training and Black Hat's plan to corrupt everyone in Lakewood Plaza and P.O.I.N.T. Now that everyone was on the same page, Venomous, now reignited as his former Laserblast identity, takes command of the mission to stop Black Hat.

Meanwhile, K.O. confronts Shadowy Fink for answers on his father's whereabouts, nearly breaking down in tears out of fear of becoming like him and refusing to accept that his father has changed. Through comfort from the alternate Fink, he learned the truth and came to terms with it just in time to return to Lakewood to help Turbo and the prime Fink in the fight as the heroes and villains of both their world and Black Hat's have gone turbonic due to the radiation from the unstable glorbs. All the Toon Force needed to do was get up to the Patrol Ship commandeered by Black Hat atop the P.O.I.N.T. Headquarters floating above the city, which had been emptied due to everyone participating in the battle below. With help from Centurion, Laserblast was able to reach the cruiser, attempting to kill Black Hat but was cut off by his old team from when he was a hero, apart from Mr. Gar who managed to resist the effects of the glorbs. While Tai brought Gar to safety and Dendy remained at his building with Koala Princess, everyone else fought on the streets trying to keep the corrupted busy so Venomous could launch the ship back into space to prevent the detonation from spreading the radiation.

During the fight, Boxman, K.O., and Centurion were all heavily damaged, nearly to the point of death before being rescued by Super Bunn (formerly Potato), Shadowy Fink, Robotboy and Robotgirl, and the combined form of the Boxbots. Eventually, after Laserblast threw everyone out of the ship, he was too injured to keep fighting. He was only able to succeed by pointing out a flaw in Black Hat's plan: That because he's turning everyone into monsters like him, no one would be loyal to him. The result were people from below attacking the island to destroy it with Black Hat on it, distracting him long enough for Venomous to raise the island itself with Cattus' Magisword and jump out before the detonation with the mastermind inside.

### Aftermath

With Black Hat's death yet again, Dr. Flug returned to his world to activate the next batch of clone bodies of his leader, but was left with only two to escape with when Vilgax arrived to destroy the others and claim the base for himself. As everyone in Lakewood recovered, Laserblast asked Boxman to make final preparations for something following his business proposal to Shadowy Fink. This involved her plan to acquire Enterra Drive Yards now that the CEO was outed as a terrorist, and selling the Voxmore brand to the Toon Force. This sparked a buzz in the Toonverse as Venomous was still considered a terrorist himself due to his previous schemes. However, his prosecution wouldn't come as during the press conference held at Voxmore, the facility exploded, taking Venomous and Boxmore with it.

Following the funerals held for the two villains, the fallen at the battle of Lakewood, as well as Cosma, P.O.I.N.T. was reorganized and the Toon Republic no longer needed to take action. All that was left was a recorded message from Venomous to Fink informing her that he and Boxman are safe in a hidden location he wished not to disclose, even to her. He encouraged her to continue to evolve past his old habits and to explore herself so that she could be better than he and the people of their world ever were. Taking his word, she joined Nanini and Winnie on their ship used throughout their adventure and set out to travel the Toonverse together.

Elsewhere, on Netherworld where Carla had moved to prior to Black Hat's invasion, she finds a still alive Cosma buried in rubble, having been thrown a few years back in time from the hyperdrive malfunction.

### Super Bunn

Sometime following the main story, Potato, now going by the superhero alias "Super Bunn," was tasked with rescuing Mao Mao and Badgerclops from Delilah, who allied herself with the Sky Pirates. Gl-0 partnered with Potato, shapeshifting to sneak behind enemy lines while Super Bunn dealt with HueHue and Orangusnake's crew, eventually stumbling upon Tanya Keys being interrogated by Snooky Wookums. As the bounty hunter explained, she purposefully let herself get caught to get closer to Delilah, whom she had a deep history with, bad enough for Tanya to break character and face her hand-to-hand. With the combined efforts of Super Bunn and Gl-0, they overpowered Orangusnake and freed Mao Mao and Badgerclops just in time before they could be struck by lightning. With her plan foiled, Delilah retreats without a moment's notice, declaring that she's here to stay in Pure Heart Valley. In the end, the heroes are praised but Gl-0 still feels trauma from her experience being corrupted by Black Hat's Glorbs, which Super Bunn gladly continues to help her overcome.

## Timeline

Chronologically, this storybook occurs roughly 2 years post-The Watterson and during the flash-forward seen in the finale *of OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes*, suggested by K.O. and Fink's age (around 18-early 20's). There are numerous references to the gap between The Final Days and Crossover Forces where Shadowy Figure was at the height of his power prior to his death at the hands of T.K.O, including the cameo appearance of Cyber Catra. It's also said that he died in the two years before Crossover Forces, lining up with the ages of each character from the show by now.

As the ending suggests, Cosma was also thrown backwards in time just before The Watterson where she is married by then. Both Black Hat's remaining clone bodies wouldn't be seen till Dark Disney; both of which were destroyed by then.

## Illustrations

As advertised, this is the first time any of Frozar's literature works featured illustrations for every chapter. This was done to help those who have trouble reading long strings of text, dyslexic, or those who weren't previously interested follow the story better than they would without the art. Each drawing was created using production material from Mighty Magiswords, OK K.O., and various other shows including screenshots, model sheets, and concept art, aiming to emulate the style of each respective cartoon for a more faithful adaptation. But every once in a while, Frozar's style returns when it comes to backgrounds or more dynamic/intense shots, such as Cattus' smirk when Venomous kneels or the flat-colored cinematic angle of the pair before squaring off atop a building. This noticeably causes a major shift in detail, which isn't uncommon for the source material as it frequently changes its style depending on the scene.

On the subject of screenshots, because certain backgrounds weren't saved separate from several episodes, Frozar was forced to recreate different areas using their stills as a reference. This includes Boxman's office, the lot Venomous stood on before heading to Voxmore, and the sky above Cattus to name a few. However, on occasion, parts of the original shots can be seen being used with certain elements cut out, such as the blinds behind Cosma in the office prior to the Strike attack or the void of space in the opening cover to chapter 1.

## Trivia

* K.O before the time skip in *OK K.O. Let's be Heroes* was 11. However, in Venomous Syndicate, he's 18. This was done to stay in line with the original series gap before he reaches his thirties, and to avoid confusion with the timeline. By the finale of Dark Disney, he's 28.
* Along with K.O., Kitra returns still young following Crossover Forces and several years before the end of Dark Disney where she is 15 years old. Many fans enjoyed Cyber Catra as a character in Crossover Forces, so Frozar decided to have her cameo in this story as well.
	+ On that note, it's very likely that Kitra recognizes Venomous thanks to her (as Cyber Catra) meeting his Shadowy side prior to the first Legacy project. Like the other characters, she was drawn in the style of her respective cartoon, She-Ra And the Princesses of Power, giving us a more faithful look at her appearance.
* As Cosma explained in Chapter 6, K.O.'s encounter with the President of the Universe turned out to be a complete fabrication; the result of trauma from accidentally killing everyone when he drained them of energy in his rampage as T.K.O. This is hinted by the fact that Cosma brought him to space after finding him alone, saying all the glorbs he absorbed were shot back to Earth to re-energize everyone before he teleported away. Turbo also suggested that him seeing the President of the Universe instead of Cosma was because of a poster he saw in CN City.
* Heavy inspiration for this arc comes from multiple Star Wars sources, including the Shadow Collective arc of *The Clone Wars* series, *Dark Disciple*, and the *Darth Plagueis* novel.
* There are numerous references to the Metal Gear franchise, including but not limited to:
	+ Sandy Cheeks referring to Venomous as "Big Boss"
	+ Cosma asking "Kept you waiting, huh?"
	+ The track "Rules of Nature" playing in the fight against the Strike clones, which was also referenced in Dust and the Sweeper's first chapter
* Although she makes an appearance, Bimm surprisingly has no dialogue. This was done to keep the plot focused on Venomous and because the author thought it was funny to keep her quiet since she's been in every Legacy story up to this one.
* While we don't see Hali in person, it is stated that she is married to Nyando and has been partnering with him in his investigation on the Black Hat-owned crime circuit.