BotP Close-up 063

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Bobkat
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BotP Close-up 063

Post: # 566Post Bobkat »

~Take me out to the ball game~ (my bad singing notwithstanding) :lol:

This week, G-Force takes in a baseball game courtesy of Zoltar Strikes Out. :) Strange things are happening at the baseball stadium and the team checks it out. Keyop even becomes a ballboy for a night.

This ep stuck with me for years - it's in a different vein than most Battle eps and it's fun! Our team of heroes proves they can take down the bad guys separate or together. :) Enjoy!

The Other Jason's write-up is here: https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/ep63.html

E63: Zoltar Strikes Out

Act One

7-Zark-7 is at Center Neptune, the defense base for Earth and the Federation. Zark travels down the vacuum to the control room and flies to his monitors hoping to catch part of the baseball game. He has a dream of being a big-league baseball player saying he cover a lot of ground in the outfield. Then he figures he would make a great pitcher; with his control he would pitch a no-hitter every time. Zark visualizes a game in the bottom of the ninth during the Intergalactic Playoffs with a full count and he lets the next pitch fly. He throws his boomerang around the control room and catches as 1-Rover-1 looks on. He then says it's a strikeout before turning on his monitors. Seeing there are no alerts, Zark decides to look in on the game after all. He mentions the team is watching the game in the snack bar.

During a night game, Joe Galactor is next to bat for the Masters in the bottom of the ninth inning. They're playing the Sharks with the score of Sharks 2, Masters 0 with the go ahead run at the plate. The first pitch is a strike but Keyop says Joe is in a slump but Tiny says he's their main man. Keyop says they should trade him when Joe takes a second strike. Keyop is about to kick the TV until Princess stops him telling the TV isn't striking out. She tosses an ice pick in her hand, so she means business. Mark and Jason sit at the counter with Mark saying not to worry about Joe, "He's due for a hit." The batter sets up again after fouling five in a row. The next pitch he hits and runs the bases but his foot gets caught on a bag. Joe is called out and Keyop nearly loses it, calling Joe "a bum." Tiny says Joe walks better than he runs. Jason snarks, "It's a real barrel of laughs to watch a game with you guys." Mark points out to Jason that something fishy was going on because Joe's foot seemed to be stuck in glue and says they need to check with Chief Anderson.

The team meets with Chief Anderson who briefs them that Spectra has been up to some secret shenanigans. The chief goes on to tell them that Spectra has taken the last six months building a blimp-sized bomb within a radius of 12 miles of the building they're in. Chief Anderson says the bomb is somewhere in the middle of the city but there isn't a lot big enough to hold it. Tiny points out Spectra found one and one that "wasn't busy for six months." Mark wonders how they were able to accomplish this task. Keyop chimes in, "Big down payment." Princess whacks him on the head for being ridiculous. Mark brings up the baseball game from the night prior being played in the middle of the city and the weird way Joe Galactor was called out. Jason adds the baseball field is a large lot and it's not used during the off-season. The off-season is about six months! Chief Anderson suggests the team take in a baseball game that night.

Later, the team is on hand for the baseball game with Zark wishing he could have gone – he's a great score keeper recording every statistic in his Cross-Digital Memory Banks. Mark and Princess watch from the stands while Tiny sells sodas as a vendor. Jason is in the scoreboard, "So I get stuck with keeping score. That's not what I call scoring." The clock shows about 10:37 p.m. as Keyop is the ball boy for the team. Princess comments she's not seeing anything out of sorts and Mark says that's true except Keyop being the ball boy. Mark adds that he's still bothered by what he saw last night at second base.

Joe Galactor is at bat and hits a home run hitting the fountain switch. Keyop celebrates by running onto the field. Shortly after, all the lights go out at the ballpark and things become quiet. The PA system tells everyone to stay calm and when the lights turn back on, all the players who were on the field are gone! Mark checks in with Tiny and Jason who didn't see anything. Mark devises a plan to stay out of sight and wait until the ballpark empties before looking around. Mark tells them Chief Anderson was right and something "peculiar" is going on. The stands empty as the rest of the teams check out the field. Princess is about to run out onto the field to find Keyop but Mark says they have to wait – they have a job to do first.

Later with the ballpark completely empty at about 11:30, the team has transmuted and searches for answers. They check out the infield including all the bases with Mark having issues with a base. "Nobody's stealing second in this ballpark." He takes out his sonic boomerang to cut into the base to figure out the mystery. He literally digs up the bag to discover a passageway into Spectra's base. Mark calls over the rest of the team and they now know where the base is: under the baseball stadium. Mark adds they know what happened last night at second base: Joe's spikes didn't catch on the bag; they were stuck when an electromagnet was switched on. Princess surmises that last night was a mistake with Tiny saying it was switched on by accident and used for something else. Mark guesses it's a lock to keep people out. Princess confirms that's exactly what the magnet is used for – a lock.

As the team stands around second base, the overhead lights are moved in on them and turned on, blinding them. Mark tells them to take off and they run out but the field splits under their feet! Mark and Princess fall in but Jason fires his cablegun to prevent his falling in. Tiny jumps onto Jason's leg and they both escape but they see the field close up again without Mark or Princess on the surface. Jason and Tiny are both distressed by this turn of events.

Below in Spectra's base, Mark and Princess are on the floor but are okay. That is until a glass bubble encloses them and they're gassed. Zoltar watches and is quite pleased at the outcome. He tells his men not to overdo the gas because he may want to talk to the G-Forcers when they wake up.

Act Two

Zark paces in the control room as Rover sits by him. The robot says that Spectra has managed to sneak a "huge bomb" into Earth's largest city and that three G-Force members are missing. Zark flies to his monitors saying he has been using all his scanners to pinpoint the location of the bomb. His Cosmic Analyzer is confused on how Zoltar successfully planted such a large bomb on Earth undetected. Zoltar even snuck by Susan and the Early Warning System. Zark believes the bomb was built "piece by piece." Zark tries to use the monitors but everything sparks on him – he must be closing in!

Chief Anderson tells Jason and Tiny that Zark has been able to pinpoint the bomb and it is in the ballpark. As they talk, Keyop signals to Jason saying he's "in jail." Jason tells him he needs to get out because the bomb is in there somewhere. He also asks Keyop if he's seen Mark and Princess but so far, Keyop hasn't seen anybody or anything. Chief Anderson talks to Keyop saying he has to act as their eyes. Keyop will keep his eyes open and "ears on" but for now, someone is heading his direction. Keyop cuts off communications and goes to a corner of the cell.

Goons stop by dumping Mark and Princess just inside the cell much to Keyop's unhappiness. He screams before going to Princess and kneeling by her. Keyop's so upset but Mark wakes up telling Keyop his voice "sounds so beautiful." When Keyop realizes they're alive, he's thrilled. Mark says Zoltar wanted them for something and asks Princess if she's okay. She says, "I haven't taken inventory yet." She does get up and tells Keyop he's out of uniform!

Mark and Princess get to work making a quick break out of the cell. She uses explosives, "faster than a key." The three G-Forcers break out being chased by goons. On their way out, they run into the baseball players including Joe Galactor. He starts swinging at them with Mark saying they're fans! Mark, Princess and Keyop back up but they're closed off with Zolta's evil laugh heard. Mark calls it in a sarcastic manner, "A perfect day." Mark calls out saying, "We've missed you, Zoltar." The leader stands above them saying it's perfect to employ their own "ridiculous national pastime" against them using their own people. Zoltar snaps his fingers, "Play ball!"

A pair of pitchers start of the fight with Mark's sonic boomerang being batted back at him. But the trio are able to defeat the ball players and break through the glass Zoltar watches through. They make it to Zoltar's level with Mark saying, "The count is full on ya now, Zoltar. Surrender or we'll strike you out for good!" Zoltar laughs evilly telling them there is nothing they can do now. He informs them that the bomb is programmed to detonate whether Zoltar is present or not and that it will be set off by an Earth person. He won't reveal the location but says in a few minutes Capital City will be reduced to rubble. Zoltar then runs turning them over to his "chief jailer."

The jailer is in a red and pink outfit wielding a spiked club. Mark tells Princess and Keyop to get out if they can and he'll take on the jailer. Princess and Keyop yell, "Big Ten!" and take off. The jailer, meantime, takes a swing at Mark who keeps calling strikes with every miss. Mark is able to get a message out to Chief Anderson, Jason and Tiny saying they have ten minutes to find a triggering device.

The baseball game is proceeding as normal while the Jason and Tiny search the ballpark. Zoltar makes his escape to a nearby amusement park with Princess and Keyop hot on his heels. She knew if they followed him, they'd get out. However, they don't move fast enough as the attraction they're on starts spinning. She throws her yo-yo to get them out of it. Only they land on a roller-coaster track with two coasters on their way to run them over. Princess and Keyop jump to escape that in time to watch Zoltar escape in his rocket. He says there's no sense in everyone being present for the most powerful bomb in history and he kisses Earth goodbye. "Bye bye, fools!" Keyop calls him, "Big chicken! Run scared!" Princess admonishes Keyop reminding him that one day Zoltar may forget he's a coward.

Back in the base, Mark is still fighting the jailer who is now batting balls at him. Mark throws his boomerang at the jailer only to have it come back at him! The boomerang is stuck in the ceiling. The jailer moves in for the kill as Tiny and Jason keep looking for the trigger. The baseball game keeps going while Mark finally gets the upper hand. The jailer's bat hangs up on the boomerang and he falls to the floor. Mark demands to know where the trigger is. He doesn't give up until the jailer tells him that a home run toward the outfield fountain sets off the bomb. Mark informs the team immediately where the trigger is. Jason grouses, "Why didn't I bring my fielder's mitt!?"

Chief Anderson is in contact with the team when Keyop notices the team's best hitter is up! The chief orders the team to the fountain and they all run for it. The batter hits a ball that flies straight for the fountain! The four fire their weapons but they all intercept each other and miss! The ball continues to sail until it's stopped … by the sonic boomerang! The ball bounces harmlessly back onto the field. G-Force lets out a collective sigh of relief as the stadium is in stunned silence. Mark stands back panting because that was way too close!

Mark reports to Chief Anderson who says he'll get a group in to dismantle the bomb and the game can be replayed tomorrow. He praises G-force for a job well done, opening the blinds and looking out at Capital City. G-Force boards the Phoenix and takes off. Tiny reminds them again the player was shorted a home run. Mark can't help but think Zoltar is always running around with two strikes against him. Keyop says the villain was trying to give baseball a bad name. Princess agrees, "Imagine calling baseball ridiculous." The Phoenix flies away leaving the stadium and Capital City intact.

Zark is glad G-Force made it through all right, because his Optical Sensory Circuits shivered when all their weapons missed the baseball. Zark takes his vacuum tube up to his Ready Room saying they're on the way home. He can't imagine anyone hating baseball more than Zoltar does and is glad he didn't set up all the chessboards to blow up when a piece was moved. "But it would speed up the game a lot." Zark lounges for a ten second oil break when Susan calls. She reports that everything is quiet but she wanted to compliment him on another job well done. Zark says the G-Force members are the ones to thank. Susan tells Zark that she heard he wanted to be a baseball player but suggests he not go for pitching. She tells him to be a batter because "you never strike out with me."

This plot summary Copyright Bobbi Baker ©2021. No reproduction of any kind without permission.
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