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Gatchaman Episode 63 – Massacre of the Mecha Curve Ball

 

We see an array of bright lights, but it is not an interrogation chamber. Rather, we are looking at a night baseball game. Cheering spectators are in the stands, and the third baseman is getting ready to take his turn at bat.

The scene pulls back, and we can see that we are watching the television in the Snack Jun. Apparently there are some serious baseball fans on the Science Ninja Team!

 

It’s the bottom of the ninth, and the Monsters (yes, that’s the name of the baseball team) are losing 2 to 0. But if the player at bat, Shimanaga, can hit a home run, the game will be tied.

And Shimanaga misses the first pitch.

“What’s wrong with Shimanaga?” Jinpei complains. “Why couldn’t he hit it? It was good!” He covers his face in disgust.

 

“You might as well give up. It’s a loss for the Monsters.” Ryu tells him.

Jinpei turns his view to Ken and Joe, seeking another target for his anger.

“All this time and you’ve only bought water?” he complains.

 

Ryu is taken aback by this, but I guess he’s in the clear, as he appears to be drinking orange juice.

“Yeah, so?” Ken laughs.

“Strike two!” the announcer calls from the television, and Jinpei is distracted again, hitting the set.

“Gee, Shimanaga, are your eyes open?” Jinpei asks angrily. He moves to kick the television, but is stopped by an irritated call.

“Jinpei!” Jun lectures. “If you’re not going to help out with the bar, then just get lost.” Her voice doesn’t sound very menacing, but then, she is tossing around an ice pick as she’s talking.

 

“Come on, this is the best part!” Jinpei pleads. “I’ll help you after this, okay, Sis? You know I’m good for it!”

 

But Jun turns away angrily, stabbing the ice pick into a block of ice.

“Honestly!” she says angrily. “We’re going out of business if we keep letting customers on tabs take up all of our barstools!” Ouch! Sounds like someone in the room should be wincing…

“Cool it, Jun!” Ken says, oblivious as usual. “Come on, there’s no need to take things out on us.”

 

I can’t see what Ken is drinking, but it sure looks to me like Joe has orange juice, not water.

“Keep it down, willya?” Jinpei butts in. “This is the best part of the game, so zip it!”

 

“Okay, with my tab, I guess I’d better.” Ken says sheepishly, rubbing his head.

 

Oh look! Ken is drinking orange juice too! Unless the water in Utoland is a weird shade of orange… ewww…..

At the baseball game, there’s another pitch, and Jinpei bites his towel in anticipation.

 

“All right! Give me a home run, Mr. Shimanaga!” Jinpei urges.

And he does. Jinpei cheers.

 

But Ryu bangs his fist and lowers his head in disgust.

“Great!” he moans. Guess he was betting on the other team?

But it’s not quite a home run. The ball is still in the outfield, bouncing around. Shimanaga is running around the bases, but as he passes one, his foot seems to stick to it, and he falls down, rather than running forward.

 

“What are you doing? Get up and run!” Jinpei shouts.

Ken is shocked by this turn of events!

 

Just as Shimanaga breaks his foot free, he’s tagged out.

“Aw, you moron!” Jinpei whines. “That ain’t no pro!”

“Aw, you moron!” Jinpei whines. “That ain’t no pro!”

“Too bad for you, Squirt!” Ryu says, slapping his hand onto Jinpei’s head.

 

I wonder if Ryu won enough money from Jinpei to pay off his tab?

Shimanaga is booed off of the field.

“This blows!” Jinpei says, moving to turn off the set.

“Hold on!” Ken says.

“Big Bro, you don’t want to watch this sorry game anymore, do you?” Jinpei asks.

“Something caught my attention about what just happened to that ball player.” Ken says.

 

“Huh? What you talkin’ ‘bout, Bro?” Jinpei asks, in a very bad Gary Coleman impersonation.

“Are you saying the game was fixed?” Ryu asks.

“No, I’m not.” Ken replies. “But didn’t the way Shimanaga moved look kind of queer to you?” Queer? Ooh, does Ken have his Gaydar on? Yaoi fans, take note!

“Yeah, now that you mention it.” Jinpei says thoughtfully. “I guess it was a little odd for a fast runner like him.”

 

“It didn’t look like he sprained his ankle or anything.” Ryu notes.

 

“Ken, why do you even care about stuff like that? It’s not like you’re a fan.” Joe asks. Hmmm… perhaps a yaoi fan might say Joe was jealous? Roll Okay, I’ll stop with the yaoi comments… I promise! Big Grin

 

“Well you see,” Ken explains, “there’s a report from Dr. Nambu about an incident involving a baseball game.”

And instantly, the entire team is being briefed by Dr. Nambu at the Crescent Coral Base.

 

“The incident happened a few days ago during a baseball game in Ameris.” Nambu says. “During a fifteen second blackout, all of the players and umpires on the field suddenly disappeared. It’s simply incomprehensible to me.”

Ken and Joe take in this news with serious expressions.

 

“Do you think it could be Galactor up to its old tricks again, Doc?” Ken asks.

“Hmm…” Nambu replies, closing his eyes, bowing his head and rubbing his chin. “I can’t think of anyone other than Galactor who would be capable of executing such an intricate plan on a large scale like this.”

“Damn! They’re trying to do a big magic show or something this time!” Joe curses.

 

“Doctor, do you have any idea why they kidnapped the players?” Jun asks.

 

“I’ll bet they got mad because the team lost the game!” Jinpei jokes.

“Jinpei…!” Jun says threateningly.

“I don’t know the answer to that yet,” Nambu says, ignoring Jinpei’s outburst, “but I believe there has got to be some other reason.”

“Is it possible the same kind of incident that happened in Ameris could happen here?” Ken asks.

 

“Interpol Headquarters has requested the Science Ninja Team’s assistance on this puzzling case.” Nambu informs them. Hmmm… what makes Interpol think the Science Ninja Team can help?

“They can request, but for us this is like trying to figure out a magic trick!” Ryu sighs unhappily.

 

“Wait a sec!” Ken says, placing a reassuring hand on Ryu’s shoulder. “Remember that really messed-up play that happened in yesterday’s game?”

“I don’t wanna hear it!” Jinpei runs up.

“Jinpei!” Jun smacks the boy. “Don’t be stupid!”

 

“Could what happened yesterday be connected to the disappearances?” Ken wonders out loud.

“Oh, I see. That’s why you watched the game ‘til the end.” Joe finally gets it.

 

“Yeah, something about that game bugged me!” Ken confirms. “Doctor, can we stake out the stadium to investigate?” Sheesh, Ken, of course you *can* stake out the stadium. I think the word you’re looking for is *may*… sigh.

“Good idea.” Nambu responds thoughtfully, ignoring Ken’s lapse in grammar. “The same type of incident might happen again.”

“I want all of you to go to Gorakuen Stadium for surveillance tonight.” Nambu orders the Team.

“Shazam! Checking out a night game, huh? How cool!” Jinpei dances with joy before Jun pounds him on the head.

 

“We’re going there on a mission.” she reminds Jinpei as she whaps him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” Jinpei squeaks.

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The narrator tells us that Gorakuen Stadium is located in the well-established central area of ‘the city’. I’m guessing he means Utoland?

Because the stadium is located next to an amusement park, pools, a roller-skating rink, and other public arenas, it’s a popular place of recreation and relaxation for all ages.

Ken and Jun sit in the stands at the baseball game. I suspect the guy behind Ken thinks Gatchaman as the Swine Flu. Or would that be the Bird Flu?

 

Ryu is apparently working undercover as a food vendor. And yeah, I’ll pause for a moment to let you think of all the jokes I could make about the Owl using a cover that puts him in the proximity of food.

 

“Fresh ball tarts! Juicy canned Tang!” Ryu calls. I should point out that the subs simply have him selling juice and pastries. The ADV writers were probably pulling a late night when they hought of that one.

“Hey!” yells someone in the crowd. “I can’t see, fat boy!” D’oh!

Meanwhile, we see that Joe is sitting all by himself… behind the scoreboard! Yep, he’s manually turning the numbers on the board. Guess the ballpark is too cheap for a digital video screen.

Anyone want to pause to think about ‘keeping score’ with Joe?

“Man, this blows!” Joe complains, wiping his forehead. “I had no idea how hot it could get inside the scoreboard!”

Ooh… Joe is ‘hot’… Sorry. Back to the episode review. Blushing

 

It’s the bottom of the seventh, and Shimanaga is up at bat again. He hits the ball into the audience, but it’s foul. A familiar ball boy comes running up.

 

Look, he’s number 4!

“Hey, give me the ball!” Jinpei calls out. And amazingly, the man does. Clearly this isn’t Ameris, where the crowd fights violently over any ball hit into the stands and then tries to sell it on EBay.

“Thank you!” Jinpei says, running off with his prize.

“Look at Jinpei! He’s really into it!” Jun notes.

“Guess he doesn’t mind this kind of work, huh?” Ken asks. “But keep your eyes sharp on the field. Something should be happening any minute now.” Ooh, how does he know? Is Ken psychic?

 

Shimanaga hits the ball into a musical fountain at the back of the ballfield. No, I’m not kidding. The music goes off, and the crowd cheers. I guess this means a home run!

FWIW, when I was younger I went to a lot of baseball games with a friend who was a baseball freak. I have never seen or heard of a musical fountain to announce a home run, although I hear that in Milwaukee they have someone slide into a giant beer mug?

But I digress.

“Yeah, we did it!” Jinpei runs onto the field and cheers, waving his hat.

 

Much to everyone’s shock, the lights go out!

 

 

 

We hear Jinpei’s plaintive call for his sister, just before the lights come back on. Ken is blinded!

 

“Ah… what the…” Ken stutters. “What the hell?”

 

The ballfield is empty!

“Ken, Jinpei is gone too!” Jun points out.

 

“Damn it!” Ken curses. “How could this happen right in front of us?” He contacts the others on his bracelet.

“Joe, Ryu!” Ken says sharply. “Have you guys found out anything yet? Ryu! Ryu!”

“Oh…” a very subdued Ryu answers. “Hey, Ken. I think I must be dreaming or something.”

 

“Unfortunately, my eyes freaked out too, so I couldn’t see anything either.” Joe adds.

 

“It looks like we all got mesmerized by Galactor’s sinister magic trick, Joe.” Ken replies. his face angry. “All the lights turn off, and then on at the same time, and in that moment our eyes can’t adjust. It’s a trick, made to take advantage of that!”

 

“Oh no! All the players are gone!” someone on the field shouts. Suddenly, the audience panics, running away from Ken and Jun.

 

Or perhaps they just realized that Ken does indeed have the Bird Flu.

Fearing the Bird Flu, Jun moves to run as well, but Ken tells her to forget about it.

 

“It’s too late to look for them, Jun.” Ken tells her.

“But what about Jinpei?” Jun asks.

 

“I feel sorry for the little guy, but we can only pray that he’s okay.” Ken tells a tearful Jun. Wow, that’s awfully pessimistic. Doesn’t he even want to check out the area?

Apparently not, because everyone goes back to talk to Dr. Nambu.

 

“I see.” Nambu says to the Team. “When I first heard about this incident, I thought it was ridiculous. But that’s Galactor for you. They’re geniuses when it comes to taking advantage of human blind spots.”

“Let us get on this right away, Doctor!” Ken pleads. Um, Ken, you missed your chance when you refused to investigate the ballpark immediately after the incident, remember?

“All right.” Nambu agrees forcefully. “Now that Jinpei’s also involved, we have no time to waste! Galactor has begun plotting something diabolical, right within our midst! We must stop them from implementing their plan, no matter what!”

Ken and Joe are thoughtful, while Jun seems surprised by the Doctor’s strong emotions.

 

“I’ll work on obtaining a permit to investigate the stadium.” Nambu says. Wait a minute, didn’t Interpol already ask the SNT to investigate? So why do they need a permit? Is this why Ken didn’t investigate earlier?

“I want all of you to search every single inch of that place, got it?” Nambu shouts.

“Roger!’

 

It’s still night at the ballpark as the Science Ninja Team arrives. Some are a little more graceful than others.

 

 

 

“Shhh…” Ryu whispers to himself, after he falls over the fence.

 

Jun checks out the pitcher’s mound, while Joe investigates the bases themselves.

 

Anyone thinking about going to third base with Joe? Wink

Ryu and Ken are investigating bases as well.

 

Ken finds something strange about his.

 

Clearly Ken has problems getting to second base. Ahem…

Since Ken can’t pick up the base, he stabs it with his boomerang. He gasps when he sees what’s underneath!

 

It’s some kind of trapdoor!

 

Everyone looks down the hole.

 

“It’s a secret magnetic panel!” Ryu exclaims.

“Why do you suppose that’s hidden under second base?” Joe asks.

 

“I think this magnetic panel must keep the base from moving.” Ken replies. “When Shimanaga was running the bases two days ago, the metal spikes on his shoe were caught by the magnetism. During yesterday’s game, Galactor probably thought they’d been found out. “

“So that’s why they kidnapped everyone who was on the field at the time!” Joe exclaims.

 

Okay, I don’t get it. If Galactor has a base here and they think they’ve been found out, how does kidnapping the players during a game help them keep their secret?

“What do you think this is for, anyway?” Jun asks.

“It’s probably a ventilation hole.” Ryu guesses. “Look, see? The base is made out of sponge, and has holes in it.”

 

“You think the opening is big enough for you to squeeze through, Jun?” Ken asks. Don’t forget, with Jinpei gone, Jun is the smallest member of the Team.

“Hmm… I’m not sure.” Jun considers this. But her thoughts are interrupted by the loud sound of a mecha’s approach.

“What’s that?” Ryu shouts. Guess he’s not too familiar with mecha approach sounds from outside the God Phoenix.

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Sure enough, we see a brief shot of goons in the scoreboard, before it begins to gleam, and the lights move down, as if to attack. They turn on, and the Team is blinded.

 

Wow, even their visors don’t help!

“Let’s get out of here!” Ken cries.

 

Everyone runs off, but the baseball field begins to break apart. Ken finds himself standing over a large crack.

 

The others are in this predicament as well!

 

 

Despite their efforts to stay above, they begin to fall down into the hole that has just been created.

 

Ken tries very hard not to fall in.

 

Joe shoots his cablegun.

 

Joe holds on with his gun, and Ryu grabs Joe’s leg as he falls. Joe retracts the cable, and the two ninjas move away.

 

“Come on, Joe! Please!” Ryu begs.

The two escape and turn back just in time to see the field closing up.

 

“Ken!” Joe shouts.

“Jun!” Ryu adds.

I guess now they know what happened to Jinpei and all the players.

Ken and Jun are lying on a metal floor at the bottom of a long shaft.

 

“Jun, Jun, are you all right?” Ken asks softly, as he opens his eyes.

“I’m fine.” she tells him.

“Let’s just stay still a little longer.” he advises her.

 

“Okay.” she whispers.

Sure enough, a large clear dome comes out of the floor to cover them.

 

A tube connects to the top of the dome, spewing in purple gas. Oh no! Not the dreaded purple gas from episode 61!

 

“Gas!” Ken cries, in case we didn’t know what the purple haze was. He and Jun cough and choke, and we see that they are being monitored on a viewscreen by our favorite villain.

 

“How do you like sucking up the air in there, Science Ninja Team Numbskulls?” Katse sneers. “That poisonous gas is 100 proof!” Hmmm… does Katse realize that ‘100 proof’ only means 50%?

“There’s no way to defend against it.” Katse goes on. “Now let’s get this thing going before the others show up!” And he presses a button on his control panel.

But lest you think he’s set off some deadly weapon, he starts speaking into the panel.

 

“Captain Bismal, haven’t you completed the work yet?” Katse demands. The Captain appears on the screen. Ooh, and now I see the source of ADV’s name for him! (Yep, his name isn’t in the subs.) He’s wearing a Pepto-pink skintight outfit with red accents that look like tongues… or perhaps muscles? Little yellow spikes, reminiscent of the yellow fangs on the goon masks, stick out of his shoulders. I’ll bet this guy has a hard time finding a girl to slow-dance with him at the Galactor socials.

 

The Captain looks like he’s standing in front of a missile.

“We’re ready to install the detonator right now, M’Lord.” Bismal says in a very ‘Texas’ sort of drawl.

“Right. Take care of it right away!” Katse snaps.

“Aye.” Bismal acknowledges. “The Super Megaton Hydrogen Bomb.” He gestures to the massive missile behind him, in case you hadn’t noticed it yet.

We see goons working on the bomb, as we head off to a commercial break.

 

While Solid Gold Ken isn’t Pepto-Pink, he would sure look nice on my mantel!

When we return, Nambu is standing up hurriedly.

“Are you saying both Ken and Jun were kidnapped when they tried to rescue Jinpei?” the Doctor gasps. Joe and Ryu appear sheepish at this statement.

 

“Well, to be more precise, they disappeared into the ground.” Joe clarifies.

“It amounts to the same thing!” Nambu points out. “And to think, after all the warnings I gave them.” Um… what warnings? I’m not recalling any warnings…

“They fell right into Galactor’s trap.” Nambu steams.

“But Dr. Nambu, they both acted like they were trying to be captured, to me.” Ryu says hesitantly. Really? I don’t recall that, but let’s go with it, shall we?

 

“Actually, if they had wanted to escape, they could have done it with their Bird Capes. Hmmm….” Nambu says, his anger cooling. I’ll take this opportunity to mention that Jun could have used her yo-yo in the same way Joe used his gun.

Joe’s face lights up as his bracelet does the same.

 

Is it just me, or does he have a Chucky-like expression? Maybe it’s just because we were talking about Chucky dolls in the last episode…

“Well, speak of the Devil! Here they are now.” Joe says. “This is G2 here, go ahead!”

But it’s not Ken or Jun’s voice that comes out.

“This is G4, Jinpei!”

“Huh? Aw, it’s only Jinpei.” Joe says in a disappointed tone. I am pound here! Weren’t they all concerned about Jinpei just a little while ago?

“So, you’re still alive?” Ryu asks conversationally.

 

“That’s not very nice!” Jinpei lectures. “It took a lot of trouble contacting you!” We can see that Jinpei is in a cell with the baseball umpires, who seem to be wearing… tuxedos? And white gloves?

 

 

“Don’t steam your shorts, Shortstop.” Joe says casually. “What’s the status down there, anyway?”

“Take a wild guess. All bases are loaded with no outs.” Jinpei reports. Gee, they’re really taking this baseball metaphor a bit far, aren’t they?

And now Dr. Nambu is in on the conversation. Rather than just lean over and talk into Joe’s bracelet, he pulls out a massive, high tech cell phone.

 

“Never mind that.” Nambu says. “What happened to the other players who were kidnapped with you?”

“It’s kind of screwy, but all those ballplayers are being given really intense training so they can fight for Galactor!” Jinpei reveals.

We see a shot of a robot with a very long Pinocchio-nose. A ball shoots out of the nose.

 

Shimanaga hits the ball, and it pounds right through the robot, crunching into the metal wall. Captain Bismal comes up to congratulate him personally on his work.

“Very good! You’ve been well-prepared through baseball. You’ll be working for Galactor before you know it!” Bismal sounds like an evil, Texas-Rancher version of Fagin (from Oliver Twist).

 

We can hear Jinpei’s voice as we look at the baseball player.

“Shimanaga looks like a totally different person!” he says. “He’s probably screwed up because of some kind of drug, or gas.”

“All right, Jinpei, I copy that.” Nambu says into his oversized phone. Maybe using oversized objects is Nambu’s way of appearing thinner?

“Ken and Jun have already infiltrated.” the Doctor goes on. “I want you to work with them and report Galactor’s activities.”

“Really? Big Bro and Sis are here?” Jinpei is all smiles. “Thanks for sending in the pinch hitters!”

 

But Jinpei’s smile turns into a frown.

“I’ll call you again later. Bye!” He turns quickly and moves away from the bars of his cell, lying down on the floor.

We see two sets of green-uniformed legs approaching the cell door. Jinpei lies on the ground, his eyes closed as we hear the cell door opening and closing. Footsteps come closer. Jinpei opens his eyes to see…

 

Ken and Jun have been deposited on the floor of the cell next to him!

 

“Sis! Big Bro!” he calls out, oblivious to the umpires around him who no longer seem to be quite so out of it. “They’re both deader ‘n dead! All because I messed up…” He begins crying.

 

“Jinpei!” Ken says.

“Jinpei?” Jun asks.

Jinpei freaks out as Jun’s hand starts twitching. He jumps back in terror.

“Aaah! It’s the living dead!” he cries. (FTR, the subs say ‘Ghosts!’)

“Jinpei, hold it down!” Ken lectures quietly. “Why are you freaking out?”

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“Because, Brig Brother,” Jinpei answers, crawling back, “you breathed in the poison gas, didn’t you?” Hey, how did Jinpei know that?

 

Hmmm… where did the big number 4 on the back of Jinpei’s baseball shirt go? It seems to have magically vanished!

“I thought something like that might happen, so I’ve been training myself to hold my breath for an extended period of time.” Ken reveals. He rises slightly. “Hey, Jun, are you doing okay over there?”

 

Jun doesn’t look okay.

 

“They got me a little nervous, but it looks like I made it.” she says, pulling up to a kneeling position.

“Sis!” Jinpei whimpers.

“You silly, stop being such a baby!” Jun tells him. “And hurry up and switch to Birdstyle!”

 

“Okay!” Jinpei says, pulling off his baseball uniform.

 

“Perfect. I don’t see any problem breaking out.” Ken says, assessing the cell door.

“Here.” Jun says, pulling out some kind of bomb. “I’ve got just the thing.”

 

She places the bomb on the cell door. It latches around one of the bars. She and Ken take cover at the back wall. Then she kneels and throws out her yo-yo.

 

As the yo-yo hits the bomb, it explodes, and the door is blown away.

“C’mon, let’s go! Jun suggests.

“Right!” Ken agrees.

 

Ken is so happy to be out of the cell that he flips out into the corridor.

 

Of course, when Jinpei tries the same fancy maneuver…

 

No one seems to be worrying about the umpires left behind in the same cell who witnessed the entire thing, including Jinpei’s transformation.

“Look, they’ve escaped!” we hear goons yell. “After them!”

Our three ninjas are running fast.

 

But then they encounter a corridor full of angry baseball players.

 

“What the heck’s Shimanaga doing here?” Ken asks himself. We find out as Shimanaga starts swinging his bat at Ken’s head.

 

“They’ve inhaled poison gas!” Jinpei explains, as the door behind the ninjas closes. A familiar laugh echoes through the room.

“What’s that sound?” Ken asks. I guess holding his breath so long killed off a few of his brain cells, if he can’t recognize his enemy’s voice.

 

“It sounds like Berg Katse!” Ken declares after a moment. I guess that’s all it took for the brain cells to grow back.

A panel in the ceiling opens up, and we see Katse, Captain Bismal and a few goons.

 

“Gatchaman, I must extend my congratulations on avoiding the poison gas.” Katse says. “Your training’s exemplary, I’ll give you that. How about a few fastballs too? Do it!” Katse snaps his fingers.

Instantly a few of the baseball players start pitching the metal balls at the ninjas, but Ken, Jun and Jinpei leap out of the way. Ken throws his boomerang, shouting ‘Bird Run!’

 

Shimanaga hits the boomerang with his bat and send it back to Ken. Apparently the White Shadow wasn’t expecting this.

 

But he manages to catch his weapon anyway, although he flips over in the process.

 

Jinpei throws out his bolos, which catch around Shimanaga’s bat.

 

Jinpei then rushes Shimanaga and sucker-punches him in the stomach.

 

The way Shimanaga collapses, you would think that Jinpei had hit him somewhat lower. Wink

Ken avoids a few more pitches.

 

And throws his boomerang again.

 

This time his boomerang takes out the baseball players. Gee, this sure isn’t Mark and a sonic boomerang. Did Ken really just kill a bunch of mind-controlled baseball players?

He punches out more baseball players, barely stopping to catch the boomerang as it returns. This is super cool to watch!

 

 

But now it’s time for Jun to get into the action with an ADV-patented yo-yo strike.

 

And even as her first victim is falling, she’s leaping at her second.

 

Jinpei is freaking out one of the pitchers by feeling up his chest.

 

As the last ballplayer drops, all three ninjas stand together and throw their weapons up at Katse.

 

They all get pretty close to their target.

 

But Katse ducks. The bolas and boomerang clatter to the floor, but the yo-yo sticks to the ceiling of the second storey, and Jun lifts everyone out.

 

Hmm… does it seem like Ken’s right hand might be taking advantage of this situation? Wink

They jump out of the hole, grab their weapons and face down Katse.

 

“Berg Katse, it’s the final inning, and I’m calling this game by putting an end to your miserable life.” Ken smirks.

So I gather we’re not quite done with the bad baseball metaphors yet.

“Say your prayers.” Ken says.

 

But Katse just laughs.

 

“You’re so entertaining if you think you’ve got us.” Katse replies. “But you’re dead wrong! Just what do you think this equipment underground is here for, anyway?”

“What?” Ken and Jun gasp.

 

“Since you’re here, I suppose I’ll tell you.” Katse clearly enjoys playing ‘Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond.’ “We’ve set up a hydrogen bomb that’s capable of blowing up this whole country with a single blast!”

 

Wow, an entire country? That’s some bomb! Of course, a while ago we speculated that Utoland might be a city-state. Perhaps that’s what Katse means. It seems more reasonable.

“H-Bomb?” Ken gasps.

 

“What now, Sis?” Jinpei asks.

 

“Oh my!” is all Jun can whisper.

“Surprised, my caped canaries?” Katse mocks them. “And the bomb’s detonator is hidden somewhere in the stadium above us!”

 

“The button may be activated at any moment during tonight’s game.” Katse clearly hasn’t learned his lesson about revealing too much. “And when that happens, this entire country will perish in the blink of an eye!”

We see scenes of a bomb’s devastation, so that we can understand what Katse means.

“Still wanna kill me?” Katse asks. Well, I’ll vote for that.

 

I’m wondering why the baseball players are up here now. Didn’t Ken, Jun and Jinpei leave them down below?

“You rotten lowlife!” Ken shouts.

“Well, it looks like a come-from-behind grand slam homer for me!” Katse cackles, pointing at Captain Bismal as he turns to run. “So long, Gatchaman!”

 

Bismal, apparently too inexperienced to realize what it means when Katse turns and runs from the scene, advances toward the ninjas wielding a nasty-looking spiked club.

“Go after Katse!” Ken orders Jun and Jinpei. “He’ll sneak through a secret passageway somewhere!” This is quite a change from usual. Normally it’s Ken running after Katse.

 

Bismal smashes at Jun and Jinpei with his club, but they leap over his head and run out of the room.

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Now it’s just the White Shadow and the Pink Heartburn.

 

Ken leaps out of the way of Bismal’s swing and contacts Nambu on his bracelet.

“Dr. Nambu!” he calls. “This is Gatchaman. Do you read me? Please come in!”

 

“This is Nambu. Go ahead!” Nambu replies on his massive phone. Joe and Ryu are apparently listening in.

 

“Yes, are you sure?” Nambu asks, but we don’t hear Ken’s side of the conversation. Presumably their talk is interrupted from moment to moment by Bismal and his club. “I understand. I’ll try to get it arranged right away.” Nambu puts down the phone.

“We’ve got a serious problem here.” Nambu says to Joe and Ryu.

“Doctor, we have to make them cancel the night game!” Joe exclaims. I guess he and Ryu heard Ken’s silent report.

 

“Darn tootin’!” Ryu adds.

“Impossible, the game has already started.” Nambu replies, pulling up his sleeve to check the time on his watch.

“What?” Joe is shocked.

“Our only chance is to locate the detonator and disarm it as soon as possible!” Nambu orders. “We haven’t a second to waste!”

“No problem.” Joe says casually. “Ryu and I will try to take care of that.”

 

“I’m counting on you.” Nambu says. “I’ll have to explain the situation to the police and enlist their help. Now get a move on!”

“You got it!” Joe and Ryu shout, barely taking time to salute before they run out of the room.

We cut to the park, where the game is going on. Joe and Ryu are searching for the detonator.

 

 

Meanwhile, at the amusement park next door to the stadium, Katse pops out of a hatch at the top of one of the rides. He is quickly followed by Jun and Jinpei.

 

Just as they figure out where they are, the circular platform Jun and Jinpei are on begins to spin rapidly.

“Whoa, make it stop!” Jinpei moans.

 

“Let’s get out of here!” Jun says, throwing out her yo-yo. She pulls Jinpei to safety. Unfortunately, they land on a roller coaster track. Can you just guess what’s going to happen next? Wink

 

Yep, it’s the Galactor Mecha Bullet Train!

 

Is it just me, or does its head look like that of the Turtle King?

Jinpei points out that a train is coming from the other direction as well.

 

But they jump away just as the two trains hit.

 

Jun and Jinpei see Katse rising up an elevator tube in front of them.

 

Hi escape pod seems to be the top of one of the rides. Once inside, Katse activates a viewscreen, which shows the inside of the ballpark.

“Too bad I won’t get to see the end of this game.” Katse says to himself. “Go ahead, lose your cool now, Science Ninja Team. Farewell!” And he blows them a kiss on two fingers. Yes, really.

 

“Save me a seat in Hell!” Katse says, before taking off in his amusement-park-ride rocket.

“Damn it! You coward!” Jinpei shouts after the departing rocket. “Stupid rat fink Katse!”

 

“Jinpei,” Jun reminds him, “we have to move quickly. Let’s hurry up and find the detonator.”

 

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Jinpei admits.

Meanwhile, inside the base, Ken is still avoiding Bismal, who is now using his club as a bat to pelt Gatchaman with the metal balls we saw the pitchers throwing earlier.

 

Ken is narrowly managing to avoid the balls.

 

Ken throws his boomerang at Bismal, who knocks it back with his club. Ken is horrified to see his own weapon approaching him!

 

The boomerang scratches Ken’s face, making him bleed. Yes, ‘real’ honest-to-goodness blood here, people!

 

The boomerang sticks into the ceiling, and Ken slumps to the floor, as if the tiny scratch from the boomerang was enough to completely disable him. Hmmm… somehow, I’m not buying it.

But Bismal is. He moves in for the kill…

And we cut back to the stadium. Ryu is still searching for the detonator.

 

And so is Joe.

 

Policemen are searching as well.

“You haven’t found it yet?” the Chief of Police is saying on the phone, near a despondent Nambu. “Well look harder, Stanley!”

 

“We’re counting on you, Science Ninja Team.” Nambu mutters to himself, his head in his hands.

Back to Ken, who is leaping away to avoid Bismal’s attacks.

“Batter up!” Bismal shouts as he swings. He jumps into the air after Ken.

 

But as he hits the ceiling, Bismal’s club hits Ken’s boomerang, which is still stuck there. Now Bismal’s club is stuck to the boomerang, which is stuck to the ceiling. Ken takes advantage of Bismal’s confusion and punches him.

 

As Bismal falls, he is treated to this unique view of the White Shadow.

 

Bismal lands on the ground, after being stomped on by Ken in mid-air. His club clatters out of his hand, the boomerang still stuck in it.

 

“Three pitches and three strikes. The hardest hitters always miss inside balls.” Ken notes. Hmmm… I was expecting a more punchy ‘Three strikes and you’re out!’ line, but I guess Ken wanted to elaborate a bit.

“Now spill it!” Ken grabs Bismal by the collar, shaking him. “Where’s the detonator, you Galactor loser?”

“I don’t know…” Bismal chokes.

“I won’t let you off with that!” Ken exclaims. “You must be the one who set it! So tell me, out with it!”

 

Ken starts banging Bismal’s head against the floor.

“Millions of lives are at stake!” Ken shouts. “Tell me where it is! Now, damn it!”

Ken bangs Bismal against the floor so hard that the man’s mask breaks in two and falls apart, revealing his strange green hair. Hmmm… could he be related to Jun? Wink

“Device is behind where the home run ball hits the rear screen.” Bismal moans.

 

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Ken is horrified. “When there’s a home run…”

 

We cut to Joe, who is speaking to Ken via bracelet.

 

“What, Ken?” Joe asks. “Do you mean that when a home run ball flies into the rear screen…?”

“Oh yeah!” Jinpei points. “That thing usually spurts water to celebrate!” Ah, so the musical home run fountain does play a crucial role in the plot after all!

 

“This is bad!” Jun mutters.

So, do they call off the game, preventing a home run from being hit?

No. Instead they call Dr. Nambu, who screams at them all to ‘hurry’.

So they do. Joe is moving faster than anyone can see.

 

Ryu climbs the fence as speedily as he can.

 

And Jun and Jinpei are dashing down.

 

And of course, at that moment, a player hits the ball. The announcer states that it looks like it ‘could be a home run’!

“Great Scott!” Nambu practically screams in horror.

 

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The ball flies overhead, and the Science Ninjas are racing to the scene.

 

 

 

Everyone converges on the spot and throws out their weapons at the ball.

 

 

 

And… they all miss.

 

To be fair, they missed because the weapons hit each other, before they had a chance to impact the ball.

It’s the end of the world as we know it… (and I feel fine…)

 

 

 

But something flashes through the air, knocking the ball off course. And when the ball lands, we see that it is…

 

Of course. Because no one can do anything right in this episode except Ken. He’s the one who infiltrated Galactor’s base, single-handedly brought down the CotW, discovered the location of the bomb, and then prevented it from being activated.

This is one of those episodes that makes me wonder why there’s an entire team, if Ken can do it all by himself. Sorry, personal rant over.

Jun and Jinpei sigh in relief.

 

Joe spins his gun around and reholsters it.

 

Ryu can hardly believe his eyes.

 

And Ken hides behind the scoreboard.

 

Then he calls in on his bracelet.

”Dr. Nambu, it looks like we narrowly escaped the explosion. You can take it from here. Over.”

“Well done.” the Doctor congratulates Ken on his massive phone. “That could have been devastating if you hadn’t acted so quickly. Return to the base immediately!” And then he puts the massive cell phone into his jacket. Yep, really. And nary a lump to show where this thing is. WTH? It’s nearly as big as his head!

“Thank you Team.” Nambu says to himself, looking out the window at the city and the stadium beyond. “Great job, everyone.”

The God Phoenix rises into the sky, next to the stadium.

 

“Seriously, I thought we were done for back there, my friend!” Ryu says.

 

“You see, there was another secret passage leading up to the scoreboard, so I was just able to make it.” Ken explains.

 

“It was like a come-from-behind victory for Gatchaman in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs!” Jinpei describes their adventures with what I sincerely hope is the last of the baseball metaphors.

 

“Our teamwork will win us the pennant every time!” Jun says, dashing my hopes.

And even the narrator has to get in one more. So long as there’s time on the clock, the Science Ninja Team will take the field against any evil, with the unyielding confidence that they can win.

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BOTP Episode 63 – Zoltar Strikes Out

Deep beneath the sea, here, at Center Neptune, defense command base for Planet Earth and the outer worlds of the Federation, there is, now and then, a moment of peace and quiet.

We move from our peaceful scene of Center Neptune viewed from the waters, to one of Zark descending to his station from his elevation tube.

 

“With no emergency alerts in effect, I might even get a chance to sneak a peek at the baseball game on my monitor tonight.” Zark reveals. “You know, everybody has a dream, even robots! And I’ve always dreamed of being a big league player!”

Zark flies across the room, with Rover looking on curiously.

 

“I’d be awfully good in the outfield.” Zark tells us. “I can really cover a lot of ground!” Yeah, but at his flying speed, the entire game would be over before Zark crossed the outfield.

1-Rover-1 barks.

“Yes, 1-Rover-1,” Zark replies, “and you’d be a very good bat boy… if you didn’t eat the bats! Actually, I really should be a pitcher. With my control and concentration, I’d pitch a no-hitter every time out!” Yeah, until a player on the other Team started talking like Susan, and then Zark would simply break down!

“I can see it now,” Zark goes on, “the last of the ninth in the Intergalactic Playoffs, the count is full! I reach back for a little extra…” And Zark actually does reach back. He’s got his boomerang.

“Wind up, and deliver!” Zark finishes, throwing the boomerang around the room.

 

1-Rover-1 watches it as it circles.

 

This time, Zark actually manages to catch the boomerang without having it crash into his control panels.

 

“Strike out! I win the big game!” Zark crows. “So much for dreaming. Better get back to reality.” He turns toward his monitors once more.

“Well, that’s good.” he notes as he looks at his screens. “Still no sign of any disturbance in outer space. Maybe I will just see how the ball game is going. I know G-Force will be watching down in the Snack Bar.”

And now we are treated to a slow disco beat as we see the bright lights of the ball game.

And up at bat for the Masters (not the Monsters) is… Joe Galactor! Yep, just like the whale named Nambu, this is our proof that somebody at Sandy Frank productions was actually listening to the Japanese audio once in awhile.

The baseball announcer sounds like Mark plugging his nose. It’s the bottom of the ninth, and the Sharks have 2, the Masters have zip. But there are two men on base, and their ‘number one slugger, Joe Galactor’ is up! Here’s the pitch…

And we cut to the Team watching the game at the Snack Bar.

Joe Galactor gets a strike.

“In a slump!” Keyop burbles.

“Stop it, Keyop! He’s our main man!” Tiny protests.

“Man out!” Keyop grimaces menacingly. Tiny seems startled by this pronouncement.

Joe Galactor has strike two.

“Trade him!” Keyop broops, hitting the television set. But Princess stops him before he kicks it.

“Keyop, the set isn’t the one striking out!” Princess says softly, as she casually tosses around an ice pick.

“Gotta lose my aggressions!” Keyop says.

“Why get excited? Joe’s due for a hit!” Mark says, rubbing his head with a sheepish expression.

According to nasal-Mark announcer, Joe Galactor is still in there, although he’s fouled off five in a row. There’s another pitch, and Keyop bites his towel in anticipation.

And Joe belts it! Keyop is excited. But wait a minute… his foot is caught on the bag! He’s tagged out!

“Yeeech! Unreal!” Keyop moans, slapping his face.

“Told you!” Keyop burbles. “Joe’s a bum!” And I have to say, I’m pound to hear a burbling Keyop call Joe a name. I’m just waiting for the Joe I’m thinking of to come up and pound him into the ground!

“You notice, he walks better than he runs.” Tiny comments, as he watched Joe Galactor leave the field.

“It’s a real barrel of laughs to watch a game with you guys.” Jason says sarcastically.

“You know that was weird, Jason.” Mark says. “Like he was stuck in glue! Let’s check with the Chief.”

And instantly, there they are, all talking to the Chief at Center Neptune.

“We’ve just received word that somehow, working in absolute secrecy, Spectra has managed to conceal a powerful bomb the size of a blimp, somewhere within the radius of twelve miles of this building.” Which building? Center Neptune? Hmm… perhaps they’re not at Center Neptune, but Galaxy Security Headquarters.

“It probably took six months to assemble it, since secrecy was so important.” Anderson thinks out loud.

“So it must be underground.” Mark deduces. “Otherwise, they’d need a pretty big tent.”

“But this is right in the city!” the Chief counters. “Even if you wanted to build openly, you can’t find a lot!”

“But they found an empty lot, and one that wasn’t busy for six months!” Tiny points out.

“Sounds ridiculous, but it must be true.” Mark says, putting a hand on Tiny’s shoulder. “Now how did they do it?”

“Big down payment!” Keyop suggest.

“Can’t you be serious?” Princess asks, smacking Keyop on the head. Oh, my eyes! A member of the Team hitting another member? And a child to boot? I’m traumatized!

“That ball game last night… it was played in the middle of a city.” Mark recalls.

“On a large lot that was vacant during the off season.” Jason adds.

“Which lasts about six months!” Mark notes.

“So tonight, why don’t you all take in a ball game?” the Chief suggests.

We see the ballpark, and hear Zark’s voiceover.

“I wish I could have gone to the ball game with G-Force. I’m a terrific scorekeeper. I don’t even need paper or pencil. I store every statistic in my cross-digital memory banks.” Groan…

“But something tells me this game isn’t going to be all fun for G-Force.” Zark gets back on topic as we see Mark and Princess sitting in the stands (including the masked man behind Mark). “They’re working undercover at the ballpark to poke around and see what they can find out.”

Tiny is working as a food vendor.

“Get your ice cold pop here!” calls Tiny.

“Boy, over here! I’ll have one!” calls back a spectator.

And Jason is in the high tech scoreboard, manually turning numbers.

“So I get stuck with keeping score.” he says. “That’s not what I call scoring!” For the smutty among you, let the fanfics commence. Wink

The announcer now calls out ‘Number One, Joe Galactor, batting for the Masters’. It’s not nasal Mark this time. There’s a different announcer.

Joe Galactor hits a foul ball into the crowd. A spectator catches it.

Keyop, dressed as a ball boy, tells the spectator to ‘throw it here’! And the spectator does. Freaky…

Keyop thanks the man and runs off.

“So far, I don’t see anything strange.” Princess remarks.

“Except Keyop as a ball boy.” Mark notes. “Yet, I can’t forget what happened at second base last night. That was weird.”

Joe Galactor hits a home run, turning on the fountain switch. Everyone cheers and Keyop runs onto the field.

The lights go out. It seems that all power is gone as the G-Force Team stares in shock. Yet somehow, even without power, the announcer’s voice is able to carry over the loudspeaker, telling everyone to remain calm.

The lights come on, temporarily blinding Mark. But instead of crying out about it like Ken does, he simply says, “Something mighty strange is going on down there!” in his best Shaggy voice. Despite his calm and relaxed tone, Mark’s face is aghast when he finally sees the field.

It’s empty!

“What happened to the fielders?” Princess asks anxiously.

“It’s just as if the Earth swallowed them up!” Mark replies. He talks into his communicator.

“Tiny, Tiny, did you see anything? Anything at all? Did you see where they went?”

“No, no, it was real dark up here.” Tiny answers.

“No,” adds Jason. I guess he was listening in. “The lights just came on in here too. I didn’t see anything.”

“Okay, Team,” Mark orders through his communicator, “stay out of sight. Later, when the stadium is empty, we’ll take a look around. The Chief’s hunch was right on. Some very peculiar things are happening here… like half a team disappearing!”

The spectators all run away from Mark and Princess. Then Princess starts to run down to the field as well.

“Princess! Where do you think you’re going?” Mark wants to know.

“But Keyop’s disappeared!” she explains.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” Mark replies, “but we can’t risk going after Keyop yet.” Princess’ eyes and face tremble.

There’s a brief fade to black (commercial break?) and we’re back to the stadium. The G-Force Team is in full uniform now, and sneaking into the ballpark. Unlike the Science Ninja Team, it appears they never left, which IMHO was the smarter move.

Of course, the Owl is still tripping over himself as he falls over the wall.

Princess checks out the pitcher’s mound while the guys check out the bases.

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Mark tugs at second base, which is attached to the ground.

“Nobody’s stealing second in this ballpark!” he thinks to himself.

“Take a look!” he calls to the others, when he sees what’s underneath. They all come running.

“They’ve built a secret base!” Tiny says, looking down the long, metal shaft.

“Yeah, right beneath the baseball stadium.” Jason adds.

“At least we know now what happened last night.” Mark says. “Joe’s feet didn’t get caught in the base pad. He stepped on an electromagnet that caught and held his spikes!”

And I am blown away, because this is exactly the same explanation Gatchaman had. There are more than surface similarities between the two shows after all!

“Last night could have been a mistake!” Princess suggests.

“You mean, they hit the switch by accident?” Tiny wonders. “I’ll bet the magnet was usually used for something else!”

“Yeah, it’s probably used as a lock, so nobody drops in.” Mark thinks out loud.

“That’s right.” Princess agrees, before everyone is distracted by a strange sound.

Everyone is shocked to hear strange mechanical sounds, as the lights come out to lean over them and shine brightly.

“Turn it off!” Mark shouts.

“It’ll blind us!” Princess says.

“I can’t see!” Tiny cries.

“Let’s split.” Mark suggests. Again, his voice is somewhat more calm than his demeanor would indicate.

As they run, the baseball field pulls apart! Mark and Princess fall down into the Spectran base, while Jason manages to use his cablegun to save himself. Tiny grabs onto his leg.

“Hang on, Big Fella!” Jason encourages Tiny. They make it to the top just in time to see the field closing up and resetting back to ‘normal’.

“Hey!” Jason calls.

“Mark!” Tiny shouts. Guess no one cares about Princess.

Inside the base, Mark and Princess are lying on a metal floor at the bottom of a long shaft.

“Princess, are you all right?” Mark asks.

“I guess so!” she says.

“We’re among ‘em. Play it cool.” Mark advises her.

Sure enough, a dome encloses the two, and purple gas fills it. They are being watched on a monitor, and Zoltar laughs as he sees their predicament.

“Let’s not overdo it!” Zoltar advises his goons. “I might want to talk to them when they wake up. We’ll give them a surprise or two.” Oh, good, because you know, I was really worried there that Zoltar might be trying to kill them!

Very quickly, we cut to Zark and his pacing. This is normally where the commercial break might be, but I’m wondering if it was moved to earlier, since there wasn’t a proper fade to black here.

Regardless, Zark is worried.

“Spectra has managed to sneak a huge bomb into Earth’s largest city.” He recaps for us as he paces. “And now Mark, Princess and Keyop are missing.”

 

“I’ve been checking all my scanners, in hope of discovering a clue to pinpoint the location of that Spectra bomb.” he tells us, lest we think that’s he’s just been goofing off while all of this other stuff has been happening. He flies across the room.

“What confuses my Cosmic Analyzer is how Zoltar managed to smuggle a weapon of that size right past Susan and our early warning system out on Pluto.” Zark goes on. “Unless he brought the bomb in piece by piece.”

“Well… uh oh!” Zark’s control panel begins sparking and he backs off, his antennae popping.

 

“I think I’m getting close!” he declares. We cut to Chief Anderson.

“Zark has definitely located that bomb.” the Chief tells Jason and Tiny. “It’s in the baseball park.” Just then, Jason’s communicator begins beeping.

“G-Force Headquarters. Come in!” Jason says. “Is that you, Keyop?”

“In jail!” Keyop burbles. We see umpires slumped around his cell.

“You’ve gotta get out!” Jason tells him. “The bomb’s in there somewhere. Have you seen Mark and Princess?”

“Nobody… nothing… anywhere!” Keyop broops.

“You’re the only eyes we have.” Anderson says, on his massive phone. “We’re counting on you to keep in touch.”

“Okay...” Keyop burbles. “Eyes open… ears on… uh oh! Someone coming!”

Keyop gets down on the floor of his cell and pretends to be sleeping as two goons walk up to the cell door. We hear the sound of the door opening and closing, and when the goons have walked away, Keyop risks a glimpse. He cries out in pain as he sees Mark and Princess’ bodies on the floor.

“Oh…Princess…” he sobs, running over to her. “What have they done? And Mark…!”

Of course, he forgets that there are umpires in the cell with them.

“Keyop!” Mark whispers. Keyop jumps back in terror, but his voice speaks calmly.

“You alive?” he broops. “Or a ghost?”

“I wouldn’t have believed that voice of yours could sound so beautiful!” Mark smiles.

“You are alive!” Keyop burbles, crawling back. “Oh, wow!”

“Zoltar has us cold, but he wanted us around for something.” Mark fills Keyop in. “I wonder what it was.” Then he turns to Princess.

“How about it, Princess. Gonna make it?” he asks solicitously.

“I guess so.” she replies. “I haven’t taken inventory, yet. No rest for the weary.” She turns to Keyop.

“Keyop, don’t you think you’re slightly out of… uniform?” she asks. Keyop doesn’t respond, but pulls off his baseball clothes, revealing his number 4 shirt underneath.

“Got an opener for these bars, Princess?” Mark asks, looking at the cell door.

“Here. Faster than a key!” Princess smiles, before strapping an explosive around one of the bars. She and Mark run to the back wall, and then Princess detonates the explosives with her yo-yo. The bars are now open!

“Like that?” she asks casually, retracting her yo-yo.

“Nice…” Mark grins.

They run out of the cell. Mark does a nice flip, but Keyop falls on his face trying to replicate it. The guards see them and give chase.

“After them!” one calls.

“Don’t let them get away!” says another.

The three G-Force members run, but eventually bump into Joe Galactor and a few other baseball players.

“Joe, so that’s where you were!” Mark exclaims. Joe begins swinging his bat at them.

“But Joe… we’re fans!” Mark tries to explain. The doors close, and Zoltar’s laughter echoes quietly around the room.

“A perfect day.” Mark sighs sarcastically. Then he looks up at a panel opening in the ceiling. “We’ve missed you, Zoltar!”

“At last I shall defeat you, without laying a hand on you!” Zoltar gloats. “How delicious!” Of course, Zoltar might not be so cocky if he knew the title of this episode.

“To use nothing but your ridiculous national pastime and your own people!” Zoltar laughs. “Play ball!” He snaps his fingers. Some of the ball players start throwing balls at Mark, Princess and Keyop. They all leap in the air. Mark pulls out his boomerang and throws it at Joe, who bats it back. Keyop throws his bolas, which get caught around Joe’s bat. The pitchers throw more balls that Mark avoids. Princess pulls out her yo-yo.

Mark, Princess and Keyop throw their weapons straight up at Zoltar. They miss, but Princess’ yo-yo catches the ceiling and she pulls them all up to the second level to face Zoltar.

“Oh, oh!” Zoltar calls in distress.

“The count is full on you now, Zoltar.” Mark says. “Surrender, or we’ll strike you out for good! I mean it!”

“Nothing you can do to me now can make any difference!” Zoltar insists. “The bomb is programmed to go off when it goes off, whether I’m here or not!”

“How come?” Mark asks, as Princess gasps.

“You’d like to know the secret, wouldn’t you?” Zoltar asks. “What would you say if I told you that in a way, it will be triggered by one of you?”

“Us?” Mark asks.

“Who me?” Keyop broops.

“Not me!” Princess gasps.

“I am not telling you who.” Zoltar mocks. “I say only that it will be an Earth person who will touch off the bomb! And if you are here to see it in a few minutes, you will be most amused at the spectacle of your capital city reduced to rubble!”

After we see scenes of devastation that the bomb will create, Zoltar turns to run.

“I turn you over to the tender mercies of my Chief Jailer.” he says, pointing at the Pink Heartburn. The Jailer raises a spiked club.

“Get out if you can.” Mark tells Princess and Keyop. I’ll play games with this guy.”

“Big ten!” Princess and Keyop cry, before running out. Oh, so they’re just going to leave Mark there all alone. Very brave of them…

“Strike one!” Mark shouts, as the Jailer swings at Princess and Keyop and misses. Princess and Keyop get out of the room.

“Strike two!” Mark says, jumping over the Jailer’s next attack. He starts talking into his communicator.

“You’ve got ten minutes. Look for a triggering device!” he informs Chief Anderson.

“Mark, Mark!” Anderson says into his big phone. “Ten minutes to Doomsday?” We see Jason and Tiny in the background.

The ball game is going on at the ballpark, as everyone is unaware of the danger they are facing. Jason and Tiny, now in uniform, are searching for the triggering device.

Meanwhile, Zoltar is escaping out the top of a ride at the amusement park. Princess and Keyop are right behind.

“I knew if we followed Zoltar, we’d get out!” Princess says. She looks over at the lit baseball stadium. “All of those people… sitting on a timebomb!” The platform she and Keyop are sitting on begins to whirl.

“Hang on!” she shouts, throwing out her yo-yo. “I’ll get us out!” She pulls herself and Keyop to safety. But not too safe, because a roller coaster is coming at them! Keyop sees one coming from the other direction as well. They jump clear before the two trains crash into each other.

They see Zoltar heading up a clear tub to his escape pod, but can do nothing about it.

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In his escape pod, Zoltar turns on a screen to look at the baseball game.

“There is really no point in everybody’s being destroyed by the most powerful bomb in history!” he says to himself. He blows a kiss with his fingers. “Bye-bye, fools!” He takes off.

“Big chicken! Run scared!” Keyop clucks after Zoltar. And yes, he really is clucking like a chicken.

“Don’t gloat!” Princess lectures. “One of these days, he may forget he’s a coward!”

“I won’t!” is Keyop’s response.

Meanwhile, Mark is still being pelted by balls from the Jailer, who is now using his club as a bat. He throws his boomerang at the Jailer.

“Strike three!” Mark yells.

But the Jailer hits the boomerang away with his bat. Mark’s weapon sticks into the ceiling. Before it does, it seems to fly by Mark’s face, but we don’t see him being hit, and certainly there’s no blood. Despite this, Mark slumps down to the floor. The Jailer moves in for the kill and swings…

And we’re back to the ball game. Everyone is looking for the trigger.

“If you’re a trigger, where do you hide?” Tiny asks himself as he searches.

“Where could they put it?” Jason wonders.

Back in the base, Mark avoids the Jailer’s hit and leaps up. The Jailer follows, and his club gets stuck on the boomerang embedded in the ceiling. Mark kicks, but we don’t actually see his boot connect with anything. He drops to the floor, and the Jailer does too. The boomerang is now embedded in the club.

“Where is the trigger mechanism for the bomb?” Mark asks the Jailer, grasping his collar.

“Don’t know what you mean…” croaks the Jailer.

“Zoltar bragged it was going off by remote.” Mark explains. “Where is the switch? Where is it?” His face looks far angrier than his voice would indicate. He is not banging the Jailer’s head on the floor. But the Jailer’s mask splits in half for some unknown reason and falls off.

“The fountain… home run… sets off bomb…” the Jailer whispers.

“The outfield fountain?” Mark gasps. “We mustn’t allow a home run!”

“Don’t let a ball hit the fountain!” Mark’s voice is now telling Jason over their communicators.

“Why didn’t I bring my fielder’s mitt?” Jason moans.

“Their best hitter!” Keyop points toward the field.

“Nice to know.” says Princess sarcastically.

“Get to that fountain!” Anderson orders from his big phone.

Jason speeds to it. Tiny climbs slowly over a fence. Princess and Keyop are dashing forward. The batter hits a ball… It looks like a home run!

“Stop it!” Anderson yells over his phone. All of the members of G-Force (except Mark) are running now. Everyone launches their weapons at the ball…. and they all miss. Tiny hides his face.

But something flashes out of nowhere and hits the ball! It’s Mark’s boomerang!

Everyone sighs in relief.

“Safe at home!” Tiny grins.

Mark contacts everyone over their communicators.

“We knocked it out!” he tells them. “But it sure ruined the game. That was a cinch homer!”

“I’ll get a bunch in there to dismantle the bomb.” the Chief says from his big phone. A bunch of what? Girl Scouts? Anderson doesn’t say.

“They can replay the game tomorrow. Good work!” the Chief congratulates them. He moves over to his window to look out at the city.

“It’s good to have you intact, and right where you belong.” he says quietly.

The Phoenix rises into the sky, the ballpark in the background.

“That guy got gypped out of a home run!” Tiny notes.

“I’m thinking of Zoltar always walking around with two strikes against him.” Mark says.

“Just trying to give baseball a bad name!” Keyop burbles.

“Imagine… calling baseball ridiculous!” Princess is shocked.

“I’m glad G-Force got through that safely.” comes Zark’s voiceover. “It certainly sent shivers down my Optical Sensory Circuits, when all those weapons missed the ball and hit each other!”

We cut to a shot of Zark rising up his elevation tube.

 

“But the Team is on the way home now, and that’s what matters.” he reminds us as he gets out of the tube. “I can’t believe anyone would hate baseball as much as Zoltar does.” You know, that’s unfair. Zoltar didn’t necessarily hate baseball. He just chose the stadium as a place to hide his bomb. I think they’re bashing on him for the wrong thing!

“I hope he never gets mad at chess!” Zark shudders as he walks across the room. “I’d hate to think he’d trigger every chessboard so it would explode when he moved a chessman.” Yeah… as if…

“Come to think of it, it would speed up the game a lot.” Zark notes, as he lays back on his oil-changing platform. Of course, this is the perfect time for Susan to call.

“Center Neptune Control. 7-Zark-7.” Zark answers the hail.

“Hi Zark.” comes Susan’s breathy voice. “This is Susan, out on Planet Pluto.” Of course, Zark has his usual antennae erection.

 

“Hello, Susan!” he says. “I hope there’s not another emergency already!”

“No, everything is quiet.” Susan replies. “I just wanted to call and compliment you on another brilliant job.”

“Thank you, Susan.” Zark says. “But those G-Force people are the ones who really do the job, you know!”

“You could do it all, if you had to.” Susan whispers huskily. Ugh. The very thought makes me ill. Then we’d have the ‘Zark, Rover and Susan Show’, and there’d be no reason to tune in, except as a mental torture technique for masochistic individuals.

“And I heard you say you would like to be a baseball pitcher!” Susan reminds Zark. “I think you would be a better batter.”

“Oh, really?” Zark practically giggles. “Why?”

“Well, you never strike out with me.” Susan simpers.

Now Zark’s antennae pop and he really does giggle. It’s a good thing the episode is over, because I’m running off to the bathroom… Puke2

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I've got to start remembering not to drink anything when I read these things!!

Great summary as always!

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I think I've said it here before, but this is a chance to find Galactor through indirect means. The stadium is clearly part of the base (unless Galactor somehow retrofitted it). Investigate the contractors and subcontractors. Since Galactor operates in secret, the people who built the base must be full-on members of the organization.

An amusement park would make a great cover for Galactor activity. Supplies and equipment are delivered nearly every day, and witnesses will assume that anything they see has something to do with the park's operation. Just keep the goons out of sight (or dress them in something else).

Yeah, kidnapping the players in the middle of a game made no sense.

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Great job as always, TJ!

I was the whole time ROFL 2 while reading this recap! All that seemed strange to me and everything hilarious has already been said by yourself and your comments! But, yes, I find lots of peculiar things in this episode: the prisoners wearing tuxedos; the way in which Joe and Ryu welcomed a call from a missing Swallow; the manner in which Jinpei transformed and talked with the Eagle and the Swan in front of the other prisoners (even if perhaps they weren't awake?); how the baseball players appeared near Ken, Jun and Jinpei when they were up near Katse (like you have said!); etc, etc. And why didn't they stop the game?!!!! And what were those that Ryu was selling .... "Ball" tarts?!! I'd better stop!

And, TJ ... by the way ... thanks for mentioning Chucky again!!! Now, do you want me to hate the Condor also?!

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Well, I figured that if I saw something Chucky-like you'd want to know, Marie... Devil1

I don't know, but perhaps the tuxedos and white gloves were standard attire for Japanese baseball umpires in the early 70s. After all, as a culture, they are more formal than Canadians and Americans (and that's the only other type of baseball I have any familiarity with) and so I could see an outfit like that on the playing field. I tried to Google for a picture of a Japanese baseball umpire, but the closest I got was a professional Japanese baseball (male) cheerleader. Don't ask...

My guess is that for whatever reason, Tatsunoko wanted to do a baseball-themed episode (perhaps the equivalent of the World Series was coming up at the time this episode was first aired?) and they hastily stuck a plot together to get the Science Ninja Team to a ball game. It probably didn't hurt in selling these shows to Sandy Frank that there was a baseball episode, as that's something American kids can relate to as well.

And Marie, actually, my favorite thing is the guy with the germ mask sitting behind Ken in the crowd. Wink

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UW, you have a point, but my impression was that Galactor was building underneath a stadium that already existed. They don't specifically say, of course, but I'm buying more of the BOTP explanation, that they snuck in there and built a base during the 6 month off-season.

Of course, you may be right about it being a base all along, in which case it might bear further investigation re: contractors and such.

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Hey, I just realized something! Check out Ryu's amazing color-changing pants!

 

 

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Great recap, TJ!

Between Gatch and BOTP, I've never heard so many baseball metaphors in my life!

I'd like to get to third base with Joe, or score with Jason!

(And if it were hockey, maybe some "high-sticking"? No "slashing," though!)

There sure are some plot holes in this episode, but I have always liked this one. It's a nice change from the usual "mecha attack" episodes and the classic zaniness of Galactor kidnapping and brainwashing baseball players to hit killer baseballs at the Science Ninjas, the fact that they've gone through the trouble to set up an elaborate secret base within a stadium when a bomb that could blow up an entire country could just as easily be detonated inside a truck parked on a street corner, plus Berg Katse feeling compelled to explain the entire evil plan to Ken, with hints... It's more "Austin Powers" than "Bond," really. Laugh2

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Oh definitely more Austin Powers! But yes, I was beginning to get sick of baseball metaphors! But this episode is just so ridiculous that you just have to go with the flow. And I'm sure you can tell that I was laughing the entire way!

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quote:
Originally posted by Transmute Jun
And Marie, actually, my favorite thing is the guy with the germ mask sitting behind Ken in the crowd. Wink


With that one I agree! I didn't mention it because I've mentioned the most peculiar things ... the ones that bugged me! Nowadays, it's quite normal to see people wearing a germ mask, especially in the Eastern countries! Your associating it with the Bird Flu was hilarious! Maybe, during that time, there was some other kind of flu in the air or maybe that man was one of those people obsessed with germs especially in crowded places!

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I based my conclusion that Galactor built the stadium on the fact that the stadium lights are apparently controlled from that base, and the way the field opens up.

The amusement park in 'The Neon Giant That Smiles in the Dark' must have also been a Galactor front. Too much risk of innocent park maintenance personnel stumbling upon the disguised weapons and the rocket concealed in the 'castle,' otherwise.

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quote:
Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter
I based my conclusion that Galactor built the stadium on the fact that the stadium lights are apparently controlled from that base, and the way the field opens up.

The amusement park in 'The Neon Giant That Smiles in the Dark' must have also been a Galactor front. Too much risk of innocent park maintenance personnel stumbling upon the disguised weapons and the rocket concealed in the 'castle,' otherwise.


Don't forget the Hall of Mirrors in the 'boost Jun's brainwaves' episode! Another evil Galactor amusement park scheme!

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