"A Fistful of Simoleans"
(season premiere, part 2)
Episode transcript (provided by Kooshmeister)
Aboard the toad mothership, Toad TV reporter Andy Phibian reports on the current predicament being faced by the intrepid crew of The Righteous Indignation, with the mammalian frigate trapped in an asteroid field besieged by thousands of toad double bubbles.
Willy DuWitt repairs The Righteous Indignation's photon accelerator, allowing the mammals to escape just as the toads open fire. The enraged Air Marshal orders a pursuit but is told instead by KOMPLEX, the computer program that rules the Toad Empire, to obtain the satellite clearance codes for the Genus defense system. To this end, the Air Marshal contacts sleazasaur mercenary and spy Al Negator to steal the codes for a fee of five thousand simoleans.
Once in the clear, Bucky O'Hare and his crew thank Willy for his help. Deadeye returns Willy's confiscated squirt gun as well. Willy tries to explain it is only a water-filled toy, but Deadeye insists it is a "fiendish hairless baboon weapon." With Bruce zapped into another dimension, Bucky vows to someday find him, but until then, he offers Bruce's position of chief engineer to Willy, who happily accepts. Inquiring about the toads, Willy is shown a historical video by the android AFC Blinky that explains how the toads created the computer program known as KOMPLEX, which turned them from peaceful creatures into warmongering fascists.
Afterward, acting on what the enslaved hares told him previously, Bucky takes the Righteous to Warren, his homeworld, and is shocked to discover it has been terraformed into a gigantic swamp. A broken toad communicator reveals Warren was used as a test run for the toads' newest weapon: a planetary climate converter. Convinced this is the evidence Bucky needs to convince the Secretary General, the mammals return to Genus and show him the footage of Warren. However, the Secretary General only commissions one more ship, which he names The Indefatigable. Bucky is disappointed at first but is delighted to learn his old friend Dogstar will command it.
Worried about Willy's availability due to him needing to periodically return to Earth for school, Bucky puts out an ad for an assistant chief engineer. None other than Al Negator, who has systemically disposed of other potential applicants, offers his services. Against the advice of his crew, Bucky hires him. Bruce's brother Bruiser, blaming the toads for his brother's disappearance, also very insistently joins the crew as a space marine. Deadeye finds Willy's play money and, thinking it's real money, takes it out of Willy's duffel bag and puts it in his pocket to keep it safe.
Back on Earth, Willy is waylaid by Doug McKenna and his friends Jeff and Mark. After a confrontation, Willy offers to settle their differences by helping Doug with his science project. Doug isn't interested, but Jeff likes Willy's idea for a computerized skateboard. Reluctantly, Doug agrees.
Back in the aniverse, KOMPLEX, disappointed with the Air Marshal's performance, places the intimidating cyborg Toadborg in command of the invasion of Genus. In the meantime, Al Negator makes his move, downloading the clearance codes onto a disk and escaping. Willy returns through his door just as Al remotely sabotages The Righteous Indignation, shutting down everything, including the photon accelerator, trapping Willy in the Aniverse.
Powerless, the mammals watch in horror as The Righteous Indignation, caught in a tractor beam, is drawn toward the terrifying toad mothership.
This episode is available on the US video "The Toad Menace" and the UK video "War of the Warts."
