Adventure Overview
Started: At a security conferance dealing with the kidnapping of Mr. Rithos.
Ended: With Johnny's explosive entrance.
By now, Morton had reached the Chevrignon, venue for the filming of Celebrity Jeopardy. There was a long line of well-dressed people waiting to gain admittance into the hotel, but Morton used his fear factor to brush past them. This tactic didn't work on the suited guards. They informed him that he needed to have an invitation or be a celebrity to gain entrance to the taping. In response, Morton claimed to be a member of the kitchen staff at the hotel. However, when pressed for any sort of identification, he ended up contradicting his own story by claiming to be a Blitzball celebrity. In the end, Morton was forced to give up and take his leave, his credibility in tatters. His attempt to enter through a back door proved no more effective. Failing that, the pilot decided to use one of Starbase numerous air shafts to gain entrance into the luxurious hotel. Unfortunately, the nearest vent was locked with a security device, and Morton had no clearance code with which to bypass it. But he did have a crowbar. Predictably, Chris Tucker happened to show up on the scene just as Morton was attempting to pry open the hatch. Some banter and brandishing of firearms quickly ensued. Fortunately for Morton's sake, one of Chris' trademark jive rants was interrupted by the arrival of Johnny, The Man. Johnny was on his way to the Chevrignon for the Jeopardy taping. Morton told him it was difficult to get in, but Johnny replied that it would be no problem for The Man. Furthermore, Johnny suggested that he would likely be one of the celebrities appearing on the show. This suggested several plans to Morton, and he begged Johnny to help him get inside. He also slipped Johnny his cattle prod, and urged him to make use of it when shaking Alex Trebek's hand. Chris Tucker pretended not to notice this, and went back towards the security center to wait for calls.
As they approached the dignified guards at the entrance of the Chevrignon, Morton asked Johnny if he had an invitation. Johnny seemed confused by the very idea of needing an invitation, and strutted confidently past the line. When he introduced himself to the guards as Johnny, The Man, they automatically assumed that he Johnny Cage, the acclaimed movie star rumoured to be aboard the station. Johnny was a bit confused about the way they kept referring to him as 'Mr. Cage', but didn't let that stop him from striding past and gesturing Morton to follow. Unfortunately, the guards weren't afflicted by extremely short memories, and recalled Morton's last attempt to gain entrance. Only by explaining that he was Johnny's 'manager' was Morton able to gain their permission. And by correcting his state of underdress by purchasing a suit jacket from one of the two guards. Thus outfitted, the pilot was able to follow Johnny into the Chevrignon. As they walked through the halls, Morton snatched a pillow from a nearby couch and ripped it open, stuffing feathers into his vest. The guards found this suspicious, but Johnny assured them that it was nothing to worry about. The two soon located the gallery where Jeopardy was being filmed. A large group of well-dressed people were gathered around a makeshift stage. Alex Trebek was seated on that stage, reading off a nearby teleprompter. The contestants were already seated at their booths, and included such celebrities as photographer Tenmei Kanoh, the famous Blitzball player from Harvard, who was equipped with both his degree and a laptop, and Scorpion, the infamous assassin and Mortal Kombat character.
The teleprompter gave Morton some ideas. Some quick observation revealed the curtained booth where the messages were being typed onto this prompter. As Alex continued to deliver his opening comments, Morton and Johnny slipped into this booth. A lone techie was busy typing into the prompter. Despite Morton's offers of bribes, the man seemed unwilling to type inappropriate comments onto the prompter. In fact, he even threatened to call security, but this only resulted in Morton smacking him into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, Morton didn't have the technical skills to operate the teleprompter. And despite his manly claims to the contrary, Johnny proved no better at this technical endeavor, since it wasn't very similar to customizing space ships. They needed help from an expert in communications. Unfortunately, Morton had no way of contacting Mr. Rhyze. Once again, his caused was saved by Johnny, who possessed a very powerful cell-phone. He was easily able to patch into the frequency of Mr. Rhyze's communicator and send him a message. When Mr. Rhyze heard that Harvard was at the Celebrity Jeopardy, he agreed to come immiediately. In the way, he happened to encounter Faust. The mortician had seen part of the live Celebrity Jeopardy showing on a few of the massive TVs on display and Radioshack, and was on his way to confront Scorpion. The two had an easier time gaining entrance, as Mr. Rhyze simply grabbed Faust and flew around the side of the hotel. After knocking on a few windows, they were finally allowed inside by an old gentleman who thought they were bringing him some grey poupon. Once inside, they only to descend a flight to reach the gallery where the filming was taking place.
Meanwhile, Morton could only watch as the gameshow got underway. After noting the technical difficulties with his teleprompter, Alex Trebek invited Scorpion to pick the first catergory. After a few moments of silence, the assassin responded with an "Excellent." Alex Trebek was quick to note that this was not one of the official catergories, and asked Scorpion to pick again. Perhaps a bit annoyed, though it was hard to tell with that mask, Scorpion declared that it was time for a fatality. Since this was also not a catergory, Trebek stated that Tenmei Kanoh would now get first choice of a catergory. Kanoh replied that he would take middle-aged women for five hundred. This turned out to be a valid selection, and Alex read out the answer: The head of the Intergalactic Food Inspection Agency. Kanoh declared that Trebek was trying to fool him with his skills, and that this question needed a more mysterious presentation. No one else seemed to offer any sort of answer, leading a visibly frustrated Trebek to declare the proper question as Who is Eleanor Roosevelt? Moments after Alex revealed the answer, he suddenly found himself pushed over from behind by the Player from Harvard. Waving his degree above his head, the Player repeated Trebek's answer and declared himself correct. This led to a great deal of posing on his part. This display was eventually concluded by the arrival of Mr. Rhyze and Faust in the gallery.
Noting that Harvard was oblivious to all around him while posing, Mr. Rhyze knew that he had to act fast. But he was unwilling to go after the Player on live television, and thus dispatched Faust to take out the cameras. The mortician accomplished this by unleashing Frankenstein on one of the cameramen, and using the other as a coatrack. As Faust blocked this second camera with his labcoat, Mr. Rhyze lept into acion. He pushed Harvard down from behind and executed a perfect Hulk Hogan leg-drop. This allowed him to put the pin on the Player, as well as breaking Trebek's podium. Faust rushed forward to give the 3-count, and in moments the Player from Harvard was pinned. Alex Trebek was shocked by all this mayhem, but was even more astounded when Morton lept out of concealment and dumped his can of oil on the unsuspecting gameshow host. This was followed by the feathers Morton had stuffed in his vest, leaving Alex Trebek effectively tarred and feathered. However, the pilot was in for a shock of his own. As he declared Trebek's ineptitude, he suddenly found himself struck by a harpoon. With a shout of Get over here!, Scorpion pulled Morton across the stage. The assassin had, after all, previously attempted to kill both Morton and Mr. Rhyze, and figured now was the time to finish the job. As the crowd watched in awe, Mr. Rhyze and Faust lept to the aid of their comrade. The three of them proved too much even for Scorpion. Once the assassin was unconscious, Faust was able to examine him more closely. To his disappointment, he noted that Scorpion seemed to have a pulse, making him not one of the undead, despite his skull-face. It seemed that was just his Terrorian deformity.
The three heroes had other problems, and they included the dozens of guards who had rushed into the room to deal with the disturbance. Even Johnny's smooth-talking seemed unlikely to calm the enraged Alex Trebek. The guards' advance was fortunately interrupted by a message over the intercom from Chris Tucker, informing all people with high security clearance to report back to the security center immiediately. Through Faust's cellphone and a quick conversation with Chris Tucker (quick in referring to the speed at which Tucker talked), the three were able to convince the guards that they couldn't be delayed. As they left the hotel, Trebek's threats of legal action floated after them. This possibility didn't worry Mr. Rhyze; he already had connections with Lucky Pierre, one of the best lawyers around. Before long, all three had reached the security center. Gene Roddenberry was waiting for them, along with Chris Tucker, Dave Spector, Don Cherry, Mean Gene, Graav and Zellas. A call had come in from the kidnappers. Chris had been the one to take the call, and had apparently almost gotten Mr. Rithos killed. Still, Tucker had received the ransom instructions. They had been instructed to clear one of the docking bays. Gene Roddenberry was to enter this docking bay alone, carrying the suitcase of money. The idea of making the drop himself, and thus starring in his own series, seemed to have immense appeal for Gene. Of course, he would have backup waiting just outside the bay, including Dave Spector. Some doubted that this would really do much good.
Morton and Mr. Rhyze didn't think the drop would go as planned. They were also concerned that there had been no further mention of the abdication of the Crescent Moons. Chris Tucker also found this suspicious, and suggested that he and the three heroes should pursue other investigations while Gene, Dave Spector, Graav, Don Cherry and Mean Gene perform the drop. This left Zellas in the security center to coordinate all activities. Once out of the presence of the others, Chris Tucker explained his plan to Morton, Faust and Mr. Rhyze. Investigations into the recent Blitzball riots revealed that almost all had in fact been incited by Fenixans, including some that occured even before the big game. Morton could recall just such an event. In any case, Chris noted that there seemed to be a disproportionate number of Fenixans on the station, considering their team wasn't even scheduled to play. As such, he suggested keeping an eye on the Fenixa Infernos. Mr. Rhyze agreed that it might be a good idea to find out what this rival team was up to. And the best way to track down the Fenixan players would clearly be a stake-out, at the food court Taco-Time. In order to avoid suspicion, the four decided to split up and use disguises. Mr. Rhyze soon made the startling transformation into Mr. Ezyhr, Morton put on his raccoon tuque and Faust put on a shirt. Chris Tucker didn't bother with a disguise, since he had never had much contact with the Infernos anyway. And disguises were mostly attitude, of which he had plenty anyway.
Morton and Chris Tucker were the first to enter the food court. They saw no sign of the Fenixa Infernos, but kept an eye on the Taco-Time as they purchase Terrorian food from the barbecue vendor. Chris Tucker was shocked that anyone could eat this greasy food, but had to admit that the camel hump was actually quite good once he tried it. Meanwhile, Faust and Mr. Rhyze took seats at different tables, communicating via cellphone messaging and laptop. This seemed to involve a lot of haxor language, that only intensified with the appearance of Tortilla. She strode up to the Taco-Time and purchased several spicy items. Morton and Chris Tucker, both nearby, tried and failed to act casual. Soon after, Tortilla stalked away from the stand. This left the task of trailing her to Faust, whom she had never met. The mortician followed her into some abandoned corridors, communicating with Mr. Rhyze all the while. Eventually, she met up with some sort of floating, black probe. She appeared to be speaking to it, but Faust was too far behind to hear what was said. Once Tortilla had finished delivering her message, the probe zipped away. Faust tried to follow, but it was much too fast. When this fact was reported to Mr. Rhyze, the communications officer answered that he had noticed the probes watching them earlier. Chris Tucker was stupified by this revelation, and demanded to know why Mr. Rhyze had not revealed this earlier. This only caused the communications officer to respond in Zelzakian. Chris Tucker was still ranting about how he got stuck with the only partner who didn't speak galactic as the group arrived back at the security center.
The scene that awaited them there wasn't what any of them expected. A dozen Red-Shirts were strewn about the room, all dead. Several of the security consoles had also been smashed. Zellas lay in one corner of the room, a large bruise on the side of her head. Closer inspection revealed that she was the only one in the room still alive. Considering that the other occupants were all Red-Shirts, this wasn't overly surprising to anyone. Faust's medical techniques soon awoke her, and she told them that a bunch of masked men had come barging into the station. The hit to her head had rendered her memories of these intruders somewhat fuzzy, and Zellas could provide no more detailed description than that. Meanwhile, Mr. Rhyze was looking for other evidence of the raid. With Chris Tucker's help, the communications officer logged onto the security network. This confirmed his worst fears; the system had been accessed, and had revealed all sorts of security codes to the intruders. Morton suggested checking the cameras around the dropsite. These cameras showed Gene Roddenberry, still waiting in the empty docking bay with the suitcase of money. Tucker contacted the station commander to inform him about the events at security. Gene seemed pleased with this sort of plot twist, and noted that he had still seen no sign of the kidnappers. They were already an hour late for the drop. Nevertheless, Roddenberry intended to give them more time to show up. Meanwhile, he suggested his three protagonists track down the probe that had been associated with Tortilla. This time, both Chris Tucker and Zellas would remain at the security center.
What followed was yet another mystery. With only a very limited time, the heroes had to track down the kidnappers of Mr. Rithos before the integrity of Blitzball itself was put into jeopardy. Some, such as Faust, would even have commented that the entire station was in terrible peril. In any case, the three began tracing a trail of clues amongst the locations of Starbase. Their first few visits proved vain: a trip to the food court revealed little more than what they already knew, although they did pull the good cop, bad cop, dead cop routine on the Fenixan working the Taco-Time. Their visit to the Blitzclub in search of the Fenixa Infernos proved fruitless. Even their coach Phaeles could not be found at the hotel. Giving up on tracking down the Infernos, the three protagonists decided to look into the probe itself. Clearly, a place like Radioshack would know about such an advanced device. This proved to be true, although the electronics outlet was far too cheap to carry such a high quality device. Indeed, this sort of surveillance probe was very pricey, and required military-grade batteries to operate. This prompted a visit to the GAP. Although they had to suffer through more trendy dancing, they also discovered that the store did indeed carry such equipment, but would not part with it to anyone without military identification and a whole lot of money. As such, there had been no recent purchases of either at the GAP. Crazy Sam's screening process, on the other hand, was much less demanding. When asked, Sam eagerly admitted that someone had been purchasing the specified type of batteries. Although they expected it to be one of the Fenixans, Sam told them instead that it was an older man, with a white beard. The only contact information he had left was a phone number.
Using his computer skills, Mr. Rhyze was easily able to log into the station's information network and discover that the number belonged to the Palaco. Not long after, the three were confronting the owner of the Palaco. He seemed unwilling to offer any information without a high payment. As such, Mr. Rhyze asked the others to leave the room. Once they were gone, the communications officer proceeded to use more aggresive negotiation. Soon, the clerk was willing to part with the information for free. He couldn't recall a white-haired man staying at the hotel, but he had seen several surveillance probes surrounding a black-cloaked man who had recently checked into the hotel. This mysterious figure had paid with his room via and account through the duty-free bank. Using the account number and their security designations, the three were quickly able to convince the bank to reveal details on this black-cloaked man's account. This account had only been used for two transactions. The first was to pay for a room at the Palaco hotel, and the other involved renting an empty storage bay deep within the bowels of Starbase station. Noting the location of this storage area, the three made their way towards one of the service elevators. They were accosted by Chris Tucker far before reaching their distination.
Tucker informed them that the drop still hadn't occured, but that they had other problems. Someone had just hacked into the station's security network, and cut off access to all security mechanisms. All security locks, cameras and other devices were no longer functioning. Chris needed Mr. Rhyze's skill with computers to get the system back online. Mr. Rhyze quickly agreed with this idea, thinking it better than any sort of confrontation that might occur in the storage area. As the communications officer followed Chris Tucker towards the security computer center, Morton and Faust decided to continue their journey to the storage bay. But first, they wanted more manpower. And there was no one better to provide it than Johnny, The Man. A quick call on Faust's cellphone summoned Johnny in moments. He was accompanied by Vana White, and demanded that she be brought along to witness his amazing abilities. Once this was agreed upon, the four made their way to the service elevator and began the long descent to the storage bay.
Meanwhile, Mr. Rhyze had arrived at the computer lab. Chris noted that Dave Spector had already been called in to help with the computer situation. However, it appeared that this 'special man' had spaced out, and had yet to type a single key. Chris left Mr. Rhyze in Dave's company as he returned to the security station. Mr. Rhyze set about regaining access into the system, but had achieved very little by the time Zellas arrived on the scene. She seemed to know a thing or two about computers, and seated herself across from Mr. Rhyze as she set to work. Still, neither one of them seemed to have any success in entering the system. As they worked, the service elevator continued to descend towards the storage bay. For a few moments. And then it stopped. The lights also went out, cloaking the elevator, and obviously terrifying Vana, who found this even more frightening than buying a vowel. Morton quickly pulled out his flashlight. With its aid, they were able to determine that the elevator was stuck between floors, and was no longer operational. Fortunately, there was a hatch in the roof, and Johnny was only too willing to leap through it. As everyone was pulled on top of the elevator, Faust's night vision allowed him to spot an alcove at the side of the elevator shaft containing a ladder. A long and exhausting climb later, the four found themselves at the bottom of the shaft. They were confronted by an electronic door, which predictably wasn't working. Fortunately, Morton and Johnny's muscles were up to the task of opening it manually. As the door was pulled open, the action switched back to the computer lab.
Mr. Rhyze had still made no progress in cracking the system's code, even by using Dave Spector's computer simultaneously with his own. Zellas had already given up, and was suggesting they go check on the dropsite. Mr. Rhyze was determined to make one last attempt before giving up, and this time he succeeded. He had access to the system, but only for a moment before the computer went dead. In fact, all the computers in the room went down. Mr. Rhyze was shocked, and couldn't get his terminal going again. His consternation caused Dave Spector to regain his sense temporarily, and wonder why they had unplugged the computers. After this statement, Spector quickly spaced out again. Noting Dave's statement, Mr. Rhyze took a moment to discover that the computers had indeed been unplugged. Zellas suggested he not bother to plug the computers back in, and when Mr. Rhyze insisted, she drew an extending vitex blade from underneath her dress. It seemed she was a double-agent, and had no intention of allowing Mr. Rhyze to get the security systems back online. With only Dave Spector for backup, it was effectively a one-on-one battle. Although the vitex-blade was powerful, it proved no match for Mr. Rhyze's martial arts skills. After suffering a painful cut, the communications officer brought Zellas down and quickly tied her up. As he logged back into the system, the action cut back to the group in the storage bay. They had just pulled open the door to reveal an ominous figure in a black-cloak waiting for them. As the four watched, he slowly pulled down his hood.
Darth Maul Count Dooku
After a few short words of greeting, a battle began between the Epsilon contingent and the Scith. Johnny used his posing powers in an extremely impressive fashion, although this did little to damage his foes. Faust's necromantic powers proved effective, and Dooku had to note that the force was strong with this one. But that was also the case with Darth Maul. The double-edged thunderblade soon dropped Faust, and a blast of dark lightning from Dooku brought down Frankenstein. However, the Scith were taking a few unarmed hits from Johnny and Morton, who were unleashing a potent art/street-brawl combination. After a few more moments of such combat, Count Dooku declared that they had done enough. With their objective apparently fulfilled, the two Scith took off and literally flew up the elevator shaft, leaving the heroes in a state of considerable confusion. In one corner of the bay, they found the object of their search: Mr. Rithos, bound and gagged. With the rescue complete, they rushed back to join Mr. Rhyze in the security center. The communications officer had restored power to the elevator, and discovered that Zellas must have deactivated it while working across from him in the lab. He also made a more unsettling discovery. Apparently, someone had used the time while the security locks were down to enter the station's main maintenance shaft. Chris Tucker was quick to arrive when informed about this. The main maintenance shaft was a highly restricted area, and contained the station's lifesupport system and atmospheric generator. As such, it was urgent that any intruder in that area be stopped. By this point, the group had returned from the storage bay. Tucker distributed a pair of first-aid kits, and then led Mr. Rhyze, Faust, Morton, Johnny and Vana down to the maintenance shaft. Mr. Rithos would remain under the dubious protection of Dave Spector.
Once inside the maintenance shaft, Faust noted that they were following a single pair of footprints into the station's very core. The identity of this intruder was soon revealed as they entered the central chamber. The large life-support machine was operating against one wall. Phaeles, coach of the Fenixa Infernos, had just finished strapping explosives around the machine, set to go off in a matter of minutes. The Fenixan seemed a bit surprised to see them, and muttered something about how the Scith weren't all they were cracked up to be. In a coach-to-coach conversation, Morton demanded to know what Phaeles had in mind. With a burning smile, the Fenixan noted that his race were known for their thirst for vengeance. Soon, the whole station would be consumed by the flames of revenge. With the station sealed, the loss of the lifesupport system would leave no survivors. As well as revenge, the Fenixans would also be able to collect all the money on the station. And since both the Electran Currents and the Deksiil Crescent Moons would both be dead, the Fenixa Infernos would have another shot at the Blitzball Intergalactic Cup. Mr. Rhyze replied that this wouldn't work, simply because the Infernos didn't have the skill to win the cup anyway. Unless they contracted him, that is. But Tucker had no more patience for this talk, and ordered Phaeles to surrender at gunpoint. But the climax of this series clearly couldn't include the villain's surrender...
Race: Terrorian
Occupation: Scith Apprentice
I shouldn't really need to describe Darth Maul, but I will do so all the same. A forebodding figure, shrouded in a heavy black cloak and gloves, Maul's Terrorian features include red and black skin, yellow eyes and jutting spikes covering his bald head. In battle, he wields a powerful double-edged thunderblade. He also has abilities related to the dark side of the force. As the apprentice of Count Dooku, Darth Maul is known as one of the most deadly members of the Scith. Little is known about this mysterious group, but they seemed involved in the kidnapping of Mr. Rithos on Starbase station.
Race: Spheran
Occupation: Scith
As a senior member of the Scith, Count Dooku is known to have great connections with the dark side of the force. An older man, his white hair and beard are neatly trimmed, and he wears a well-made purple cape. In combat, Dooku wielded both a longblade and the force with great skill. His motivations are not yet clear, but he seems to enjoy spreading darkness wherever he can. Some might claim him an idealist, but this certainly does not seem to be the case.
The battle proved heated and intense. Phaeles body was sheathed in living fire as he attacked with his Fist of Phaeles. Mr. Rhyze responded with martial arts of his own, while Morton and Tucker laid down cover fire. Johnny relied on his Manly posing to restore his vigour, while Faustlaunched some wild swings. None of this proved enough to stop Phaeles from burning all his foes (save the insignificant Vana White)with his flames of revenge. This dropped both Tucker, and Morton. Mr. Rhyze was next to go down, under a burning Phoenix Attack that almost killed the communications officer. It was down to Faust and Johnny, and The Man seemed to have no posing left. Fortunately, Phaeles was also drained of energy, but was still able to drop Johnny with some vicious blows. In the final moments of the battle, a badly burned Faust faced off against a bloody Phaeles.In a slow motion last exchange, Faust swung his scythe forward with unerring accuracy and plunged it through the Fenixans' muscled chest, extinguishing the flames surroudning him. Now Faust just had to deal with the bombs. Vana proved no help in this, since it didn't involve turning around letters. Faust's scientific knowledge allowed him to diffuse all but one. Only Johnny's incredible speed got the last bomb away from the generator. Johnny declared his return explosive, and Faust agreed that Johnny had certainly bombed.
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