Neurotoxin (episode)

Neurotoxin is the fourth episode of the first season of Star-Forger and the fourth episode overall.

Synopsis
A bounty hunter who controls toxic gas comes to Earth, and takes a human form. Scott struggles with his trauma after learning about Egos.

Plot
A plane lands at the Cobalt City Airport, with a man in a grey suit stepping out of the terminal in a rush. The man takes out his wallet, revealing his name to be Hans Schultz, an accountant for Von Steele Industries.

He makes a video call on a payphone, talking to his wife and kids in Germany. His wife is scared for him, saying that there are rumors that he embezzled money and is under investigation. Hans tells his wife he will call her back tonight.

Hans then goes outside for a smoke, where he is kidnapped by a metal hand and dragged into the shadows.

Meanwhile, Scott has a nightmare about the black mass that erased his existence, seeing two sinister yellow eyes. Scott wakes up at 2 in the morning, seeing Matt, who is drunk and sitting on the balcony of his apartment.

Scott reveals to Matt that he is suffering from frequent nightmares, and has been unable to sleep since learning of Egos's name from G117. Matt then attempt to cheer Scott up, before falling asleep.

Hans wakes up, passed out on the floor of the airport bathroom. He notices his eyes have turned a bright green, and hears a voice inside his head. The voice introduces itself as Cygmus Kord, a bounty hunter. He reveals that he has used a piece of technology called a Recombinator to merge his consciousness with Hans, effectively blending in with the human population.

Hans begs Kord to let him go, but the bounty hunter assures him that once the merging is complete, he will start to see things his way. Kord then says that he wants to experience Earth, and tells Hans that he is coming along for the ride.

A man then comes out from the stall behind Hans. Hans then begins coughing violently. The man asks if Hans is okay, before green toxic gas comes out of Hans's mouth, flooding the room and suffocating the man.

The next day, Scott transforms into Forger Mode. He leaves Matt's apartment through a window, but loses his balance and falls into a dumpster.

Scott walks through the streets of Cobalt City, greeting people who notice his disgusting smell. Scott then sees a thief attempting to steal a car, and attempts to stop them.

Scott is distracted by a vision of the black mass, being hit with a crowbar by the carjacker. Scott sloppily knocks the carjacker out, as two police cars arrive. He also notices multiple people filming him. The cops attempt to arrest Scott, but he transforms into the newly unlocked Mask Mode, using G117's Cloaking Dial to turn invisible and sneak away.

Back at the airport, Hans is distressed over the man in the bathroom's death. Kord tells him to get used to it. Hans calls him a monster. They bump into a security guard, and Kord tells Hans to take his gun. Hans refuses, but Kord blackmails him by saying he will never see his family again. Hans then grabs the gun, and almost instinctively shoots the security guard in the middle of the airport.

Kord then transforms the gun into a piece of alien weaponry, fusing it to Hans's arm. Kord uses the weapon to flood the entire airport terminal with toxic gas, as everyone suffocates. Kord tells Hans they'll need a transport, as the two steal a taxi, vaporizing the driver.

Scott returns to Matt's apartment, seeing Matt watching his confrontation with the police on TV. Matt flips channels, seeing the situation at the airport, labeled as a chemical-based attack.

Scott perches on a building outside of the airport, changing into Mask Mode and entering the terminal. Scott sees the bodies inside, which then become possessed by gas, their eyes glowing a bright green. The reanimated bodies begin to attack him. Scott attacks some of them, as they evaporate into thin air.

The police then enter, dispatching the rest of the gas zombies. The cops attempt to arrest Scott again, but he again escapes by turning invisible and crawling through an air vent.

Meanwhile, Hans drives the taxi through the streets, going past the speed limit and crashing into a semi-truck. Hans crawls out of the destroyed taxi, heavily injured. His skin then regenerates. Hans asks what he is, with Kord replying that he's no longer human.

A motorcyclist then pulls up to the wreckage, asking if Hans is okay. Hans places his hand on the motorcyclist's face, melting his flesh and killing him. Kord tells him that he didn't need to kill the motorcyclist, but Hans replies that he wanted to. Hans then steals the motorcycle and speeds away.

Scott then arrives at the same area, being attacked by the reanimated motorcyclist. Scott accidentally inhales a dangerous amount of toxic fumes, turning into Chimaera Mode, his eyes having turned green. Scott begins to hallucinate the dead motorcyclist as a hideous alien creature, and then begins to walk through Cobalt City while hallucinating heavily. Scott sees a bar with gas coming out of the windows and runs towards it.

Inside the bar, Hans orders scotch before killing everyone inside except the bartender. Scott then enters the bar and the two begin to fight. Scott begins to see the wave of black mass again, which is intensified by the hallucinogen he inhaled. Hans creates a cloud of gas inside the room, obscuring Scott's vision and then attacking him from behind, pumping more toxins into his body. Scott drops to the floor and begins writhing in pain. Hans exits the bar by passing through a wall.

Hans sees his hands fading in a nearby alley, his human body losing it's composition. Kord tells him that he can never go back, and they're the same now. Hans takes out a family photo in his wallet and burns it. His skin then also burns away, turning him into a being of pure green gas.

Scott then smashes into Matt's apartment, de-transforming. He begins hallucinating Matt as a monster. Matt knocks Scott out and dials 911, calling an ambulance.

Hans, now Neurotoxin, walks down the street as it starts to rain, burning his gaseous body. He tears a car apart, reshaping it into a containment suit with a gas mask and tubes to shield him from the rain.

Matt visits Scott at the hospital. Matt tries to convince him to stay, but Scott says he's the only one who can stop Neurotoxin, leaving the hospital bed. He then transforms into Forger Mode.

Star-Forger meets Neurotoxin at a train station. Neurotoxin tells Scott that he wants his device, but he wants to kill Scott even more. He says he'll be taking the device for himself, instead of delivering it to Egos.

Scott then transforms into Mask Mode as the two fight again. Scott inhales more gas again during the fight. Scott sees the black mass again, but faces it head on. He then uses G117's Sword to slash the tubes on Neurotoxin's armor, exposing him to the rain from the open roof above. Neurotoxin's form begins to destabilize, as Scott continues to cut his armor open more.

The Star-Forger Device then scans Neurotoxin as he evaporates into thin air from the rain, unlocking a new mode: Haze Mode. Scott then transforms into Haze Mode and safely expels the gas from his body. He then deactivates the mode.

Scott then visits the Cobalt City Police Station, talking to the Police Captain, and saying they have to settle their issues now. Scott offers to work together with the police, as they can't face more alien threats alone. The captain accepts, but says he'll keep an eye on Scott.

Later, somewhere in Norway, green mist begins to float down from the sky, growing skin and hair, forming into the shape of Hans, who begins regenerating.

Modes
Star-Forger
 * Forger Mode
 * Chimaera Mode
 * Mask Mode
 * Haze Mode