Misguided Genius (Part 2) by Bek D Corbin

Mordecai Shearer is upset that Tyler got a kiss from Hex Kitten. I get why he is a little jealous; that kiss was something else. Mordecai, do you think fangirls will flock to you with your attitude? Linda Havoc's hair is the same shade as the Hellion sisters' hair. Oh boy, keep quiet, everyone. Tom Chase, open mouth and insert foot the moment he sees her. Dr. Chase shows up and stops him from making a bigger fool of himself.

The next challenge, uh oh.

“Greco-Roman Wrestling?” Glynis said with a pervy grin. “In the nuuuddeee…”

“GOOD IDEA!” Izzy and Clare seconded the notion.

Seesh, and I thought the boys would be the pervs.

“Today’s challenge will be a Puzzle Chase. You will each be given a different clue to a location in the Greater Los Angeles area and a vehicle to get there with. Following another team will cost you points. When you get there, you will find a series of clues. You may remove ONE clue from each relay, so the last team in line only has a single clue. There will be a list of clues at the entry to the location, which will lead to a challenge in the location, which will lead to another list, which will give you clues to the next location, and so on. Each location will be different; in one you may have to find a list of items and assemble them to get your next clue. In another, you may have to meet a set of mini-challenges and so on. The point here is to find out how well you think under stress. Without machine guns going off.

Good grief, this sounds like a Ghost Writer episode ramped up to 11 in difficulty. No cheating, good; I want to see how they do without any of the regular reality show BS.

Tom Tsung and Heike, Mordecai and Mike Kung, and Tank with Geoff, I hope Mike can handle Mordecai. Ms. Santoya wants good footage for the show; I wonder if she gets paid enough for the stress it must cause. Holly and Hayley Hellion show up at the worst time possible. They are trying to outfit Tyler with something like that! These two are nuts. Acids and antipersonnel spray, they need to have their heads examined.

And so on until the tactical sprayers options were limited to an adhesive, a fire retardant and a lubricant.

Thank you, Dr. Chase.

Okay, Hayley's contribution with that tactical visor is much more practical.

“Tell me something to do that won’t blow up in our faces, and I’ll do it,” Ty cut her off.

If Tyler tries to blow them off even in the politest way possible, I don't want to think of how those two would react. 6 challenges, but each team only has to face three; that makes things less complicated. I like the true point of the exercise.

Mordecai, sometimes going first isn't the smart thing to do. The Riddle Without An Answer is what Dr. Chase did with the envelopes, or is Mordecai just assuming she did? Nice clues. Dino World seems like a fun place to visit. And Mike doesn't know about the Flintstones, that poor, sheltered child. That sign does seem too convenient, like Dr. Chase might be misleading them with a red herring based on obvious clues. Operating a park all for part of a challenge, just how rich is Dr. Chase? Heh, the billboard didn't help, they need the address to get to the park.

'Splash-A-Rama'- why does Tom think that is the location just because of a billboard and the clues their team got? Good grief, they were fronts for high-end spas for supervillains. No wonder they got shut down. RICO laws- I wonder how many businesses in the WAU get confiscated due to those. Heike, focus on the challenge.

Republic Studios Tour, now what is leading Geoff and Tank to this place?

“Well, given that it’s Republic Studios, I’m just hoping that they’re not going to throw Vampire Student Mutant Stewardess Sex Ninjas at us.”

“SEZ YOU!”

Geoff, focus!

Dino World

Bwahaha, I can't believe Mike Kung said that line. I've never even seen the movie that that line comes from, and I know it. Eh, Mordecai probably isn't wrong about this place. Keep the velociraptor from dropping the egg into the "volcano" without it breaking. They have to succeed 3 out of 5 times, crap.

Splash-A-Rama

Heike and Tom have to find a treasure chest and bring it up from somewhere in the water park. Good eye on Heike to spot the surveyor's level.

Republic Studios

Geoff and Tank have to deal with that studio. Ack! Those movie names aren't B movies- those are C movies or lower they would have shown late at night on Sci-Fi or USA Up All Night back in the day. Oh god, those cheesy lines for the western section- it burns! A 'Hogan's Alley' with laser tag pistols, this will be fun.

“Yer missing the point, Pardner!” Geoff whooped in a broad ‘Texas’ accent that was as bad as most Americans’ ‘Scots brogue’. “The point is we gotta RESCUE THE SCHOOL MARM!” And with a whoop and gun held high, he shoved off, pushing his wheelchair with one hand.

I love Geoff getting into the spirit of the challenge.

Dino World

Rescued two eggs and broke one, two more chances left to rescue the final one. Good idea, Mordecai; the veteran Wiz Kids have been through similar tests and might not like the new competition. Crap, the last egg in sign and Hex Kitten has it in hand until Hayley Hellion swipes it. All this because she wants to hook up with Tyler, arrggh!

Glynis radioed to Rockhound, aka Tyler, telling her the situation with Hex Kitten and one of the Hellion sisters. Great, Tyler has to talk with Hex Kitten to fix the situation, but without showing up and encouraging such behaviour from fangirls.

“Mordecai and Mike Kung are scampering about, trying to figure out how to put a damper on it. I’d whistle an end to all of this, but let’s face it; this is a far, far better challenge for these two than the Raptor Racers we kludged together.”

“Besides, it’s Killer TV,” Linda smirked.

“Too ‘Lennox’, dear,” Glynis said primly.

Mordecai and Mike are going to be very annoyed with Tyler when this is all over.

Splash-A-Rama

Tom and Heike climb the ladder to the surveyor's platform, and Heike is right. Why include exact, precise coordinates if they aren't needed? Nice improvised zipline from the parts available.

Republic Studios

Izzy tries to keep track of Geoff. Just how agile is that kid? Tyler's love life sucks for him and everyone else right now. Izzy is right. Where is Holly Hellion right now? Clare and Loogie are the older Wiz Kids at Splash-O-Rama, oh boy. So that is how Troy knows the difference between the Hellion sisters.

“At that thing with Precision and his goons, Holly let slip that, besides her High Energy studies, she’s a huge Telecommunications wonk,” Tyler informed him.

“Oh?” Izzy grunted with equal parts curiosity and territoriality.

“If Holly’s as good as she says she is,” Tyler said, “spoofing our Wi-Fi would be child’s play for her. Exactly what she’ll DO with that? I lack data.”

Spoofing their Wi-If, there are so many scary things she could do with that. Tom does not want to be painted as the bad guy by doing nothing; he needs an ego check if that is his only reason for reviewing the Action Log. Tom, you can be such a perv, but you are right. Holly has to be here and hiding, though why she hasn't announced herself to draw out Tyler yet, I can't figure out.

“I have unexplained high levels of energy use on Factory Road,” Izzy announced.

“I have a pattern of cameras showing 10 AM shadows and it’s 2 PM,” Tyler said.

“I have multiple suppressed reports for flight patterns on Sorority Row,” Tom reported.

Darn it, no way to narrow down where she could be hiding with all those details. Tyler is right; it's too big a risk when Holly is in there, who-knows-where. Shut down the challenge and evac the kids for now until she is dealt with. Tom, just because your mom is the head of all this doesn't mean you are automatically in charge- get over yourself.

Has Holly only been there since Geoff and Tank arrived, or did she show up hours ago?

So far it had been a rather straightforward- if prolonged- bit of photo-bombing for publicity, using their alleged attraction to Tyler as an excuse.

So help me, if they are toying with Tyler's feelings for some scheme I hope they get their butts kicked. No, being a girl now doesn't make you immune to BS like this, Tyler.

Ouch, no comms with altitude for now. Zebra, aka Izzy, finds this out the hard way. Crud, Tank, and Geoff are heading to Sorority Row at high speed, and it isn't the Wiz Kids doing. Herded into a trap, but this wasn't the Hellion's style, at least not Holly or Hayley's style. Crud, an unknown factor at play, none of the kids better be harmed or worse.

“Okay, the general location of the ATC interference- is that near Slasher Street?”

[It is, good call; they’re heading in that direction now] Izzy said.

Never head in a direction if it seems like you are being led there by someone you don't know. What are Clare and Loogie having to deal with if it isn't one of the Hellions'?

Splash-A-Rama

Heike and Tom have to deal with skate punks who think they can use the park for their private run.

“Weeellll… I doubt it,” Tom hedged. “But it couldn’t hurt to treat it like a challenge.”

“GOOD!” and Heike charged out into the scrimmage, tripping up a bunch of skatepunks as he ran.

“Heike!” Tom yelled, horrified.

Tom, the moment you said to treat it like a challenge, you should have known Heike would pull something like that. Logan and Clare watch as Heike takes on the skate punks. Clare, you were worse as a rookie Wiz Kid.

“I’m re-initializing the automatic challenges and hazards we shut down when Izzy told us that Holly Hellion might be on-site. They’re not physically dangerous, but they’re uncomfortable- and more to the point, embarrassing- enough that they might get these clowns to back off.”

Clare looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Loogie, that’s cold-blooded, ruthless and down-right mean. Keep up the good work.”

Hehe, sometimes you have to do such things to teach a lesson that is past due.

Dino World

Hex Kitten is tired and hides to catch her breath. Hayley needs to back off. What do you want Tyler to answer, Hex Kitten? Hayley snatches the egg from HK only to have Mordecai, on a bungee cord, swipe it from her. Nice use of the boom to escape, and the remote-controlled raptors and T-Rex to box HK and Hayley inside.

Mike and Mordecai win! Oh boy, 'Dinosaur' to deliver the envelope, and it is a ripoff of Dino from the Flintstones. The clue this time- it has to be Star Trek or some space-themed experience. 'The Space Experience', another theme park.

Splash-A-Rama

The treasure chest is at the bottom of a deep tank; no wonder this is a challenge. No way to use a winch, especially with the skater punks still around. A lot of good ideas while they deal with more skater punks. I wonder which idea they will use. The power water hose just gave Heike an idea, I love it when an idea just comes with a little help.

“I cannot believe that worked,” Logan croaked as he watched the directed water jets move the chest from the bottom of the tank and push it to the edge of the deck.

“I told you that we should have put some ballast in that chest,” Clare said. “Well, it’s a valid solution. Not one that we foresaw, but isn’t that for the best?”

They left the chest empty. Clare, next time, go with your idea and don't let it be ignored. LAPD to pick up the punks. Good, they need to learn that just because a place is abandoned, it doesn't make it theirs to use as they please.

A plastic orca with the words 'Sea Whirl' printed on the side in blue. At least the chest wasn't weighed down and took forever to get out of the water tank.

Republic Studios

Every power has its downside, something more students at Whateley need to learn. Tyler to fly like that to the location just to avoid being out in the open too long or easily spotted, yikes. Geoff and Tank are being herded by paintball fire; who has control over the pellet guns and figures now? Not the old drop the strutwork cage from above to trap someone bit; whoever is behind this loves the old tropes.

Tyler saves Geoff and Tank with her protective sphere to force them out of the way, but is trapped by the cage herself. Oh god, that costume. The Green Devil isn't even someone who Tyler recognizes. Those are cheesy lines. Seriously, who is this guy? Why does he have Holly Hellion bound and gagged in such a way? This guy is nuts and twisted. Wait, a second, more serious-looking 'Green Devil'.

“Dammit, Harvey, the entire point of you dressing up as a supervillain was that it was supposed to be another supervillain! As in _not me_! I didn’t want anyone knowing that I was in Southern California. But after this?” He gestured at the flying cameras following all of it, “I might as well put it on a billboard on Highway 101!”

Oh, good grief. Holly is given a warning for if she goes into the business, and Harvey is just his executive assistant. Six explosive packs set to go off in 30 minutes; this just became a race against time. Darn, and he has a point about the creeps who own this park and who they will try to sue.

At least he left them a map to where the explosives are placed.

“Oh Daddy made a point of teaching us how to disarm explosives, traps, hostage rigs and like that as a matter of principle.”

Holly and Hayley have had an unusual childhood. It is up to Tyler and Holly to disarm the explosives before time runs out. Ack! Tyler's love life is complicated. Holly kissing her like that- she needs some advice. Nice job saving the School Marm figure, Geoff.

Tom! You asshole, Tyler is trying to disarm bombs and you think the supervillain was lying, stop screwing around. Tell Dr. Chase about this, I hope she benches her son for this stunt. Tom, you have just pissed off Tyler and encouraged her to finish disarming the bombs as fast as possible so she can teach Tom a lesson. Dang, just how fast is Tyler going to disarm the bombs and get back to teach Tom a lesson in that little of time? A lariat, Tom is about to taught a harsh lesson about screwing with Tyler.

“Not that I object that much to what you’re doing,” Izzy said as Tyler strung up Tom Chase by his ankles with his own rope, “but shouldn’t you be- y’know, switching off the bombs?”

Hehe, Tom has been asking for this for a long time. 5 days, 2 hours on an LED readout like in the movies, the Green Devil played them. Those are good reasons to leave the bombs alone for the LAPD to deal with.

Rats, the fun of hitting Tom with paintballs is ended by Geoff and Tank bringing the School Marm to the front gate and finishing the challenge. Tyler off to the Space Experience, Izzy is going to the Space Whirl, and Tom is left to clean up. And Izzy gets her turn, hitting Tom with paintballs, hehehe.

So that is why they have so much time on the bombs. Good work, Holly. Boy, Holly sure learned a lot about the supervillain business from her father. Yikes, those are a lot of good reasons for the Green Devil not to set the bombs off. Crud, the clue to bring them to the Space Experience, and Holly has a picture of the clue now.

Sea Whirl

Sea Whirl is a good park, and Social Justice Warriors are protesting it, good grief.

“Nah, they moved all the animals to one of the Quest Foundation’s animal rehab complexes on the coast,” the junior security guard said. “They’re trying to figure which of the whales, dolphins, seals and like that can be reintroduced to the wild. It’s a lot more complicated than people think.”

I hope the answer is more than they originally expected. Swarming a camera crew, it is people like them that give protestors a bad name. Heike and Tom in a sea life park, this will be interesting.

The Space Experience

They didn't build the park here. A really big mall that tank, then drew a Sci-Fi convention, then evolved into a theme park. Dang, I would hate to work there from the sound of it.

Linda and Glynis arrive after Tyler. Tyler is upset at Linda's boyfriend, Tom, for hitting her with the paintball guns. They staled Mike and Mordecai, even for a minute, that seems near impossible to do to Mordecai.

The history of this place was enough to stale them long enough. Looking up in this place could make someone dizzy.

Anti-gravity chamber, heh, I've seen those at state fairs. A Dalek to deliver the note, I'm with Mordecai, even a fake one is unnerving. Assemble a ten-piece rocket, get it to the launchpad, and get it up to the hook, all while dodging red beanbags fired by the Daleks. Boy, Dr. Chase sure loves to make a challenge.

Sea Whirl

Heike says something is wrong, Tom Tsung figures out the clue, Free Willy. A fake whale in the tank, hhm. They have to move it that far, oh boy. Treat it like a real living Orca, this is a tough challenge. Double crud! Hayley just showed up; since Holly should be going to the Space Experience. And the 'Whale Liberators' storm past the guards. I like the idea Tom just got to use them.

The Space Experience

Mordecai is right: trick the Daleks into using up all their paintball ammo. Smart plan so far, the 'anti-gravity' thing I would suspect as an obvious trap in this challenge. Holly is hit by paintballs and is upset that her outfit is ruined. Wait, why is Holly here and not at the Space Experience due to the clue she took a picture of? The boys bolt for it using two separate paths to get to the upper floors.

“Okay, we’re supposed to be testing Mike and Mordecai. You can stop splatting Holly,” Tyler said sourly as Glynis and Linda eagerly did just that.

Oh, let them have their fun.

Bwahaha, Holly, you chose to get involved in their challenge. You can't complain about them using you as a shield against the Daleks' paintball fire.

Huh? The first part here has a goof, It should be Mike and Mordecai using Holly as a shield, not Geoff and Tank.

“Save the recordings,” Glynis said. “I’m sure there is a market for images like this.” Tyler locked up at this crass- if pragmatic- angle.

No, keep it to blackmail Holly into staying away when you are working in the future. Tank and Geoff just arrived. Geoff is sneaky; even in his wheelchair, he is handicapable!

Hex Kitten is here. Is she after Holly for some reason or still trying to talk to Tyler? Great, HK is bickering with Holly, Tyler needs Dr. Chase to help with her love life at this point. I agree with Linda: let HK and Holly make fools of themselves.

Tank gets a piece of the rocket, avoids Mordecai and Mike, only to have Hex Kitten swipe it.

Geoff stopped, stifled a snarl, and then tilted his head back and roared, “KHAAANNN!!”

No better places to use that line, except a Star Trek set or convention.

Hex Kitten, please stop messing with the potential Wiz Kids like this. Learn better ways to contact and communicate with Tyler.

Mordecai has the right idea; don't deal with the crazy girls, just avoid the threats and competition while going for the pices for the rocket.

Hehe, a rock climber, and they didn't think to rig a threat to prevent climbing. The veteran Wiz Kids are getting too lax.

Geoff has an issue with being a team player; I wonder if he had to be independent a lot due to being in a wheelchair. Geoff, focus on the task and not on the Sci-Fi memorabilia. Tank is left alone, forced to flee Dalek fire, and stumbles across Blue rocket's #2 section, what luck. Good idea about the rocket pieces; it's hard to plan ahead when you don't know which pieces you will find. Darn it! Mike Kung snatches the rocket part as Tank thinks over what to do. And another cry of KHAAANNN!! rings out.

Geoff, on the run from Mike and Mordecai, stuck moving between floors using the ramps and having to watch out for the Daleks. Herded into crossfire, Geoff tries to think of a way out of it when suddenly he is zipped and zoomed up the ramp without him doing anything. Hex Kitten saved him, but only because she wants to know where Tyler is. Hehe, I love that she quoted Star Wars back at Geoff.

Aww, you are giving up a high-speed ride up 3 floors. Why would Geoff want to tell you where Tyler is and end the fun already? Geoff tells HK is in the control room, but she can't get past the phone tree to call Tyler.

“And?” Hex Kitten shot back. “Why don’t you stay here? I stopped here because it’s a perfect connection point. Everyone and everything trying to get anywhere else will pass through or by here. You could jump the carrot-top or the two guys and they pass through here and get the stacks they collected. And why tote all the stacks around? As I understand the rules of this game, you’re not committed to one rocket or the other, so keep both of them until you choose. Stash them here until you have enough to win. And if you get stacks for the other rocket, then you’re keeping the other guys from winning.” With that, Hex Kitten zoomed off.

‘I thought _we_ were supposed to be the geniuses,’ Geoff grumped to himself.

Well, you can't blame yourself; that is some supervillain style of thinking to keep the prize away from their opponent.

Holly doesn't want to be there; she just needs an excuse to be there and be filmed. Wait, Hayley and their mother's idea for Holly to do this- what game are they up to? Arrgggh, I want to smack their mother for telling her daughters this. Targeted by the Dalek, runs for it, and a crate is pushed into her path for her to trip over. Linda, that is too far; she could have been seriously hurt.

Hex Kitten now has to find the door to the control room. Oh, she is a Stolen Property Recovery operative. Ack, caught and wrapped up in plastic.

Glynis teases Tyler about it not being a good day for her girlfriends. Spinning herself along a stretch of carpet, Hex Kitten is free. How did that work, though? Linda is right, a static charge shouldn't work on plastic.

Mike Kung sneaks along the 3rd level and spots something out of place: an interesting piece of history. A Red section is hidden under the chair; Mike is careful to remove it without damaging the chair. Tank is on the run from the Daleks and snatches the section from Mike as he keeps running to make his escape. Mike's turn to yell out KHAAANN!!. Three KHAAANN!! in the story so far.

Tank races to get the section to Geoff but goes sliding and over the railing. He thankfully grabs the railing and the rocket section. Skilled and intelligent maneuvering to get down to the lower floor with the rocket piece, only to be hit by an 'energy cannon' that leaves him dazzled. Heh, he tripped over Geoff. What a way to meet up again. Geoff, claiming credit for Hex Kitten's advice, how could you! Oh god, they are going to manipulate Holly into getting the pieces for them.

Mordecai, no matter how good a rock climber you are, you don't try a climb like this with 3 unbalanced and heavy objects weighing you down! Saved in the nick of time, Mordecai thinks it is Mike who saved him. But it is Hex Kitten asking the way to the control room. Too bad Mordecai doesn't know.

“Why are you lugging those things around? It would be stupid for them to be lugging those pieces around with them. So just find wherever they’re stashing their pieces, let them get as many as they can once you find the stash, and then cop them all.”

Darn it, stop giving the kids advice, HK.

Mordecai stood there, not sure if he’d get in more trouble if he took Hex Kitten’s advice, or if he failed to take advantage of a good idea when it was dropped in his lap.

I'd say Dr. Chase might dock more points for taking that advice.

Something is wrong with the power array on the 6th floor- why does this feel like a trap? Glynis, you are supposed to be testing the kids, not messing with Holly Hellion. Linda has to check on the issue alone, now I'm worried. Wait, a store closed off with sheets of particle board. Why does this feel like some supervillain is hiding out there and not just slipshod work by the technicians? 4 men and two women disguised as technicians, using an industrial laser to cut into an adjacent building. They are robbing a bank, aren't they? Emergency Alarm and 'OMG' button, good idea to have on their phones in their line of work.

Sea Whirl

As she watched the ‘Whale Liberators’ guide the orca replica over the repurposed inflated ‘slip’n slide’ (or whatever the proper term was) chutes from its original tank to the tank in the Nautilus Pavilion, other activists kept the mock whale well-watered.

Tom Tsung has a degree in Social Engineering; that is an awesome use for it. Heike shilling for him, the adorable 10-year-old, will never not work. Time to bail before the idiots figure out they were manipulated. Woop, woop, woop.

References to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, some clue. Tom, I think your mother insisted on you not being named after Arthur or any of the knights. King Arthur Castle theme park- boy, I knew California had a lot of theme parks, but this is ridiculous.

The Space Experience

Over 6' tall and at least 250 lbs. I'm guessing this guy is a mutant and muscle for this criminal crew. Crap, run, Linda! Those are either Devises or Gadgeteer-made inventions; either is very bad. Rods, a helmet, most likely, Devises. 911, call Dr. Chase, a Code Kent of unknown nature, crap. Those were good instructions by Tyler, I hope everyone follows them. Darn it! No one listened to her, bunch of stubborn knowitalls and idiots.

Linda safely escaped for the time being; I knew that anti-gravity thing was a trap, but at least it proved to be a lifesaver now. Tyler rushes to the scene. Glynis uses the Daleks and cannons to disorient the intruders. Tyler goes to take out the woman with the overbuilt gauntlets, only to be blasted by the guy with the rod. Dodges the 'whip' from the other woman with a rod, only to be grabbed and thrown by the big guy with the gloves.

Hex Kitten tried to follow Tyler's orders to get Geoff out of the mall but got lost and went up 3 floors instead of down. In clear sight of the 6 intruders. HK electro-blasted the guy with the blaster-thing, then took off running, intent on getting Geoff out of there. Down 2 levels and realizes the chair is empty, crap.

Holly's flight harness is a wreck, yet she still intends to get down to the fight. Mordecia, no, just no. Huh, I wonder why Holly is oddly unmoved by Mordecai when she would have reacted differently just a year ago. Mordecai is intent on following orders and getting Holly out of there. Tyler stopped her fall after she had dropped just a story; she is ticked and flies back into the fray. Boy, Holly has got some moves to pull that off to get down to the 6th floor to join the fight.

‘Hey, it always works in the movies,’ Mordecai thought to himself.

You need to take love advice from somewhere else.

The intruders are trying to move up the stairs. Do they have some means of escape from the rooftop? Oh, they want to reach the control room. Whoa, Holly is strong to hold a big guy like that over her head.

But one of the other supervillains (like baselines could pitch Tyler over the edge like that) jumped over the staircase rail and ‘tagged’ the big ox. And he turned into an exact copy of the ox, landing with a thump. “It’s a trap!” Holly yelped.

What the hell just happened!?!

Mordecai, this isn't part of the exercise, Tyler said to clear out. This isn't part of the test. Stop thinking you are smarter than everyone and can see all the angles. Part of being a Wiz Kid is also knowing when to follow orders and bail when it is too dangerous. Great, they have a speedster on their side who just countered a possible attack against the big guy. 4th KHAAANN!! of the story.

Holly is kicked in the jaw by the big man, and Holly does a take on a Star Wars line. Tyler comes to the rescue, but the woman with the whip hits Tyler in the left bicep.

Tyler let out a shriek of agony and dropped, hitting hard. The echoes of the scream rattled throughout the mall, and even stopped the supervillains for a moment. “Geez, V,” the shooter gasped, “what did you DO to her?”

The whipmistress said with a sadistic grin, “I dunno. Let’s see what a second dose will do.”

You don't know what it did, but intend to do it again. You are a sadist. Nice body-block by Hex Kitten on whip woman; she tries to get Tyler out of there but is thrown into Holly. Tank, after the pain they inflicted on Tyler, she has a right to go berserk and curbstomp their asses.

Meep. Tyler had the THX side contained in her mind, now it is loose. All of them are using Devises, except for the 6th guy who can duplicate the others, it seems. Powers from their belt buckles and the other items are just focuses for their powers.

The buckles were decorated with the symbols of astrological signs. The brick had Taurus. The speedster had Ares. The whip-bitch had Scorpio. The shooter had Sagittarius. He recalled that the mimic had Gemini, and the gravity fluxer had Cancer. It took a second that she couldn’t afford to recall that people born under the sign of Cancer were also called ‘Moonchild’; an obvious reference to the effect the moon had on the tides, and from there to gravity.

Zodiac-themed powers from their belt buckles, these aren't Devises, these are magical items! She analyzed all that in mere seconds, didn't she?

Holly's tactical sprayer turns out to be the game changer in this fight. This is a bit scary to watch, a mind able to analyze and think that fast to set up her opponents in ways they can't predict. So that is where Geoff got off to, took control of a Dalek and clinging to its back. Geoff, with a grin whenever he gets to experience superspeed, the joy he has, so wonderful to see.

Mike Kung knows Northern-style Kung Fu; don't be jealous of him, Mordecai. Speedster and whip-bitch disabled with belts removed.

She looked around, and clearly grasping for straws, sneered into Tyler’s face, “Strike me down; I shall become more powerful than you could imagine.”

Tyler paused, giving her a ‘what are you TALKING about?’ glower.

“What, only good guys are allowed to make pop culture references?” she said. “I don’t think that Shakespeare wrote anything that would fit here.”

Let her have it; she is going to jail soon. Boy, that shooter got thrown in right where Linda Havoc is, he is going to regret his life of crime.

Yikes, I know these are villains, but got easier on her, Tyler. The gravity manipulator lost her belt, which was given to Tank. Geoff, along with Hex Kitten, has gathered the Red Rocket sections. Tank finishes up the rocket and then wins the competition, to the annoyance of Tyler, who said the competition was supposed to be shut down. But they only caught 5 of the 6 intruders. The Mimic is still out there.

HK, aka Macy Heald, is told to stay by Tyler, only to suddenly be interrupted by another Tyler warning about trying to get her alone to take her hostage. Which is the real Tyler? Mordecai to the rescue. Tyler is a geology major, so he asks him geology questions. The Tyler on the left is the real one, good for Mordecai having a rounded education. The fake Tyler tried to speed off, only to be clotheslined by Holly, then have his belt removed by Macy Heald.

Darn, that is an actual rule. no talking about an incident amongst yourselves while they wait for the police to arrive. Macy can't stay; she needs to talk to Tyler, and it is about her lawyer, Freed, eep. Quest Foundation contact card, just for emergencies. I'm sure we can trust Macy. Another girl kisses Tyler, she is very popular.

“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as though thousands of fangirls cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.” Glynis said to herself as she watched this on the monitor.

Holly looked at this aghast, balled up her fists and yelled, “KHAAANNN!!”

Everyone broke and stared at Holly. “What?” she pouted. “Everyone else got one.”

5th KHAAANNN!! in the story. And Holly is right, everyone else got one.

That is one way to get the LAPD to show up fast. The kids have to give statements ASAP but have permission to leave. Holly and Hayley are stuck until the paperwork is done; ouch, now that is punishment.

King Arthur’s Castle

Ah, the criminals were breaking into a jeweler's, that was my second guess after a bank.

A bunch of power gem users called the ‘Ill-Starred’. Go figure. Anyway, one of them called ‘Venomous’ according to LAPD, lived up to her name and zotzed me with her power whip. The paramedics insisted that they treat the wound and put my arm in this sling.”

Power gem users, darn, with the Zodiac theme, I hoped it was magical. I guess the power gems were in the belt buckles. It figures that whip was more like a super-charged scorpion's sting. No wonder Tyler is in such pain. Tyler, you are not fine; the scream when you got hit could be heard throughout the whole mall. Tom Tsung and Heike got out of Sea Whirl and have a headstart in the next challenge.

Boy, that is some riddle. Good guesses on several pieces of the clue already; Tom's father raised him on great stories. That last part of the riddle is the trickiest, I wonder how many it will trip up. Oh god, the choose wisely shtick to find the Holy Grail annoys me.

Aww, Tom Tsung doesn't mean any harm with his jibes.

A grail maiden with the Holy Grail, oh boy. At least Tom knows the tropes and what to avoid.

“Who do you serve?”

“aaahhh… the Quest Foundation.”

“And what is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?”

Tom stopped cold, painfully aware that he’d walked right into that.

Gah, I can't believe they got him with that one.

It figures Dr. Chase is a Monty Python fan and put that one in for her own amusement.

The 'maiden' runs off, and Tom gives chase, leaving Heike to explore on his own. A solarium and inside Tom is dealing with a 'knight' who is guarding the 'maiden' from him. All those old insults, only for Heik to walk up, avoid the sword baton, locate the switch, and turn off the drone.

Santoya, you should have expected that.

Great, an 'Evil Wizard' that sends out blinding bursts of electricity. A smart move by Tom to disable the 'Evil Wizard'.

Santoya, this is a test for the kids, not just something to bring up ratings.

That Disabled Access ramp needs to be put in a better location. Tank and Geoff have arrived and find they aren't the first. They find Tom Tsung and Heike trying to get the grail from the 'maiden', but kept from her by a 'dragon' drone. Geoff confuses the dragon, but it aids Tom and Heike as they get past the dragon, and the chase to obtain the grail is back on. Whoa, did Tank find the dragon's off switch, or did he do something to mess up its mechanics so they would lock up? Darn, up the stairs after the maiden, and Geoff has to deal with the Disability Assist to get up the chairs. I've seen those, I would hate it too.

Mike and Mordecai are late; Mordecai got into an argument with a cop. Mordecai knows King Arthur. And time for sheet ghosts to show up; it wouldn't be a medieval castle experience without those. Huh? Why did it burst into flame, loose wiring?

Three women- actually two women in their mid-20s and a teenage girl stalked up to them. They all wore dark outfits around tunics with white piping held together by belts with buckles of capital letters. The leader, one of the two women, had snow-white hair pulled back in a high ponytail, with a letter 'I' on her buckle. The other woman had dark hair so long it reached past her bottom, and had a letter 'D' on her buckle. The girl had shaggy dark, almost black hair with purple highlghts, and a letter 'S' on her buckle.

Oh no, 3 more of the group from earlier, or is this a new threat?

Tyler, with your arm in that shape, you can't fight right now. Dr. Chase is already on the phone to find out who they are in case they are trouble. Hhm, those powers don't seem to fit the theme of what the remaining zodiac symbols would be, at least from what I can tell. At least the kids can avoid the more serious attacks, and the teenage girl doesn't seem to want to be involved in this at all. The goblin-themed drones should help the kids to escape if the kids would do that instead of trying to deal with these women!

Tank says they are geniuses and will figure out some way to deal with them.

"Yeah?" sneered the Electrician. "If yer such geniuses, maybe you can get this stupid collar off'a my neck!"

"I take that as a challenge!" Geoff scooted up behind the electrician and knocked her off her feet and into his lap. Before she could react, he fiddled with the electronic collar and removed it.

"Sunnuvabitch!" the girl gasped. She threw her arms around Geoff and gave him a big kiss. Geoff reacted with a big goofy grin and a boggled expression.

Based on her reaction, I'm guessing the other two put that collar on the poor girl to enslave her and force her to work with them.

'Electrician' uses the Ogre drones to trap her former allies, more like enslavers. Darn, the Ice Queen took those out quick. At least Dr. Chase says an appropriate response is being fielded.

Stormy, wait, is this the same group from Gen 1 that were made into witches by that mad scientist and modeled themselves after the Trix from Winx Club?

Three women stepped out of the spiral. This second trio could have been the first trio's older, more sophisticated sisters. They also wore matching color-coded outfits with wide-brimmed hats, close-fitting jackets, matching pants, and low-heeled shoes.

Wait a minute, what is going on? Samantha is still obsessed with Winx Club, oh brother. Honaker, still shilling for Dr. Macabre, all these years later, and she still hasn't learned better.

Tries to use Ice Coffin on the woman in white, only to have it sent back at her. Samantha/Icy still has learned nothing.

The victor leaned over, lowered her glasses and puckishly said, "You know, you wouldn't have this happen, if you studied, instead of rage-quitting and hitting the reset button."

Wait, did she make herself younger? A Compliance Collar by Dr. Macabre- that monster needs to be eliminated already. At least the younger Stormy is free from those two idiots and Dr. Macabre.

Heike knew the answer to the question. But Geoff snatches the grail and takes off with 'Stormy' still in his lap. Tom Tsung figured out the most difficult part of the riddle, snatching the grail when Tank rushed past him.

There, he placed the grail on the altar. A sound-clip of a 'heavenly choir' played, and a slight shone down from above.

'Challenge Complete!' Dr. Chase announced on the PA system.

Placing it on the altar in the chapel is the answer to All and None guide the young knights' quest, but I still have no idea why.

"It's a gift certificate for one large, any combination ice cream dish from Fosselman's Ice Cream Shop in Glendora," Tom said. Then, realizing what he had, Tom picked up another parchment. Then he physically picked up Heike by the waist and hurried out the door. Getting in their car, Tom said, "Science is all well and good, Adventures are great, but we're talking Ice Cream!" Heike picked up immediately and urged him to drive.

A good ice cream with a friend is a treasure.

Rats, Tyler has to go see the doctor.

Tyler is stuck in a hospital bed, and Macy comes to visit her. Ugh, I hate that Tyler is right about how most hospitals are run and why so many tests are done on patients. Macy is a mutant, an Energizer, and she has Diedrick's Syndrome, yikes. Oh, when she uses her powers a lot, she gets excited, thus the kiss she gave Tyler.

“This is the down-stroke of the mood swing,” Macy said with a wince. “First I get all hyper, and then I calm down, and then I kinda crash and get all hyper-sensitive and…” she ended with a mournful squeak.

Ouch, I've seen what bipolar disorder can do with my sister. I hope she can find a way to control her condition.

Whateley Academy brought up, and Jadis is on the Board of Directors, good, they need someone like her. Oh no, Jerry Freed is a scumbag to try and get that money out of Macy ahd her father. Signed her on with the Mask Squad; she needs a good lawyer to get her out of that mess. Aww, but it would be so much fun to send that lawyer after Freed, see him chewed up and left in ruin, hopefully. Use the card and the connections to get you out from under Freed and into Whateley. The Whateley lawyers will tear him apart and any contracts your father signed without your permission. Aww, I like Tyler with Macy.

Holly Hellion in a candy-striper costume, that girl doesn't play fair. Aww, bought her some of the ice cream Tyler missed out on and worried about Tyler's arm. Symptoms like that sound like a type of poison is involved. Proable corruption of the nanite site, shit. *eyes bug out in horror* No wonder nanite augmentation won't be approved; that is nightmare fuel. Holly and Hayley did nanite augmentation on themselves; their mother had it done to her by their father, which is nuts. At least their mother was probably pissed they did it. Okay, they at least did it in the safest way possible.

Poor girls, our society valuing beauty so much sucks. There is an old expression: be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. Celebrity heroine thing- why did their mother encourage this instead of shutting it down as a bad idea? Aww, she never thought about girls romantically until Tyler saved her.

Holly wanted Tyler to take the intitiative. The other times she'd been forced by the circumstances to take the intiative. She wanted Tyler to want her.

Tyler leaned forward, wrapped her arms around Holly and kissed her. It was sweet, and all the sweeter for being a learning experience for both of them.

Crud, now she has Holly and Macy wanting to date her. Haha, it figures that Tyler knows about Archie comics, and the Betty/Veronica situation comes to mind. Aww, that question from Holly.

"That's the hard part," Tyler said. "You're both Betty. You're both sweet, honest, straight-up girls who just want a real thing with a straight-up guy. Well, you are when you let yourself be Betty. If anyone's Veronica, I'd say it's your sister, Hayley."

Two Bettys to choose from, which is even harder.

Let the poor girl figure it out on her own, Holly. Ack! Don't even bring that up, Holly. It should say, "Hayley and me went to Fosselmann's, not Holly. Strawberry, always a good ice cream to choose.

Darn, time for the Wiz Kids to find out who gets to join and who is gone. Oh, more tests are needed to figure out who is joining and who is leaving. Running out of ideas for tests, uh oh. An escape room that used to be a criminal scientist lab- why do I have a bad feeling about this? Geoff and Tom-3, Heike and Mordecai, and Mike and Tank; well, I hope Mordecai can go easy on Heike.

TEN MINUTES LATER

They speed ran it! And the Hellions found out about it! Do they have a leak or what?

Run of reasonable test, meep. Final test in the field.

There are reports of massive explosions, volcanic eruptions, a possibility of some unknown party using weapons of mass destruction, and even sightings of Dragons.

Please don't let any of Thulia's friends or relatives be involved. Relocate to the site in question.

"Argentina?" Tyler yelped.

Now I'm curious what the heck is happening there.