Adventure Overview
Players: Mr. Rhyze, Morton.
Enemies: Don Cherry, the media and the Yankees.
Started: After the Mr. Body mystery had been solved.
Ended: With the Epsilon Replacements' victory.
Mr. Rhyze offered to help find another Blitzball player, and so the two split up in their search, after a quick visit to Sam's. During this visit, they discovered that Sam had no Blitzball abilities, although he would be happy to watch any such games. Mr. Rhyze went over to security and asked Blank, but received a second negative response. This fast became a trend. Next, the communications officer went up to the bridge. He found the room crowded. Daikon-7 himself was there, apparently inspecting the station. Mr. Rhyze impressed the sponsor with his George Takai chair. Zaya and Picard were also in the bridge, both anxious to earn Daikon-7's approval. Surprisingly enough, Fayde was also present. He seemed interested to meet the owner of the Daikon corporation. Smug as ever, Daikon-7 declared his intention to travel a few more days with the SpaceDome, until the beginning of the Intergalactic Cup. Perhaps, he speculated, they would next go visit the Electran Steel Star station. Fayde shot down this proposition immiediately, declaring that the Electran military station had no Blitzball team, and civilians weren't authorised to visit it. As the Electran officer was about to leave the bridge, Mr. Rhyze asked him if he played Blitzball. Although he was a supporter of the Electran team, Fayde replied that he did not play himself. It appeared that Mr. Rhyze would need to look elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Morton was having no better luck. He had wandered over to Bennigan's in search of a third player, and had yet to find one. Although Lucky would undoubtedly be good at fleeing with ball (since everyone wants it), it was dubious that he would even pass it to his own team. Jamal was basically immobile, and Shaimus would be simply too untrustworthy, and as likely to tackle his own team for no reason at all. Discouraged, Morton sat down at a table and ordered a guiness. However, he was soon joined by the Trenchcoated form of Tintin. The latter had heard that Morton was the coach of the Epsilon team, and had come to speak with him on serious matters. After revealing his true identity, Tintin declared that he was on the track of a massive conspiracy which had led him here. He had a feeling that something terrible would happen, and he would likely end up linked with a set of important characters (hence Morton) to deal with it. As usual, Tintin was sketchy on the details, but mentioned a vague distrust of the other reporters. He was very interested when Morton mentioned the fact that Penny and her crew had arrived before the SpaceDome. Apparently, that ship's route had been a closely guarded secret, which left one to ponder why a media team would come to a remote station like Epsilon. Vowing to investigate further, Tintin left Morton to find another player.
Speculating that Falco might know something about the sport, Morton headed down to the Military bay. He found the other pilot hard at work repairing the damage caused in the race. Johnny was also there, mourning the loss of his ship. Although Falco didn't know much about Blitzball, he would be willing to try if funding was on the line. However, at the mention of Blitzball, 'The Man' instantly volunteered. Apparently, Blitzball was the national sport of Tortzelli, and Johnny had all the skills they would need. A quick practice session in which Johnny was joined by Mr. Rhyze and Keepa confirmed his abilities. Of course, like Mr. Rhyze, Johnny was quite the ball-hog. His shot was by far his best characteristic. Morton couldn't afford to be picky about complimentary skills, and so it seemed that the team was formed. The only thing needed now was a name. Both Johnny and Mr. Rhyze wanted to name it after themselves, but in the end Keepa's idea for the Epsilon Replacements reached the media first, and became the team's official name.
The time for practice was over, and the game was set to begin. The Epsilon Replacements crowded into their locker room after only a few statements to the media and an encouraging 'Go Team!' from Keith. Yankee stadium was crowded, full of journalists and almost the entire staff of the space station. Steinbrenner, Daikon-7, Commander Zaya and Picard were seated in an elevated box over the large Blitzball sphere, as it slowly filled. Don Cherry provided commentary from the sidelines as the Epsilon team made their entrance. As the crowd roared in approval, Tintin sidled up to Morton. He had spotted a member of a tech crew carrying a gun. Although it was only a PK-43, it was still odd for a member of the press, and Tintin slipped away, vowing to investigate further. Turning his attention back to Yankee Stadium, Morton watched as the Yankee team was introduced by Don Cherry.
Babe Ruth Vana White Jet The game began with the advantage going to the Yankees. Vana managed to overcome Mr. Rhyze at the Blitzoff, and wasted not a moment in passing to Babe Ruth. Like a tubby whale, Babe waddled down towards Keepa's net. Both Johnny and Mr. Rhyze threw themselves at him, to no effect. In no time at all, Babe's heavy shot streaked past Keepa's guard into the customary corner of the net. The first goal went to the Yankees. However, the Replacements managed to even it out after a few more minutes of intense play. Mr. Rhyze's Sphere shot proved too much even for Jet's amazing goaltending skills. However, Mr. Rhyze could only use this special move once. But thanks to Johnny's own special move, which made full use of the Man's Magnetism, a rebound was caught and passed to Mr. Rhyze, allowing him to score a second time. Several failed shots followed, until Babe scored a second time on Keepa. The first half ended with two teams tied at two points. As the players passed out autographs in the stadium, and Johnny went after the ladies, Morton returned to the locker room for some interviews.
Race: Deksiilan
Occupation: Captain of the Yankees
As most should be able to guess, Babe Ruth was a fat man in a white and black Yankees uniform. He wore a black ballcap, and a large hotdog was never far from his hand. Or his mouth. Although his movements skills were much less than impressive, his shots were powerful and he attempting to tackle him was rather like throwing yourself at a whale. On the other hand, the only thing he could dish out was another helping of food.
Race: Deksiilan
Occupation: Member of the Yankees Blitzball Team
Vana was a recent, and somewhat odd addition to the Yankee Blitzball team. Some experts speculate that George Steinbrenner arranged a rather bad deal when he traded Joe DiMaggio for Vana White. Her clothing was totally impractical for Blitzball, and included a white spandex dress, high-heels and diamond bracelets. These clothes, and Vana herself, seemed more suited to turning around letters in a gameshow than playing in a competitive sport. Of course, Johnny rather enjoyed her presence on the opposing team.
Race: Loracian
Occuaption: Goaltender for the Yankees
Jet was the only member of the Yankees to earn the respect of Don Cherry, which said a great deal about his skills. A dark-haired man, Jet wore white martial-arts pants and no shirt. His muscles were impressive, and he looked to be in excellent physical shape. Not only that, he had the Hundred-Hand Stop, which was rumoured to be able to stop a hundred shots at once. Of course, as all soon discovered, such a thing would have little chance of stopping even one Sphere Shot.
To Morton's surprise, Penny and her crew were the only ones waiting for him in the locker room. Evidently, the others were all out talking to the players. Penny was eager to get Morton's uninformed assessment on the first half. As the coach stepped up to say a few words, he suddenly noticed the boom-mike operator pressing a cloth towards his face. Penny gasped, and Morton had time for only one word: Chlorofoam! As darkness descended on Morton, his gaze fell on the smirking face of Rastipopeles.
Despite the absence of the Replacements' coach, the game in Yankee Stadium began its second half. However, things quickly picked up for the Epsilon team. Mr. Rhyze and Johnny dominated the field, scoring three more goals. And even though they couldn't knock Babe down, Keepa made several amazing saves to help with the shut-out in the second half. Totally outmaneuvered and still hungry, Babe's team was forced to end the game with a score of five to two for the Epsilon Replacements. Thunderous applause rolled over the stadium, still almost drowned out by Cherry's loud rant on the game and the hits it had featured. After signing a Blitzball, Mr. Rhyze kicked it out of the Sphere into the enthusiastic crowd, where it was caught by a cheering Newt.
Morton's situation wasn't nearly so glorious. He awoke tied in a closet next to both Penny and Tintin. Apparently, the latter of that pair had been captured earlier, and subjected to his worst dread, chlorofoam. But before being knocked out, Tintin had finally recognised Penny's cameraman. It was Rastipopeles, an old enemy that he had faced many times before. Apparently, he had once been a Chalchakian drug dealer, but had been forced by Tintin to flee the planet and become a hitman. All this excitement gave Penny the urge to do an interview, despite the fact that there was no camera in sight. Without wasting time speculating on Rastipopeles' motives, Tintin managed to break free of the ropes and helped the liberate the other two. Morton and Tintin ran into the stadium, finding the Blitzball game already over. There was no sign of Rastipopeles, but he could have been up on any one of the four balconies. Scanning the crowd, Morton and Tintin both spotted a small red lazer dot focused squarely on Commander Zaya's forhead. It looked like a lazer scope.
With no time to spare, the two rushed up balcony from which the beam was angled, and found Rastipopeles aiming his camera, complete with scope on top, down at the commander. The villain likely would have shot earlier had not the boom-mike been in his way. Rastipopeles was not surprised by Tintin's arrival, and ordered his four goons to take care of them. However, with several knockout punches, exclaimations and double-fisted whammies, the villains were soon defeated. Although Rastipopeles' sniper rifle camera proved powerful, it also proved fragile when subjected to a fall off the balcony. It seemed that Epsilon had won a second victory, this time over drugs, villainy and incompetent boom-mike operators. Penny was there moments later to get the exclusive scoop on the encounter, and Morton did not mind expounding on it at great length.
After all the excitement had calmed down, the Epsilon Replacements were reunited with their coach. Daikon-7 was there to congratulate the team. He would be leaving soon with the SpaceDome, but first rewarded each member of the team with a ticket for one of the Championship matches. He also promised that a new ship would be waiting for them the next time they came to Starbase. As Mr. Rhyze would often say, it appeared that Blitzball was very important indeed to the very survival of Space Station Epsilon.
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