Evil Has Arrived (Superhero Story)

Captain EJ has a special superpower...his incredible voice!

Captain EJ vs. The Knucklers [Episode 7]: As Mrs. Honeybee always says; all superheroes need their super-rest, so we let our defenses down for the night. We kick back, relax, and fall asleep on the roof, under a blanket of stars….only to be rudely awaken in the early morning hours by something sinister.

We come face-to-face with a technological advancement of epic proportions, that wasn’t made by Mr. Honeybee. Fast-moving clouds pour rain down on us like we've never experienced in the Honeybee Neighborhood before.

We tried to radio Mr. Honeybee…and tried again…but our calls go unanswered.

Captain EJ - over and out.

Voices by: Captain EJ and Amanda Fobbos

Transcript

Welcome to The Adventures of Captain EJ.

Today,

We will continue our most important mission yet.

You can do anything you set your heart to,

And I know that together we can defeat any foe.

I'm so grateful to have you as my trusted sidekick,

Hero,

And just in time.

In case you missed the last episode,

I'll give you the quick Captain's Recap,

Now.

While the Knucklers slept,

We crept.

Right under their noses and right into their fortress.

After we landed on their rooftop lab,

We took the safety of Dormir into our own hands by cutting their electricity.

Not only the electricity,

But we cut the very cords that delivered power to their high-powered machines.

The desolator has been disabled.

The soldering stations are shut down.

With their power disabled,

We left their wicked ways no choice but to surrender.

Or so we suspect.

Our emergency exit followed their obnoxiously loud wake-up alarm that rings throughout the compound at sundown,

Alerting them to their nocturnal habits.

Pinky and Thumb started their night in utter confusion that escalated to blinding rage.

Well,

At least for Pinky,

Who was fixated on us more than ever.

Thumb woke up with different words on his heart,

Which seemed to have something to do with the ultra-kind words that Mr.

Honeybee uttered away from the Battle Buzz helmet mic.

Mr.

Honeybee promised us a debriefing,

And that's what we're settling in for now,

Along with a well-earned celebration.

A toast of rootbeer floats to our perseverance.

The Knuckler brothers are left without devices,

Sitting in the darkness that surrounds them and their awful deeds so naturally.

We shouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

There's nothing left for them to do to disrupt Dormir.

They have never once left their hometown.

Yet.

All you have to do is close your eyes,

Get cozy,

And listen to the sound of my voice.

Captain EJ will lead the way.

EJ.

Let's begin.

You are here in the safety of Mr.

Honeybee's Garage Command Center,

Surrounded by trinkets and gadgets and blinking gizmos.

The constant hum of electronics lulls you into a steady,

Quiet calm.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Power down your brain by sending all of your focus to your lungs as they fill with fresh air.

Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let yourself feel heavy.

Any strength you have of mind or body will be squandered without adequate,

Enthusiastic rest and relaxation.

You know that well,

So you allow yourself to leave all of your concerns about what thumbs shouted behind you,

And you walk out of the garage to the backyard.

Mr.

Honeybee has set up a bonfire in the fire pit,

And just like you imagined before,

You plop down in a hammock for an epic movie night.

Captain EJ takes the hammock next to yours,

And Mr.

Honeybee sets up the projector to shine on the side of the house.

Together,

With your closest friends and confidants,

You watch your very favorite movies,

Which of course are their favorites too.

You start with the scary ones so you and Captain EJ can scare Mr.

Honeybee at the really tense parts.

Knowing the movie well,

You and Captain EJ wait for the scary music to ramp up.

Mr.

Honeybee is sucked into the movie,

Eating his popcorn with his eyes wide,

Waiting for the jump scare in anticipation.

Before it could come,

You and Captain EJ sneak up behind him and scare him silly.

Mr.

Honeybee flails his arms and legs,

Falls out of his chair,

And flings popcorn all over the backyard.

Harold happily cleans it all up before you can even get to it.

He then hops back into your hammock to curl up for your favorite comedy,

Which is up next.

Lastly,

You three watch your favorite superhero movie just to see all your friends in action.

You roast marshmallows over the fire and squish them into perfect s'mores that you wash down with root beer floats.

The stress and worry physically leave your body as your muscles soften,

Your jaw relaxes,

And you swing back and forth in the hammock between the trees with Captain EJ.

The knucklers might have tried,

But they cannot take away the joy that happens when you're with your favorite people.

Your smiles light up the nighttime sky as the credits of the last movie roll.

Mr.

Honeybee yawns a big yawn.

Mr.

Honeybee yawns a big yawn.

Well team,

It's about time I turn in.

Not so fast,

Mr.

Honeybee.

You owe us a debrief.

Harold told me what you said while we were in the knuckler compound.

What was that about?

Oh,

Yeah.

Well,

That was a long shot,

But I figured why not try?

Spill it,

Mr.

H.

Okay,

Okay.

Do you know what I said?

Yes,

Hero told me.

It was something like… let me try to remember.

You and Captain EJ repeat what Mr.

Honeybee said in unison.

You are a smart person and are capable of great things.

Use those gifts for relentless good.

There's a hero waiting to be discovered inside of you.

The world needs your gifts and we need your best.

You are loved.

That's right,

That's right.

You got it all.

So,

Remember how I was using those nano-analyzers that I sent into their rooms through the air vents?

That was how I was able to track what phase of sleep they were in.

The nano-analyzers are these teeny tiny sensors that can lightly touch skin and transmit heart rate data,

Body temperature,

Etc.

All the metrics we use to determine sleep phase.

Well,

You both know how I love to tinker.

I added on a two-way microphone as well.

It's a microscopic microphone that can send and receive sound.

I moved the nano-analyzer up to Thumb's ear when he entered REM sleep.

That's a lighter form of sleep in which our brains don't turn our bodies all the way off like it does when we're in a deeper phase of sleep.

Then,

Our brain paralyzes us fully so we don't act out our dreams.

But anyways,

You might notice that if you fall asleep watching or listening to something on TV,

It sometimes makes its way into the content of your dream.

That's because we can kind of still hear in REM sleep.

It's a different form of hearing though because our brains are not consciously making sense of what we hear.

It's sent to another part of our brain,

A more unconscious area.

That's where a lot of our habits and deeply felt truths live.

I tried to deliver that truth you just said directly to Thumb's unconscious mind.

Wow,

That's a great idea.

Especially because you can tell Pinky riles Thumb up.

It's my sense that if Thumb is left to himself,

He wouldn't be nearly as evil as Pinky.

Maybe we can use that against the duo and neutralize them further,

From the inside.

That's when you remember what Thumb said as you were teleporting back to the command center.

Doing your best Thumb impersonation,

You recount exactly what he said for Captain EJ and Mr.

Honeybee.

So much for fighting for only what's right.

Are we supposed to use our gifts for relentless good?

This is not good.

They both sit stunned,

Taking in what you said.

Neither Captain EJ nor Mr.

Honeybee heard him say that,

So your keen observation has brought some assurance to them that the long shot Mr.

Honeybee took could be working.

The last little bit of worry that was hiding in the back of your mind floats away with the cool breeze,

And you swing in the hammock,

So proud of what you were able to accomplish.

Take another slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel your chest and your spirits lift,

Opening up to this peaceful night,

And slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let yourself feel heavy here.

Swinging back and forth,

Back and forth.

A distant sound gets our attention,

What is that?

It sounds like it could be the holophone,

But that can't be it.

Who on earth will be calling at this hour?

When it rings again and again,

Then a four-fourth time,

We are convinced it's a holophone.

We peel ourselves out of the hammocks and make our way to the garage.

There you see that the holophone is clearly ringing.

A glowing oar bubbles out of the sleek structure of the screen,

With each ring it expands and contracts,

Then expands even bigger.

We again see Sally Smith's face looking at us,

Waiting for us to answer her many calls.

Captain EJ places the device on a small pad near the floor and clicks to answer.

Sally appears in 3D as if she's standing right before you in the garage,

And as soon as she does,

You can see how upset she is.

What happened?

Please,

Just tell me what happened.

What did the Knucklers do now?

Is something wrong,

Sally?

As far as we know,

The Knucklers are sitting in the dark over there.

We disabled the power of the whole Knuckler compound.

That'll show them.

Captain EJ and Mr.

Honeybee think that what they said will make Sally feel better,

But it makes her much,

Much more upset.

Through tears,

She explains that even though the Dr.

Knucklers are out of town,

They have a silver delivery system that works on autopilot.

Considering Pinky and Thumb's destruction,

Sally would receive her nightly harvest of silver from the Knuckler compound that she uses for her ongoing projects.

But tonight,

The silver harvest didn't come.

That's when your mind flashes back to the compartment that hung from the steel wire which you and Captain EJ disabled earlier.

You ask Sally if that compartment has anything to do with the silver harvest,

And she exclaims that it does.

The pulley system leads all the way from the Knuckler compound to our ranch,

And it deposits the silver directly into our one remaining furnace.

But look,

It's empty now.

The silver wasn't delivered,

And I have a group of dentists on their way here now.

We have to leave on our trip to brighten the world's smiles soon.

All the smiles are ruined now.

What am I gonna do?

Sally climbs up the ladder to the top of the massive furnace.

She opens a lid at the top and shows you an empty tray where the silver harvest should be.

Then she shows you all that the power for the furnace won't even come on because it's connected to the power at the Knuckler compound.

You can't help but realize that this must be what Thumb meant.

Mr.

Honeybee asks her if she has a backup generator,

But she's so distraught she doesn't hear him and doesn't answer.

The broader realization sets in that what you and Captain EJ did to stop the Knucklers had consequences all its own,

Ones that you didn't anticipate.

Just then,

Sally smiles a polite smile off to the side as someone arrives at her ranch.

She looks a little concerned but doesn't say anything to her midnight visitors.

Sally stands up on the furnace on her tiptoes to get a better look,

But cannot see what or who she's looking at.

She is completely distracted from us.

She mumbles something then looks back at us.

I think.

.

.

They're.

.

.

Here.

.

.

They're.

.

.

Anyway,

We'll figure this out.

We have to.

For now,

I've made most of the fillers,

So I think we're good.

I'm just panicking.

It'll all work out as it should.

We just need to.

.

.

Sally cuts off before she can finish her sentence.

The Holophone freezes Sally's 3D image in place.

She's still sitting on top of the furnace that will no longer turn on,

But she looks as if she's falling in or jerking away really fast.

The picture froze.

Mr.

Honeybee power cycles the Holophone a couple of times.

Sally's 3D image sits up high like the furnace is in the garage with you too.

The lid is open and she's tilted over it,

Frozen in midair with her arms out like they're going to catch her fall.

Then,

The call is lost completely.

Sally,

Are you there?

Mr.

Honeybee tries calling back a couple times,

But it goes to Sally's voicemail,

Which tells her callers that she will be out of town on her own mission to make the world's smiles a little brighter.

She sounds so excited on the voicemail that you trust what she said before she froze.

Everything will work out as it should.

We just need to.

.

.

We just need to let it work out.

With that sort of anticlimactic ending to a surprise Holophone call,

We quietly pack up the garage and get home late over the command center.

Each of us are so in our own heads that it doesn't occur to us to say anything out loud.

We stow all the gadgets away in their hiding places and return the high-tech command center to an everyday garage.

Mr.

Honeybee doesn't know how you and Captain EJ and the rest of your superhero friends sneak in here to play with the prototypes.

He assumes this garage is perfectly secure.

With that in mind though,

Something in you tells you to take those extra measures without telling anyone and triple-check all the locks.

Captain EJ and Mr.

Honeybee yawn their goodbyes before Mrs.

Honeybee brings out root beer float refills and to-go cups.

Quote,

For the road,

As she says.

The long road ahead of you was about a hundred steps to the house around the corner,

But this root beer float will make it all the better.

Mr.

Honeybee opens the garage for you and Captain EJ to leave.

When you look back to wave goodbye,

You see Mr.

Honeybee's new robot,

Roger,

Tuck himself into his charger for his own nightly rest.

He rolls into a snuggly little cubby in the corner of the garage where he powers down for sleep.

Mrs.

And Mr.

Honeybee wave goodnight as the garage door closes them in.

A suspicious feeling comes over you that you can't ignore.

You look through the row of little windows that line the top of the garage door as it slowly closes and leap into action.

Before the door lowers all the way down,

You run up to put your foot under to trigger the sensor.

The door halts to a stop just above your foot and Captain EJ joins you at the top of the driveway.

Is everything okay,

Hero?

What's up,

Team?

Did you forget something?

Without saying a word or explaining yourself,

You search around the garage for clues.

You know all too well how to get into this garage with the wire hanger alone.

You can't in good conscience feel this way and leave this glaring vulnerability.

You rip off sheets of aluminum foil and ask Mr.

Honeybee and Captain EJ to line the windows.

Then you get a stepladder and place it under the mechanism that physically pulls the garage open and closed.

When you stand up on the highest step,

With a little maneuvering and a gentle tug,

You know clever intruders can manually break into this garage in about six seconds.

As you thread the zip tie through this hole,

Captain EJ realizes what you're doing and you explain it to Mr.

Honeybee,

Outing yourself for his own good.

I had no idea about this.

Wait.

How do you know,

Hero?

And you,

Captain EJ?

Did you two break in here before they're ready?

Mr.

Honeybee,

It's for research purposes.

We are a team and luckily we're here for you to try all your fun.

I mean,

Important new trinkets.

It's just research.

We have found so many glitches this way and when we do,

We come back the next day and let you know about these glitches.

Trust me,

We're doing you a favor.

Right,

Right.

Doing me a favor.

Whether or not benevolently breaking into his garage was a favor before,

This is definitely a favor now.

You lock the mechanism down and plug up the hole that potential thieves could use to manually pull the opener open.

With the windows blocked off,

This will make it even more difficult for them to get the wire where it needs to be.

You wipe your hands clean of the dust and any question of transgression on your part and step down from the ladder.

Now you can leave Mrs.

And Mr.

Honeybee to their evening and continue yours.

The garage door closes and the moonlight shimmers against the foil.

That's when you realize you're still wearing your battle bus helmet.

You meant to leave it in the garage to charge overnight,

But you can just as easily do that in the morning.

Captain EJ takes a sip of his root beer float for the road and says,

Hero,

Would you say that we foiled any intruder's attempts to break into the garage?

Hey,

That was a good one.

Mr.

Honeybee would have thought that was a good one.

You laugh more at Captain EJ than with him before you hear Mr.

Honeybee coming loud and clear over the battle bus helmet mic.

Writing that one down,

Captain,

That was a good one.

Almost makes up for you two breaking into the garage instead of breaking into my garage.

You and Captain EJ walk around the corner together back to his house,

Right foot,

Left foot,

Right foot,

Left foot.

Even though you both walked as slow as you could,

It still feels a bit too early to turn all the way in.

Without saying anything,

Your great minds think just alike and lead you up to the roof to do what you two do best,

Relax on the rooftop It's a beautifully clear night.

The stars are out in their constellations twinkling bright.

They seem so close that it's hard to believe they're more than four light years away.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel the coolness of the nighttime air and the sparkle of joy swelling in your chest.

Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let yourself rest easy on the roof.

Captain EJ points out a constellation that looks like a bull and another that looks like a scorpion with its tail ready to sting.

You point out one that looks like an archer with a bow and another that looks like a ram over by the bull.

As you scan the sky looking for more star shapes,

You look over nonchalantly expecting to see nothing.

A whole lot of nothing is exactly what you see but the sound echoes against the side of the house in the neighborhood again.

You prop yourself up on your elbows and study the chimney of Mr.

Honeybee's house.

The sound seems to come from there but you can't see anything.

Must be a bird or something nesting in there.

You go back to stargazing with Captain EJ who has now moved on to planning out the next prank on Mr.

Honeybee.

What do you think of that hero?

That would be hilarious.

Without hearing what he said you laugh and agree.

You're too tired to scheme pranks right now and besides you know it's a good one regardless.

That is another one of yours in Captain EJ's superpowers thinking up and executing another power nap while Captain EJ continues planning his prank idea out loud.

He eventually puts himself to sleep with his own voice while still somehow talking.

When you open your eyes again Captain EJ is sleeping soundly while trying to make his jacket into a blanket.

The sun will rise soon.

Before it does it sends out a single ray of golden light that draws a line across the horizon.

It won't be the last.

You readjust to get more comfortable and turn on your side toward the mountain so you can wake up in a few hours with the sun shining down on your face.

From here you can see the mountains that form the valley of Dormir.

Now you know that place so well once upon a time it felt so far away.

Just then the buzzing sound you heard last night comes back.

This time it's much louder and gets even louder until Captain EJ hears it now too and wakes up somewhat alarmed.

Not only does it sound closer but you can feel a wind at your back that jolts you up.

You look behind you to see a drone hovering at your back just above the rooftop you're sleeping on.

It's still dark so you cannot really see it very well with your sleepy eyes.

Ha!

That must be Mr.

Honeybee flaunting one of his new prototypes we haven't stolen yet.

Reach!

Captain EJ leans in to wave at the drone assuming Mr.

Honeybee can see him.

The drone that looks like a miniature plane hovers higher above you inching backwards away from you and Captain EJ.

You smile and wave at it too.

Suddenly the drone dives right toward you at a high rate of speed.

As it hurtles toward you and Captain EJ your playful laughing turns into worry.

It looks like it's heading right toward you.

Together you leap up to your feet and jump out of the way just in time for the drone to buzz right past you.

Captain EJ pleads with Mr.

Honeybee who he assumes is controlling it remotely.

Come on Mr.

Honeybee we promised we won't sneak into your garage anymore.

We never meant any harm by it.

Hero even gave away our secret of how to break in.

Now we can't do that anymore.

With each plea Captain EJ twists and turns to escape the drone's dive bombs.

When it's done with him it turns to you like a wild animal.

You run along the rooftop twisting and turning just like he did.

This can't be Mr.

Honeybee.

There's an unspoken line we never cross on our pranking and this certainly crosses it.

The drone circles back and heads right toward you again.

Thinking fast on your feet you step backwards a little too much and nearly slip off the roof.

Captain EJ is at your side.

He grabs your hand for you to stabilize yourself on the roof.

Captain EJ has had enough of this drone attack and is similarly convinced that this can't be Mr.

Honeybee's doing.

When the drone comes at you again Captain EJ launches toward it instead of away from it and grabs it with his incredible grip.

The strength of a single hand is enough to immobilize the drone.

He reaches up with his other hand to pull it down.

You run over to help him and together you pull it down.

The engine struggles to pull the machine away from you but it doesn't stand a chance.

With the drone in your hand that's when you see it.

Knuckler International is written along both sides of the drone in big silver letters.

This is not Mr.

Honeybee.

This is the Knucklers.

You throw on your battle bus helmet hoping there's enough charge in it for an emergency transmission.

But all you hear is humming silence.

Still holding the drone in his hands Captain EJ tries to contact Mr.

Honeybee as well.

Neither of you can get a hold of him.

Instead you hear a familiar voice through the drone.

Oh,

I forgot to tell you about our fleet of solar and lunar powered drones.

Captain EJ.

Aren't these fun?

And their fun never ends.

Watch your fingers.

Oh,

And I definitely watch the sky.

The propellers of the drone in both of your hands begin spinning faster and faster.

They spin at such a high rate of speed that the metal that they were made of likely silver becomes blade like and spin wildly very close to your face.

Two secondary sets of propellers emerge on the sides of the drone and push against your palm which is trying to secure it.

You and Captain EJ have no choice but to let go and take cover.

You ball your fists up and Captain EJ prepares his voice in case he needs to shatter this machinery.

Instead,

The drone backs up higher and higher into the sky.

It stops just above Captain EJ's roof.

Two silver lasers flash out from the sides and clouds begin to move in faster than you've ever seen clouds move before.

They come from all directions and meet just above this roof surrounding the drone.

It begins to sprinkle but as the clouds become more and more dense a sprinkle of rain turns into a downpour.

You push down the shield of the battle bus helmet so you can see your way down from this rooftop with Captain EJ.

On your way down you both try to get a hold of Mr.

Honeybee again.

Now,

This is an emergency.

Captain EJ pleads with the audience.

Mr.

Honeybee,

Do you copy?

We are under attack.

The Knucklers have a fleet of drones and they can't be more than a few miles away.

They have to be nearby.

Mr.

Honeybee,

Do you copy?

That's when another familiar voice comes over the mic.

This one is much friendlier but also much more worried.

Uh,

Mr.

Honeybee is not here.

Uh,

But he has programmed me to know all that he does in real time.

Even though technically time isn't real.

Time is real.

No,

It's not.

Yes,

It is.

No,

It's not.

I can't debate this now.

Good,

Because it's not a debate.

It is too a debate because time is a consensus in what is reality but one gigantic agreement can't be true or anything but everyone can agree to be wrong and you're all still wrong.

The human mind,

Although miraculous,

Is quite feeble.

Mr.

Honeybee and I were just talking about this.

Well,

Mr.

Honeybee was and I was recording his thoughts.

The human mind wins though because I'm a perfection of science and even I cannot figure it out.

If Mr.

Honeybee was here he would explain it but he's not here.

What do you mean Mr.

Honeybee is not there?

Where is he?

I tried to locate him but his GPS seems to be disabled.

The coordinates haven't moved much from when I powered down.

He can't be far though but he also can't be reachable because if he was I'd be able to reach him.

What does that mean?

Do you want the definition of reachable?

No,

I want Mr.

Honeybee to copy like he always does.

I have his voice downloaded if you'd like me to say copy in his voice.

Hi Captain Eej.

I am Mr.

Honeybee and I have copied.

This is not helping Roger and my name is Captain EJ not Eej.

Roger that Captain EJ.

How can I help instead of not help?

Standing in the pouring rain you and Captain EJ wonder where Mr.

Honeybee is and how Roger can help.

The Knucklers have invaded your peaceful slice of the Honeybee neighborhood.

Have they taken Mr.

Honeybee as revenge?

Instinctively you and Captain EJ are standing back to back so you can watch in a perfect 360 around you at once.

Rain slaps the concrete all around you falling harder and harder.

You take refuge on Mr.

Honeybee's porch and take comfort in the fact that Roger said Mr.

Honeybee can't be far but why would he be unreachable?

He's the most connected person you know.

Right now you and Captain EJ focus on what you do know.

Together you can overcome this like you can overcome anything but how?

That concludes our adventure.

I can't wait to see you again.

Captain EJ over and out.

Reviews

Mr. honeybee was unreachable, but the garage/command center wasn’t WIREless! Get it? Because I put a wire hanger? Yeah, I felt like I needed to make up a good joke to go along with yours about foiling intruders plans.

Sorta feels like the world rn, you hope you’ve done all the right things and suddenly it’s all sideways. Gotta keep steady and carry on, crew! Good stuff, thanks 🙏🏼❤️