Working on the Railroad

Working on the Railroad is the second episode of Tech 10: Star Spirit.

Episode
[We open in a dark warehouse, where we see two people standing in the darkness. One is a somewhat scrawny, lithe man, whereas the other is a massive, muscled figure that towers over his companion.]

Large Man: “...Ophiuchus?”

Ophiuchus: “Yes, sir?”

Large Man: “Is there any particular reason the lights are off?”

Ophiuchus: “I thought it would establish a better sense of atmosphere for your presence.”

Large Man: “I am a ten-foot giant of a man. I do not need ‘atmosphere’ to establish a presence.”

Ophiuchus: “Oh, yes, well-”

Large Man: “You forgot to pay the electricity bill, didn’t you?”

Ophiuchus: “...Yes.”

Large Man: *Sighs* “Of course you did. Look, just call in Aquarius, Scorpio, and the Gemini regardless. You can deal with this after today’s operation gets rolling.”

Ophiuchus: “Of course, sir.”

Large Man: *Thinking* ‘I really need to find better help.’

[Cut to the inside of Plumber Base UT 1. Alpha is speaking with Theo and Nova.]

Alpha: “Thank you for coming in on such short notice. I only recently received intel on the situation.”

Nova: “Yeah, yeah, no prob, when do we get to start punching things?”

Alpha: “If all goes well today, you won’t have to. Of course, given what you’re dealing with, that might not be avoidable.”

Theo: “Just give it to us straight.”

Alpha: *Nods slightly* “If you could direct your attention to the monitor.”

Alpha turned and walked to the observation console, with Theo and Nova trailing behind. She pressed a few buttons on the console’s keyboard, bringing up video footage of two trains in a rail yard.

[On the monitor, two hooded figures are shown sneaking up on and knocking out a guard, then gesturing to someone off-camera. They take off their hoods, after which the video feed is instantly scrambled into static.]

Theo: “What’s with all the interference?”

Alpha: “They presumably activated Electromagnetic Signal Disruptors. Small, portable devices that cut out any video or audio feeds and transmissions within a fifteen-foot radius.”

Theo: “Then why are they wearing the hoods?”

Nova: “Because it’s cold and windy outside, ya dork.”

Alpha: “At any rate, you two need to get there as soon as possible.”

Theo: “On it. I can just use Move Along to-”

Alpha: “Use up valuable transformation time? Unfortunately, we don’t have the benefit of knowing ahead of time this was going to happen. You can’t just get there and wait ten minutes or so for the StarTrix to recharge before finally going in and fighting.”

Theo: “Then what do you want us to do?”

Alpha: “Fortunately, I foresaw and planned for situations such as this. As such, I have taken the liberty of purchasing and renovating a vehicle for field use, as the standard-issue tanks won’t be delivered until the base is fully constructed.”

Nova: “Wait, we get to drive around an awesome team vehicle?!”

Alpha: “Well, you do, as you’re the only one with a driver’s license.”

Nova: “This is so cool! Imagine the places we’ll go! The things we’ll see! The toy deals we’ll sell!”

Alpha: *Presses a button on the console* “I don’t know about all that.”

A hole in the floor behind them opened up, accompanied by a hydraulic whirring noise as a platform was slowly pushed upwards.

Theo: “Do you transport everything around here via floor tubes?”

Alpha: “It wasn’t exactly my design choice, believe me.”

Nova: “I’ll bet it’s something cool like a muscle car, or a sports car, or a motorcycle, or a-”

Theo: *Turns to look at the rising platform* “Uh, you might want to take your ideas down a notch.”

Nova: “Why? What’s-”

Nova turned to look at the vehicle, promptly slouching over as she caught sight of it.

Nova: *Grumbling* “Oh, you gotta be kidding me.”

[Cut to an industrial area on the other side of town. Nova is driving a modified two-seat moped with Theo in the back.]

Theo: *Yelling over the wind* “You gotta admit, zero-to-sixty in under two seconds is pretty impressive for a moped!”

Nova: “Yeah, maybe we can go so fast that nobody sees how stupid we look!”

The two eventually reached the rail yard, Nova screeching the moped to a halt. They checked to make sure the coast was clear, then sneakily made their way into the yard itself. After a few moments, Theo caught sight of the area that had been on camera, gesturing Nova to follow him. As they approached the area, they heard voices coming from the trains and quickly hid behind a nearby boxcar.

Unseen Young Man: “How long are you two planning on taking?! I’m half-frozen over here!”

Unseen German Man: “It’s not our fault you wore a summer outfit in the middle of winter, Scorpio.”

Unseen German Woman: “You should really look into more efficient clothing.”

Scorpio: “Being uncomfortable is a small price to pay for staying thematic.”

Unseen German Man: “Then stop whining, dummkopf.”

Scorpio: “I don’t know what that word means, but I choose to take it as a compliment.”

Unseen German Woman: “Ja, that figures.”

[A loud metal ‘thud’ is heard from the bottom of one of the train engines, followed by a man and a woman crawling out from underneath said train. They both have light blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and wear black shirts with blue denim jeans.]

German Man: “Alright, this train is done. Hop on and tell Aquarius to head out.”

German Woman: “We’ll bring the other train as soon as it’s finished.”

Scorpio: “Took long enough.”

After a few moments, the train the two mechanics had been working on started moving, accelerating quickly and rolling down the railway at high speeds.

Nova: *Whispering* “What the heck did they do to make a train go that fast?”

Theo: “No idea, but we better-”

Before Theo could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a car on the other side of the rail yard. A man in a rather strange outfit jumped out of the car and ran over to the general area where the mechanics were standing, confused by this odd new arrival.

Costumed Man: “Stop right there! I, the illustrious Fair’s Fair Fairy, saw your compatriots knock out the security guard and begin unauthorized work on a train! Either turn yourselves in, or I shall be forced to bring you to justice!”

Nova: “Who’s this clown?”

Theo: “What, you haven’t heard of F3? Dude’s always on the news. He’s a pretty famous crime fighter.”

Nova: “I don’t watch the news. Too much politics.”

German Man: “Wait, you saw us begin working on the train?”

German Woman: “That was half an hour ago.”

German Man: “What took you so long getting here?”

F3: “Well, I was in my civilian outfit, so I had to go home and change.”

There was a silent pause.

German Man: “Ja, we’re not turning ourselves in.”

German Woman: “You seem a little short in the head.”

F3: “If you won’t surrender, then prepare to be served a silver platter of justice!”

F3 swiftly raised his hands and shot a cloud of what appeared to be purple, sparkling dust at the two. Almost instantaneously, a small breeze swept through the area and blew the dust right back in his face, knocking him out. The two mechanics looked at the sleeping F3 in utter confusion.

German Man: “Well, that was egregiously strange.”

Nova: “Does this usually happen with that guy?”

Theo: “More often than you’d think.”

Nova: “Think we should step in about now?”

Theo: “Probably a good idea.”

The two mechanics turned to the remaining train engine, giving Theo and Nova a chance to sneak out from their hiding place.

Nova: *Yelling* “Hey, you!”

The mechanics quickly turned to see Theo and Nova standing some twenty meters away.

German Woman: “What, more?”

Nova: “Actually, we’re not associated with that fairy guy or whatever his name is. We’re here on behalf of the Plumbers.”

German Man: “Oh, really? They’re using children now?”

German Woman: “I wish I could say I was surprised.”

Theo: “I’m guessing you guys aren’t big fans of them?”

German Man: “To put it lightly, yes.”

German Woman: “They corrupt every planet they touch.”

Nova: “And how exactly does stealing trains fit into all this?”

German Man: “That is information we are not privy to.”

German Woman: “We come here, we do our jobs, and don’t ask questions.”

German Man: “That is how our Zodiac Organization works.”

Nova: “Yeah, well, the Zodiac Organization sounds stupid.”

German Woman: “Regardless of your opinion, the structure works.”

German Man: “Now, at this point, you have two choices.”

German Woman: “Go away or fight.”

Nova: “...Fighting sounds good.”

Theo: “Now hold on a second, who even are you guys?”

German Man: “We are the Gemini. I am Gemini Yang.”

German Woman: “And I am Gemini Yin.”

Nova: “Sort of a ‘been-done’ naming scheme, isn’t it?”

Gemini Yin: *Shrugs* “Whatever works.”

[The Gemini suddenly snatch a couple of wrenches off the ground and brandish them at Theo and Nova. Nova responds by creating a pair of golden arm blades, and Theo uses the StarTrix to transform into a plant-like, flowery alien name Broken Dream Boulevard.]

Theo/BD Blvd: “Alright, which one of you wants to get beaten first?”

Gemini Yang: “Interesting technology.”

Gemini Yin: “We’ll have to look into it some time.”

Gemini Yang: “But in response to your question...”

Gemini Yin: “We believe that you will be the one leaving this fight beaten.”

BD Blvd threw up his arms, creating thorned vines that shot towards the Gemini, who dodged the attack and swiftly clamped their wrenches onto said vines. They each quickly tugged at their wrenches, pulling BD Blvd off his feet and throwing him into a nearby boxcar.

Nova jumped in and started swiping at the Gemini, who simply began countering with glancing wrench blows. One of Nova’s strikes eventually got through, slicing Gemini Yin across the arm, but to no effect.

Nova: “Wait, what?”

Gemini Yin: “You are not the only ones around here with alien abilities.”

Gemini Yang: “When the two of us are close proximity,”

Gemini Yin: “We may as well be invincible!”

Before Nova could reply, sunflowers suddenly shot up out of the ground around them, entangling the Gemini.

Gemini Yang: “What the-”

He was interrupted by a pair of thorned vines exploding out of the ground and wrapping around both him and Gemini Yin, almost immediately knocking them out. Nova turned to see BD Blvd standing behind them, dropping his ends of the thorned vines.

Nova: *Disperses her arm blades* “Okay, how did you knock them out? They just said they were practically invincible.”

BD Blvd: “The vines are coated with a natural anesthetic. Any physical contact with them and you’re out cold.”

BD Blvd pressed the StarTrix symbol, detransforming.

BD Blvd/Theo: “Didn’t even use up a third of my transformation time.”

Nova: “Good for you, but we still need to get that other train.”

Theo: “I could use Move Along, but I don’t know how far ahead the train is. I might time out before we catch up.”

Nova: “And it’s not like we can use the moped on train tracks. The only thing I can think of is...”

Nova trailed off and turned to look at the remaining train. After a few seconds, she turned back to Theo with a grin on her face.

Theo: *Sighs* “This isn’t going to end well.”

[Cut to the remaining train engine barreling down the tracks, slowly approaching the hijacked one. Nova is working the controls, while Theo is nervously hanging onto the wall.]

Theo: “I admittedly did not think that these trains could go this fast!”

Nova: *Turns to face Theo* “Well, they’re not actually supposed to, but we’re in kind of a hurry here.”

Theo: *Looks out the front window* “Crap, there’s a corner up ahead! We have to slow down, or we’ll derail!”

Nova: “We can’t slow down now! We’ll lose them!”

Theo: “Well, do you have any other ideas?!”

Nova: *Thinks for a moment* “Actually, yeah, I do! Quick, get to the back of the train, turn into Rolling Stone, and get ready to lift!”

Theo: “...Why?”

Nova: “I’ll tell you when we get to the turn! Go!”

[Cut to the inside of the hijacked train. Scorpio, a young man with brown skin and red hair wearing a sleeveless shirt and green pants, is sitting in the back of the train, while Aquarius, a woman with pale skin and dark blue hair wearing a sailor’s uniform, is working the controls.]

Scorpio: *Grumbling* “Why does Orion need a weaponized train of all things?”

Aquarius: “No idea. Times like these, I figure it’s best to focus on what we’re going to end up getting out of all this.”

Scorpio: “It is a lot of money. What are you even going to spend it on?”

Aquarius: “I’m going to the country’s most prestigious marine biology college, getting a Doctorate, then investing in all the equipment I’ll need to live practically the rest of my life underwater.”

Scorpio: “It seems like there are more legitimate ways to get into college.”

Aquarius: “Okay, wise guy, what are you going to do with the money?”

Scorpio: “I’m going to go back to the orphanage I grew up in, find all the idiots that made my life hell as a kid, then hire professionals to follow them around and mock them until they’re too ashamed to show their faces in public ever again!”

Aquarius: “...You have issues.”

Scorpio: “But no regrets.”

[A wild screeching sound is heard from behind their train, followed by a large metallic ‘thunk’.]

Aquarius: “What in the world was that?!”

Scorpio: *Looking out of their train’s back window* “Well, you’re probably not going to believe me if I tell you.”

Aquarius: “Why? What’s going on?”

Scorpio: “It looks like someone behind us is-”

[Cut to the pursuing train, which is wildly careening sideways, its back wheels having been placed on the next track over.

Nova: *Yelling excitedly* “MULTI-TRACK DRIFTING!”

[Cut to Rolling Stone climbing back into the train.]

Rolling Stone: “That was crazy.”

He reached towards the StarTrix symbol, but was interrupted by Nova.

Nova: “Hey, don’t detransform yet! Now that we’re around the corner, you need to put the train back!”

Rolling Stone: “And then what? We’ve been chasing them for a while, and they’re bound to speed up after noticing that little stunt. We’re never going to catch them!”

Nova: *Pausing to think* “...Hey, how hard do you think you can punch something without breaking it?”

Rolling Stone: “If I distributed the force using my sound abilities, pretty hard. Why?”

Nova: “How quickly do you think you can make a ramp?”

Rolling Stone: “Okay, this time I see what you’re planning, but this is an even more dangerous idea than the last one.”

Nova: “You have any better ideas?”

Rolling Stone: *Sighs* “I’ll go punch the train.”

Nova: “Good man.”

Rolling Stone exited the train and climbed onto the back, hanging from the railing.

Rolling Stone: “Liftoff in three...two...one...”

He pulled his right arm upwards, creating a stone ramp a few meters in front of the train, then instantly pulled his arm back and hit the train with a sonic punch, sending it flying forward at incredible speeds with a large ‘boom’. Losing his grip on the railing, he fell to the ground, rolling a bit on the tracks before coming to a stop. He shakily got to his feet, rubbing his head.

Rolling Stone: “Man, if I were still human, I would’ve been dead five times over by now.”

The train, meanwhile, had hit the stone ramp and left the rails, flying into the air. Aquarius and Scorpio watched incredulously as the pursuing train flew over theirs and landed perfectly on the track in front of them. Nova, who had made her way to the back of the train and summoned her leg boosters, jumped through the other train’s window feet-first, kicking Aquarius in the head and landing safely on the floor.

Nova: “You know, people are always talking about how seeing pigs fly would somehow be impressive, but I think what we just pulled off was a lot cooler.”

Scorpio: *Assuming a fighting stance* “I’m not entirely sure what just happened, but I do know that if you don’t back off, you’re in for a world of hurt.”

Nova: “Joke’s on you, I actually liked ‘The Incredible Hulk’!”

Scorpio: “...What?”

Nova: “Old movie reference, nothing important.”

Scorpio: “...I’m going to beat the crap out of you now.”

Nova: “I’d like to see you try!”

Before either of them could make a move, Nova was suddenly snagged by an anchor and hurled back out the window. Scorpio looked at Aquarius, who was holding on to the anchor and rubbing the side of her head.

Aquarius: “Literally just throw her back out. Was that really too hard to think of?”

Scorpio: “Easy for you to say, Ms. I-hurl-around-anchors.”

[Cut to Nova using her armor rockets to land on the track outside.]

Nova: “Well, that’s just great!”

[Theo runs up to her, having detransformed.]

Theo: “You okay?”

Nova: “Yeah, but they’re getting away!”

Theo: “Don’t worry. We’re close enough now that I can make good use of whatever time I have left on the StarTrix.”

Nova: “Well, what are you waiting for?! Hit it!”

Theo pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into All☆Star.

Nova: “Wait a second, All Star? I thought you were going to use Move Along!”

Theo/All☆Star: “Uh, so did I. Must’ve hit the wrong thing.”

All☆Star flew off at high speeds after the trains, leaving a glowing trail in his wake. Some distance away, a shadowy figure smiled and slinked off.

[Cut to the train Aquarius and Scorpio are in, where Aquarius is examining the controls.]

Aquarius: “Okay, I think the only thing that kid broke was the window. The rest should be fine.”

Scorpio: “That’s good, I guess. Now, if we could just get this train to our destination without any further interruptions-”

Scorpio was cut off by a blast that rocked the train, sending Aquarius and him stumbling.

Scorpio: “What the-”

A yellow humanoid reminiscent of a star suddenly flew in front of their train, looking right at them

All☆Star: “Hey. I heard you two were stealing trains.”

Scorpio: “What the hell are you supposed to be?”

All☆Star: “A Heliosinge from the planet-star thing Stefilius.”

Scorpio: “...What?”

Aquarius: “An alien.”

Scorpio: “Oh, well, he could’ve just said so!”

All☆Star: “Getting off-topic here, people. The trains.”

Scorpio: “Yeah, we’re taking these trains. What of it?”

All☆Star: “That’s not cool, man.”

Scorpio: “Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?”

All☆Star responded by suddenly swooping into the train, grabbing Scorpio and Aquarius, and flying back out of the train with them in tow. He hovered over to a grassy area and tossed them down, crossing his arms.

All☆Star: “That’s what I’m going to do about it.”

Scorpio: *Putting his hands into the air* “Okay, okay, you got us. Quick question, though.”

All☆Star: “What?”

Scorpio: “How are you gonna stop the trains?”

All☆Star: “How am I gonna...”

He trailed off as he looked back towards the trains, which were swiftly rocketing out of view.

All☆Star: “Oh, that’s not good.”

He quickly flew off towards the trains, leaving Aquarius and Scorpio unsupervised. The two looked at each other for a moment, then took off running.

[Cut to All☆Star flying ahead of the train, which are still barreling down the track.]

All☆Star: “Crap, crap, crap, how do I stop these things?! Uh...maybe I could take out the engines?”

[All☆Star takes aim and shoots at the engines, blowing them up. Their forward momentum keeps both trains moving.]

All☆Star: “Dang it, physics! Okay, how do I apply enough reverse momentum to-”

He suddenly snapped his fingers in realization.

All☆Star: “Reverse momentum, duh!”

He swiftly flew far ahead of the engines and detransformed, then transformed into a large, praying mantis-like alien named Roundabout.

Roundabout: “I just hope this works!”

He quickly threw up his arms and created a glowing, translucent pastel force field that stretched a ways in front of him. The trains approached incredibly quickly, screeching along the track. As soon as they hit the field, however, they almost instantaneously slowed down and stopped, after which Roundabout immediately dropped the field. The StarTrix began beeping and timed out, forcefully detransforming him.

Theo: *Flopping down onto the ground and sighing* “Well, that could’ve gone worse.”

[Cut to Plumber Base UT 1. Theo and Nova are speaking with Alpha.]

Alpha: “By the time police arrived, the ‘Gemini’ you fought had already escaped. They did end up finding the trains, and have credited F3 for stopping the hijackers, seeing as how he was the only person they found on-scene.”

Theo: “That’s probably for the best. If the news found out we were doing this stuff, our parents would find out in no time.”

Nova: “Yeah, I just wish we could get a little credit.”

Alpha: “I’m sure you will at some point. It isn’t as if you’ll be living with your parents forever.”

Theo: “Personally, I’m more worried about these ‘Zodiac Organization’ guys. What were they even planning to do with these things?”

Alpha: “I can’t give you a proper answer to that, but i doubt it would’ve been good.”

[Cut to the warehouse from the beginning, now fully lit. The Gemini, Aquarius, and Scorpio and standing in front of a desk, sitting behind which is the large man, known to them as Orion.]

Gemini Yin: “The mission was a complete failure.”

Gemini Yang: “It was all going according to plan until some kids from the Plumbers showed up.”

Orion: “Hold on a moment, the Plumbers?”

Gemini Yang: “Yes. What about them?”

Orion: *Pauses for a moment* “In that case, the mission was successful.”

Scorpio: “Wait a second, we got beaten up and tossed out of a train, which we lost, by the way, and you’re calling this a success?”

Orion: “The trains were merely a means to an end. I had my suspicions that the Plumbers had eyes all over the city, and this was a means of testing that theory. We’ll have to be more careful in our movements from now on.”

Scorpio: “So, what, this was all to test some hypothesis of yours?!”

Orion: *Turning away from the group* “Of course. What would I actually need with a couple of weaponized trains?”

Scorpio’s eyes twitched for a few seconds, followed by him storming out of the room. There was a short silence.

Aquarius: “With all due respect, it seems as if there would’ve been easier ways of doing that.”

Orion: “I don’t hire people for easy work. In any case, I got even more than what I wanted out of this scenario.”

Aquarius: “Which would be...?”

Orion: “Knowledge of who we’re up against.”

Major Events

 * Broken Dream Boulevard, Rolling Stone, and Roundabout make their debuts.
 * Ophiuchus, Orion, The Gemini, Aquarius, and Scorpio make their debuts.
 * The Zodiac Organization makes its debut.
 * Theo and Nova receive a modified moped for transportation.

Protagonists

 * Theodore Logical
 * Nova Eldridge
 * Alpha

Neutral

 * Fair's Fair Fairy

Antagonists

 * Orion
 * The Gemini
 * Aquarius
 * Scorpio

Aliens Used

 * Broken Dream Boulevard
 * Rolling Stone
 * All☆Star
 * Roundabout

Trivia

 * A portion of this episode was previously featured as a preview for the series.