Collectimus' Advocate

Story
The Time Cycle makes it back to the present, as it sputters and puffs out smoke exhaust. Ryder in his red coat is working on stabilizing the Time Cycle, as he drives them forward.

Attea: Nice job. Now what?

Ryder: I wasn’t able to fix it fully. I need a replacement part for the portal creation generator. It’s locked in time travel mode, which means we can’t go light speed.

Attea: Pfff! Yeah, yeah. Now, can you drop me off somewhere already?!

Ryder: Sorry. But I need to make a pitstop for a replacement part. From the last guy that I want to go to, but the most reliable source for the part.

The Time Cycle flies towards a Mr. Smoothy’s, which is floating through space. On the side is a garage door, as it opens as Ryder approaches. They fly through, entering a large museum full of collectibles and memorabilia. They land, as they get out of the Time Cycle, going through the museum. They pass a signed shirt from John Smith, Ryder’s bike rim, a broken necklace from Jane, along with several other pieces. Energy cards are on the wall, showing Skurd, Max, Simian and many others.

Attea: Ick. This place is giving me the creeps.

Ryder: It does the same to me. Just, stick close and try not to say much. The quicker this transaction is, the better.

Nasally Voice: What? You don’t like interacting with me?

Ryder and Attea turn, as Collectimus comes out of the shadows, floating in his chair. Ryder looks unamused.

Ryder: Not really, considering how much you’ve been screwing me over.

Collectimus: Aw! I hate when one of my beloved heroes talks to me like that!

Ryder: Tsk, yeah right! You’d pick John or Jane over me in a heartbeat.

Collectimus: Eh, fair enough. So, you have the map piece?

Attea: Wait, you stole the map from my empire for this nerd?!

Collectimus: That is collector nerd to you! Why’d you bring this baggage with you?

Ryder: Needed leverage to escape the Incurseans. And as soon as I can get her somewhere, she’s gone. But I need a new portal filter.

Collectimus: (Snickering) You blow it up?

Ryder: (Pointing at Attea) She did.

Attea: You had kidnapped me! It seemed like a reasonable response at the time.

Collectimus: I do have the part you need. But the question is, what do you have in exchange for it? I already have almost every collector’s item on you. Action figures, trading cards, motorcycle lines. And you don’t have my map piece yet.

Attea: What, are you deaf or something? He stole the map from my daddy!

Ryder: That map, isn’t what he wants. This map leads to a planet, where a piece of a map is hidden. Hidden due to the potency of what it leads to.

Collectimus: If you had that first map piece, I might be willing to trade you the portal filter. But since you don’t, I’ll just have to settle on the Incursean.

Attea: Excuse me?!

Collectimus fires a laser from his chair, hitting Attea, and transforming her into an energy card. The card goes onto the wall with the other ones, Ryder angry.

Ryder: She has nothing to do with this! Let her go!

Collectimus: And I will. Once you get me the first piece of the map.

Collectimus goes over to a tool drawer, pulling out the filter. He tosses over to Ryder, who snatches it out of the air. Ryder activates his helmet over his head, and storms off.

Collectimus: Hee-hee! I love having one of my heroes regularly visiting, and helping to expand my collection! End Scene

The Time Cycle comes out of a portal, as Ryder looks at the map. It has a star chart showing the position of the planet in relation to the stars. He nods and continues traveling, approaching Mykdl’dy, a planet that is on fire on one side, and frozen on the other side. Ryder flies overhead, spotting a temple in the middle on neutral ground. He activates his helmet, as he lands near the entrance of the temple, parking. He gets out of the Time Cycle, approaching it.

Ryder: So, this is Mykdl’dy. No wonder people wanted to forget about it. It’s a deathtrap to most species.

An albino Necrofriggian phases out of the ground, startling Ryder, him activating his jet shoes to propel himself back. He draws a blaster, when more of them come up, none of them making a move. Ryder holsters his blaster, holding his hands up.

Ryder: Hello there. Uh, I come in peace?

Necrofriggian 1: It is not often that we get visitors. What is it that you desire?

Ryder: I, hm, came to visit the temple? I had heard a great legend about it, with a hidden away secret at its center. As one of the first explorers here in a while, I had come to see if the stories were true.

Necrofriggian 2: I don’t like him. He could be a thief, aiming to steal the map.

Ryder: Map? There’s a map here? So that’s what’s here. What’s the map say?

Necrofriggian 3: He wants the map! I knew it! We can’t trust him!

Necrofriggian 4: We should exterminate him!

Ryder: Whoa, whoa! There’s no need for that! I would very much like to try and retrieve ancient artifacts without having to fight something.

Necrofriggian 3: He admitted that he plans to steal it!

Necrofriggian 2: He did.

Necrofriggian 1: Agreed. Take him out!

Ryder: Oh, man! Nice move, Ryder.

The Necrofriggians float closer, as Ryder activates and slaps down the Omnitrix. He turns into Heatblast, a chain wrapped around his torso. He grabs the chain, pulling it off and heating it up, whipping it at the Necrofriggians. They back up, out of the whip’s range.

Heatblast: I said I’d rather not fight. But if I need to, I will.

Heatblast whips the chain at a Necrofriggian, it flying backwards to dodge. A Necrofriggian uses its ice breath, as Heatblast spins the chain in a circle, repelling the attack with the heat from it. A Necrofriggian flies and scratches at Heatblast, hitting the Omnitrix. The Omnitrix flashes yellow, as Heatblast blasts the Necrofriggian with a fireball.

Heatblast: Time to scorch through here.

Heatblast wraps the chain around him, as he releases super nova heat, forcing the Necrofriggians away. Heatblast then flies forward, heading towards the entrance of the temple.

Necrofriggian 1: Leave him. He will not make it through the traps without a guide.

Heatblast walks through the hallway, keeping his eyes open. His leg pulls on a tripwire, his fire burning through it.

Heatblast: Please don’t tell me that was a tripwire.

A large stone spiked mace is dropped from the wall, as Heatblast leaps backwards, pushing against the wall to dodge it, a spike narrowly avoiding hitting him. Heatblast accidentally pushes a brick in on the wall, as it opens, Heatblast falling through.

Heatblast: Ah!

Heatblast falls towards a pit of green acid, as Heatblast uses his fire for propulsion, right above the acid. The fire hits the acid, causing an explosion, shooting Heatblast up into the air.

Heatblast: Volatile reaction to fire?! You serious?!

Heatblast pulls his chain off and swings it up to the ceiling, catching on a rafter. Heatblast hangs by the chain, as he sighs with relief.

Heatblast: Great. Now, which way out of here?

Heatblast reverts, his chain disappearing as well. Ryder falls, as he activates the jet shoes, the sparks hitting the acid. Acid explosions occur, it spewing up at him. Ryder flies up away from it, and goes back through the hole that he made. The spiked mace is still there, as he slowly inches past the spike.

Ryder: There we go. Now, what other traps does this place have?

Ryder continues walking down the hall, as he encounters an area where the floor is covered in different size tiles, each of them with a letter in an alien language in it.

Ryder: Panel trap. If I don’t step on the appropriate one, then I guess it’ll break. Best to fly over it.

Ryder activates his jet shoes, flying over the tiles. Darts are fired from blowholes on the wall, as Ryder is hit by one. He falls unconscious almost instantly, as his jet shoes deactivate, him falling to the tiles. He lands on some, as they crack and break underneath him. His foot gets caught on a tile that didn’t break, as he hangs for a minute. His foot begins to slip, as he dangles over a vat of acid.

Ryder: (Groggy) Ugh. Huh?

Ryder looks down, seeing the acid below.

Ryder: Whoa!

Ryder’s foot fully slips, as he flips around, activating his jet shoes. He flies back out, an explosion occurring. He lands back at the beginning of the trail, panting heavily.

Ryder: Okay, no flying. Looks like I need a puzzle solver.

Ryder activates the Omnitrix, transforming into Inspector Gadget. The foreign letters change to match his understanding of them, resembling English characters.

Inspector Gadget: Hm. Upon closer inspection of the letters of the tiles, a pattern emerges. Though they seem like a disproportionate and random ordering of letters, one particular trail forms. M.

Inspector Gadget steps onto a tile, which doesn’t break under him. He then steps over to Y, then K, stepping over the hole in the tiles that he made earlier. He then steps to D, then to L. Inspector Gadget then steps on a D, the tile breaking underneath him, him barely catching onto the L tile to not fall through.

Inspector Gadget: Strange. In the name of the planet, Mykdl’dy, D is the next letter. Did I miss something?

Inspector Gadget pulls himself back up, as he stands up, surveying the tiles. He then spots ‘, the apostrophe sign, giving an enlightened sigh.

Inspector Gadget: Of course. There’s an apostrophe between the L and the second D. It even said so on the map.

Inspector Gadget steps to the apostrophe, then to the D, and finally the Y. He makes it to the stable floor on the other side, reverting.

Ryder: Whoo! That was a thrill. But I think I’m done with these traps.

Ryder makes it to the next room, which is guarded by Cerberus, a large two headed dragon with six eyes on each head. Ryder sighs, as he activates the Omnitrix.

Ryder: Give me a good reason to fight you.

One of the heads breathes fire, while the other head breathes a freeze ray. Ryder slaps down the Omnitrix, turning into Diamondhead. He creates a crystal wall, taking the attacks.

Diamondhead: Hot and cold? You could be a McDLT.

Diamondhead runs out from around the crystal wall, firing crystal shards at Cerberus. Cerberus blasts the shards away with a freeze ray, as Diamondhead places his hands to the ground, crystals growing out and slamming into Cerberus. Cerberus gets up instantly, as Diamondhead heads towards the exit. Cerberus breathes fire, though Diamondhead jumps straight through it. He goes through the doorway, as Cerberus sticks its heads at the door, shooting their fire and ice blasts through the door. Diamondhead crosses his arms over his face, as he takes the attacks, being blown back. Diamondhead fires crystal shards, which hit the ground in the doorway, and grow to seal it off.

Diamondhead: (Sighing) There’s that problem out of the way.

Diamondhead keeps walking, as he hits a dead end. Diamondhead inspects it, tapping it.

Diamondhead: Sounds like there’s open space right on the other side.

Diamondhead inspects the floor, finding the wall wasn’t attached to the floor.

Diamondhead: And it can be lifted into the air.

Diamondhead grabs the bottom, and struggles to lift the wall. He lifts it all the way up, and spots the Map Piece, being a quarter of an Infinity sign. Diamondhead uses his body to prop the door, as he fires crystals to grow up, supporting the door. Diamondhead walks into the room, reverting.

Ryder: Not the worse dungeon I’ve been into. That mirror hall was probably the toughest one to get through.

Ryder grabs the Map Piece, pulling it off the pedestal. The temple then begins to shake, the sudden jolt causing Ryder to drop the Map Piece. The vibrations cause the crystal pillars to crack and break, the wall slamming close. The room goes completely dark, as Ryder activates the night vision feature of his mask.

Ryder: I had to say something.

He finds the Map Piece, and picks it up, putting it in his coat. He then activates the Omnitrix, dialing through it. He then finds a Necrofriggian sample, being bewildered.

Ryder: Huh. They came through the ground.

Ryder slaps down the Omnitrix, transforming into Big Chill, a blue Necrofriggian. He flies and phases through the ceiling. He flies out of the temple, freezing the roof of it where he exits.

Big Chill: Ice? Freezes over. That’s it! That’s what I saw at that time. A Necrofriggian. Was it?

Big Chill gasps, as he flies back over to the Time Cycle, touching it. The Time Cycle recognizes his DNA, as it opens for him. He takes the cockpit chair, the glass going back over as he reverts. He then flies off planet, leaving Mykdl’dy behind.

Characters

 * Ryder
 * Attea
 * Albino Necrofriggians

Villains

 * Collectimus

Aliens Used

 * Heatblast (first re-appearance)
 * Inspector Gadget (first re-appearance)
 * Diamondhead (first re-appearance)
 * Big Chill (first appearance)

Trivia

 * This episode reveals that Ryder is a treasure hunter, seeking the Map of Infinity for Collectimus.
 * Attea is added to Collectimus' collection, being the Attea that appeared in his collection in Argit 10: Avenger Situation.
 * Collectimus is in the dimension traveling Mr. Smoothy.
 * The tile trap in the temple is based off the same trap that appeared in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade.