Kings and Thieves

"Kings and Thieves" is the fifth episode of season one in the The ACS.

Synopsis
As a new addition to the extraordinary group of vigilantes known as the ACS, Wario must take up bigger responsibilities. Disliked by Nozus and the others shunning him, Wario goes home after a long day. As he drifts off into his slumber, a night terror shocks him. Before his eyes, his parents are hanged. In the nightmare, Wario cries and is shown leaving his home for a whole new place, Nicktropolis.

Startled and in distress, Wario wakes up panting. After driving to Starbucks for breakfast, he meets up with the ACS at the HQ. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure watches Wario and cackles villainously. John updates the group on the current crime statuses while Wario drifts away. Again, he sees the horrible situation nearly making him have a heart attack. John wakes him up and angrily dismisses him. As Wario walks away to another room, he sees a shadow and is startled. Wario dashes forward to attack but no one is there. Another flashback attacks the hero, this time reminding him of the man who killed his parents the corrupt King Tryklo.

A distressed Wario groans and falls down from the shear shock and pressure. Panting, he sees the same figure who says, "Hey, it's the lil' baby. Cry much? HAHAHAHA! I just slowly took off their head!" Soon, Wario got up and charged forward to knock into a rock as the figure disappeared. He was knocked out and woke up in the ACS HQ. Bagel, Web, and JJam were happy and Nozus smugly said, "Glad you showed up." Wario smiled and then told the gang that he needed help. Soon, the HQ was on lock down as they saw a figure barely hopping out. Wario went back into his coma-like commotion. It was King Tryklo's laugh, but it slowly got distorted as did his figure. Then, he saw man with a face very similar to John's. Bagel woke Wario up as he told them what he saw. John got a scowl as he said, "Mimic".

They chase Mimic as John finally does what he needs to. After a pointblank shot, Mimic is dead. However, the head pops up with a childish "BOI-OI-OI-OING!" This leads them to believe it was just a dummy. On a rooftop about a block away, a cloaked figure cackles.

Forcing himself to enter the nightmarish state, Wario hopes to succeed in finding more information. His only discovery was King Tryklo saying, "Duped! Stay out of my head." The figure cackles and disappears. Our heroic team is depressed until Nozus gets an idea. He hooks up Wario to a wire to retrieve his memories. Finding the frequency of the villain's voice, Nozus cleverly puts the noise in the database. Bagel and Wario are confused while John tells Nozus, "Good idea." They all go home at night and come back 4:00 AM after an alarming contact from Nozus. He reveals the noise can be tracked back to Edward Lector, a young teenager who was very silent and dark, who disappeared in 1966 and at the age of 18 in Dragkon Canyon, west of Nicktropolis.

The team visits Dragkon Canyon in hopes of discovering evidence. As they enter, a fatal nightmare comes to Wario. "Tryklo" tells him to stay out angrily as Wario is trapped in a world where his parent's death is repeated over and over. Wario is sent into a coma, and the other carry him as they go farther. Cave drawings primitively explain things. Things of legend, such as the Mask of Gods resting in the shrine at the top of the canyon. Soon, they see it's capabilities: mimicking memories and people to drive others insane. The mask was locked in the deadly shrine to make sure no one ever got it. As the members start to understand, they hear an ear piercing scream. The villain tries to infiltrate their minds, but takes focus off of Wario. Wario wakes up and blocks the scream with his own. His teammates get cover while Wario see's a shadow fall down the rocks into a cave. They chase him into the cave, and are knocked down by an avalanche. The team fall into a nearby lake and come out to see the figure running. The ACS chase him into the heart of the city.

Wario and his vengeful teammates finally reach Edward at a building. Edward explains his real name, Phantom, the tortured host of the Mask of Deceit. Wario soon gets the team together as they trap him. As one last stand, Phantom sends Wario into his parent's death in a slow closeup. Wario uses his strength and new found sense of justice to easily break the trance. Uncontrollably, Wario beats up the Phantom, breaking his mask as he gets weak and ages fast. This soon explains how Phantom keeps his youthful appearance. As Phantom nearly reaches death, his team hold him back. Wario sweats and pulls back. Nozus takes Phantom into custody in a tight max security cell. The next day, Phantom is gone without a trace. As Wario goes to enjoy a day off at a lake, he lazily fishes. As the sun sets Wario mutters to himself, "I'm never going back..."