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.
After narrowly escaping Pinky and Thumbknuckler's long-distance vaporization,
Mr.
Honeybee was waiting for us back at the Command Center.
He specially developed suits of silver,
Modeled after the extraordinary Saharan Silver Ants.
Yes,
You heard correctly.
Ants.
Saharan Silver Ants can withstand the blistering desert sun thanks to their silvery hairs.
Go ahead,
Look it up.
Captain EJ does not lie.
This intricate suit is presented to us in the top-secret stronghold that's hidden behind the walls of Mr.
Honeybee's garage.
Only you and I have access to this Command Center within a Command Center.
Once suited up and properly concealed,
We were outfitted further with our electric networked vehicle.
The reflective silver fibers on our latest armor will allow us to confront the Knucklers face-to-face on their turf,
Which is what we are on our way to do now.
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,
Strapped into your single-seater electric-networked vehicle that is the envy of all.
You are zooming along beside Captain EJ in a nearly identical ENV.
We keep pace with each other as we make our way back to Dormir.
There's no rest for the wicked,
Nor the heroes that combat them.
Your sleepy yawns stand to take over,
And you can't help but imagine a warm,
Cozy bed right now,
Or maybe even a hammock that lightly sways in the breeze.
For now,
You blink your eyes to keep them on the road.
The dashboard in front of you allows you to push a series of buttons to engage the hoverwings that let us hop over anything in our path – other cars,
Bunnies,
And even the people out early enough for their morning walks.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Reach your arms up and yawn a big yawn.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
You drift back to that idyllic scene of a hammock blowing in the wind as you stretch out your sore shoulders and stiff neck,
Mindlessly letting your hands slip from the wheel.
The sensation of a different engine rumbling beneath your feet snaps you back to reality.
Before you can react,
You realize that the ENV can drive itself.
This car knows when your focus diverts,
And it engages automated driving for you.
Our vehicles just got new wings,
So they prefer to fly.
You and Captain EJ soar into the sky to see the sunset like never before.
Usually,
We're staying up late talking and laughing on our rooftops,
Watching the orange sun light up the retreating night,
But today,
We're soaring.
From up here,
You can see the valley of Dormir,
With a mountain shadow laid permanently over it.
A plume of smoke wafts into the air,
A sure sign of the Knucklers' overnight destruction.
We want to conceal ourselves at first,
So we don't want to draw too much unwanted attention to our intel-gathering mission.
Today,
We will meet with the townspeople and learn more about just who we're dealing with.
We land our ENVs in a vacant field just outside the town and stow them away in a thicket of bushes for safekeeping.
We pull down our hoods and fold the battle bus helmet back into a beanie,
Our silver chest plates with strategically placed fibers are turned into backpacks,
And our infrared ultraviolet eye scopes into sunglasses.
Captain EJ is used to going incognito,
But it's new for you.
Play it cool,
Hero.
Play it cool.
No one knows us yet here.
We can use that to our advantage.
As we approach Dormir on the dirtback roads,
We can hear the commotion of townspeople gathered.
You arrive at a scene of devastation and destruction.
The grain silo that towers over the town,
And has for decades,
Has blackened and charred.
All the grain that was stored inside has spilled and since blown away in the cool mountain breeze.
Only morsels are left from over a year's worth of stock.
The silo is smoking and burned to a crisp,
But you can still see the old,
Withered paint that reads Welcome to Dormir in cheerful,
Cracked letters.
This is how the oldest town around feeds its livestock and its enterprising ways.
The knucklers are aiming where it hurts the most.
A group of farmers in straw hats look up to the steel silo with worried faces.
More people arrive to see what's going on,
And to console the people whose livelihoods depend on this grain storage.
While everyone is focused on them,
It's the perfect opportunity for us to blend in and get information.
You make eye contact with Captain EJ,
Who walked up to the other side of the group.
You nod your heads in agreement,
Knowing exactly what the other is thinking.
Great minds.
At the same time,
You and Captain EJ fan out into the crowd,
Popping up every so often to ask what's going on.
You get a different story from each person you ask.
Most suspect that Pinky and Thumb aren't to blame.
Some assume their evil intent is revenge for some unknown slight.
One person is absolutely convinced aliens have invaded.
This has to be aliens.
Has to be.
Maybe they're even here in this crowd,
Trying to blend in.
Hey!
Who are you?
I've never seen you before.
You get away from that as fast and politely as you can.
We would prefer not to have our cover blown,
But we absolutely cannot be suspected aliens.
Hey!
Where are you going?
Wait!
What planet did you come from?
Hey!
Come here!
You eventually lose him by weaving through the crowd.
When you find your way back to Captain EJ,
One voice suddenly lifts above the rest.
You look over to see Sally Smith,
The resident who you met on your first visit to Dormir.
She's climbing up the silo ladder to get the crowd's attention from above.
People of Dormir,
Sally Smith of the silversmiths here.
She has climbed up high enough to catch a bit of sunshine that doesn't make it to the soft valley ground.
In the sun,
She noticeably shimmers in shades of silver.
Iridescent sparkles dance all around her in the light.
Is it just me,
Or does she look silver?
She says she was a silversmith,
Right?
Does that mean she's literally silver?
You wonder the same thing as you continue to listen to Silver Sally Smith.
Then you try not to listen too closely so you break up your listening with some looking around,
Trying to be as natural as possible.
This is the Knucklers doing.
They are tormenting the great people of Dormir and we need to do something.
Who has a plan?
The uproar of the crowd suggests everyone has a plan,
And Sally struggles to maintain control even from up high.
Okay,
That's too many plans.
I need a new plan.
Hold please,
It'll just be one second.
Just one second.
Sally scans her racing thoughts,
Struggling to find a suitable alternative plan.
Then she scans the crowd.
You and Captain EJ turn your faces so she doesn't see you,
On the off chance that she'll recognize you.
But,
Before you can help it,
Sally formulates a plan that includes both of you.
Hey,
Hey you,
You two over there.
I saw you the other night.
You were the heroes who outsmarted the Knucklers.
If you did it once,
You can surely do it again.
Come up,
Come up.
We're all ears.
At first,
You and Captain EJ pretend not to hear,
But the crowd is riled up.
They must already know about you.
Your cover is blown.
We have no choice but to accept this change of plans and make our way through the crowd up to the silo.
You climb up first.
Right hand,
Left hand.
Right foot,
Left foot.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose as you climb.
Focus your mind on the sensation of your strong heart beating.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
Together,
We climb high enough to see the enormous crowd of townspeople that have now flocked to Main Street.
My name is Captain EJ,
And this is my partner,
Honeybee Hero.
Hero for short.
It's true.
We are aware of the situation here in Dormir.
Rest assured that we are equipped to handle the threat Pinky and Thumbknuckler pose,
And we have a plan to do just that.
For now,
We will just need to chat with everyone to get some information.
Very easy.
Please form two lines.
One over here in front of me,
And one over there in front of Hero.
You climb down and point out where one line can start in front of you.
The people of Dormir can sense your leadership ability and quickly fall into line.
Everyone has organized themselves into two groups and are waiting eagerly to tell what they know.
One by one,
We speak to nearly everyone who lives in Dormir.
Pinky and Thumbknuckler are longtime residents and have amassed quite the reputation.
As Sally mentioned,
They live in the Knuckler compound in the most shadowed part of town.
The rest of the residents are able to tell us more.
Their parents are scientists,
Like geniuses.
They never let Pinky and Thumb go to school with the rest of us.
I think they're around my age,
But I never ever see them.
I heard that their parents homeschooled them,
Only taught them the sciences.
They were trying to make the brothers into geniuses,
But they're more like vampires,
Only coming out at night.
Do your powers work against vampires?
They're nocturnal from what I can tell.
I don't think they're vampires.
Their parents are working on a project with the silversmiths,
And they're not home right now.
Pinky and Thumb,
Well,
They must have that whole compound to themselves.
Their parents are away on sabbatical,
Studying the polar nights.
I know their research involves nighttime,
But I don't know much else.
I don't know much about any of them.
The doctors kept a very,
Very strange schedule.
That compound is dark during the day,
And the whole family is active at night.
Those boys probably don't have too many friends.
They are a cruel pair of brothers.
I only remember seeing them out in the daytime once.
We were selling cookies door to door as a fundraiser.
I knocked,
And Pinky answered with a big grin.
Oh,
He's smiling.
You think he's going to be nice?
No.
He listened to our whole explanation about what the charity was for,
And who supported it,
And said he was interested in the whole box of cookies we had left.
He called Thumb over to look at them,
And in a blink of an eye,
Pinky yanked the entire box of cookies from us.
Thumb slammed the door and bolted it shut.
They stole all of our cookies.
It was horrible.
We've learned so much about who the Knucklers are.
It's best to know your opponent and to never,
Ever underestimate them.
As feared and expected,
The younger Knucklers have a heartless reputation.
More than that,
With their parents away,
Pinky and Thumb Knuckler are left to their own devices,
As well as a lab full of their parents.
That is not a good combination,
As is evident by all the destruction.
We spend all day in Dormir,
Talking to the resilient people who make up this town.
But the crowd hurriedly dwindles as the sun sets.
Before we know it,
We're the only ones standing in the middle of a now deserted street.
A Honeybee neighborhood bulletin blows in the breeze and catches on your leg.
You look down to see a big picture of you and Captain EJ on the front page that reads,
Hometown heroes defend Dormir.
It was from the first trip to Dormir when you saw Sally Smith.
She must have taken a picture of us in action.
She did have a camera around her neck with the binoculars.
Now,
For better or worse,
We're both known in Dormir.
The Knucklers have to know we're here.
Word has certainly spread and though we got excellent intel,
Our cover was thoroughly compromised.
Feeling the vulnerability of this wide open space with a desolate wind at our backs,
We instinctively cover each other.
We stand back to back so we can see all around us.
Your eyes are peeled and you know that Captain EJ's are too.
He has your back.
Night falls all around you.
The only functioning streetlight flickers overhead as a howling wind whirls around us and echoes down the empty streets of Dormir.
The townspeople are hunkered down in their homes and we are charged with their safety.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose and strengthen all your muscles at once.
Your high-tech suit hums as it reactivates.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let your body be soft.
Let your mind be clear and feel how ready you are for this challenge.
With our hoods down,
Our Battle Buzz helmets back on,
Mr.
Honeybee comes in loud and clear.
Captain EJ,
Hero,
Do you copy?
There's a heat source detected just behind us.
Behind you.
Can you see it?
We see it,
Mr.
Honeybee.
We know exactly what to do.
Through our infrared eye scopes,
We can see a bright red flash zapping through the sky,
Hitting the ground around our feet.
The bulletin disintegrates immediately and leaves only a puff of smoke.
The knucklers are back,
But they are no match for us and our silver suits that form a barrier under our clothes.
We turn around to walk towards them,
Unafraid of their long-distance vaporization.
Zooming our built-in binoculars to the max,
We can see Pinky and Thumb aiming what looks like a giant telescope at us.
Pinky's so tiny that he has to stand on a table to aim the machinery.
His bulbous bald head tilts back with maniacal laughter that echoes.
Thumb,
Who is the exact opposite of Pinky,
Lumbers his gigantic body around the rooftop lab,
Doing whatever Pinky tells him to do.
Flash after flash falls on our feet,
But we continue toward them undeterred.
As we approach,
Pinky scurries to her control panel and busily pushes buttons.
He seems to be worried and mounting an even more wicked attack as a result.
We can hear his angry,
Squeaking voice barking orders to Thumb against the backdrop of a completely silent town.
With an evil glimmer in his eye,
Pinky stands on Thumb's broad shoulders to get a better look through a bigger laser and aims at us once again.
We now run straight for the Nuckeler compound,
Right up to the fortress-like wall,
Focused on our target.
In one strike,
Pinky zaps both of us with an incredible force of heat and light,
But it does nothing to our suits.
Mr.
Honeybee cheers from the command center,
Knowing with certainty that the silver in our suits is the key.
Pinky and Thumb are now in a panic.
Their evil plan has failed for the first time,
And now we know where they are.
Up until now,
They have been mostly invisible,
Cowards who targeted innocent people behind their backs.
They scramble on the rooftop laboratory and repeatedly run to look over the edge and watch our confident advance.
When we get to the exterior wall of the Nuckeler compound,
We can see them looking down to us.
Thumb's eyes are wide with shock,
As if he doesn't know how we were able to withstand the vaporization.
A sly grin comes across Pinky's face before he shouts down.
Lovely silver suit you got there,
Captain.
It can't just be your impeccable style that brought it together.
That has to be made of pure silver.
It is,
Isn't it?
Mr.
Honeybee,
How can he know that?
Our suits are perfectly concealed.
There's no way.
Why did he say,
Has to be made of pure silver?
Oh,
Captain!
Can you hear me down there?
Yes,
We can hear you just fine,
Nuckeler.
Why don't you and Thumb come down so we can talk this out rationally?
No need to vaporize anything else.
Your weaponry is no match for us anyways,
As you just saw.
So sure you are of your silver.
Why,
Of course.
How could I say no to that?
But first,
A question.
Why don't you ask Mr.
Honeybee where he got the silver he used to make those lovely suits?
How does he even know me?
I got the silver,
Hmm,
Let's see.
It was delivered right to me from an associate of a friend of a friend of an associate.
Let me check the packaging.
It came from.
.
.
Oh no,
It came from Dormir.
Oh no,
Something called,
Uh,
Nuckeler International.
Tick,
Tock,
Tick,
Tock.
Want me to give you the answer?
It sounds like you know a thing or two,
Pinky.
Come on down and explain it to us.
Make us even stronger.
We'll meet you at the door.
Be my guest.
Thumb,
Come on.
Captain and his hero friend are waiting for us.
Standing before the tall iron door that leads into the Nuckeler compound,
We wait for Pinky and Thumb to emerge,
Not quite knowing what to expect.
Weary of what they'll do next,
We're on high alert for anything that can come from anywhere.
You can hear them on the other side of the door whispering to each other.
Every so often,
Pinky shouts at Thumb and returns to a whisper.
Intrigued,
We lean in to put our ear up to the door.
Footsteps approach,
Followed by more whispering.
Then,
Perfect silence.
We step back and look at each other,
Wondering where they went.
You reach your hand up to knock on the heavy door.
Just then,
Gears grind and crank overhead.
We look up,
Just as a massive cage with vertical bars slams to the ground around us,
Trapping us inside.
You and Captain EJ grab hold of the bars and shake them in a panic,
But the cage doesn't budge.
The bolts that secure the door unlock one by one,
And Pinky slyly sticks his head out.
Oh,
I forgot to mention that we have a real problem with bears up here.
They like to get in the house,
And the lab,
And everything.
Enjoy the bear cage!
Aye,
Aye,
Captain!
The door slams and bolts shut.
We look at each other,
Waiting for our great minds to think alike.
Then,
With a spark of genius,
They do.
Your hand instinctively grabs for the remote that's holstered at your hip.
You carefully hold it in your hand,
Not knowing exactly the power it contains,
But only that it's immense.
Now's the time to use that remote.
Good thinking,
Hero.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the power resting at your fingertips.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and push the button.
Blue lightning flashes out of the remote,
And a small circle of light begins to form just beyond the bars.
The blue electricity sizzles as it comes into contact with the cage and fizzles out in a puff.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Have you ever seen the teleportation device fail like this?
There must be some kind of radiation present at the compound that is disabling the portal mechanism.
Okay,
We have another way out.
Hero,
Trust me when I say this.
Right now,
You are much stronger than you ever imagined.
I'll explain later.
Just do what I do.
Trusting Captain EJ with everything you have,
You follow his direction and place your hands on the cold,
Steely bars.
You take another slow,
Deep breath in.
Feel your chest lift and the Battle Buzz helmet activate.
Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and pull the solid iron bars apart with all your strength.
They pry open,
Collapsing under the strength of your incredible grip.
You can't believe it even as it's happening right in front of you.
Together,
We free ourselves with our own strength and jump into action.
We secure the perimeter to make sure the Knucklers are still inside.
At one of the back windows on the far side of the house that is adjacent to the first floor laboratory,
We peek in to see Pinky and Thumb engrossed in a racing game,
Completely oblivious to the fact that we're free.
We stay up all night to make sure they stay in,
Which they do.
Using our tracking systems and infrared vision,
We watch them play a dancing game,
Which,
Surprisingly,
Thumb won,
And meander around the house entertaining themselves with whatever is at their disposal.
Perhaps they've had enough wickedness for one day,
Or perhaps their wickedness is just another form of entertainment to them.
As the sun rises,
They both snuggle into their lavish,
Princely beds while we monitor them carefully from outside.
This was the first night in over a week that Dormir won't wake up to more destruction.
We did that much.
Come on back,
Team.
Mrs.
Honeybee and Meldybee have a little something special waiting just for you.
You have to be exhausted.
We sure are,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Okay,
We'll teleport back once we get far enough away from this compound and its radiation.
Barely functioning on zero sleep,
We retrieve our ENVs with a gesture and a snap of our fingers.
They appear before us with their return flight plans ready.
Now is the time to teleport straight back to the Honeybee house.
We hop in and floor it to fly as far away from this compound as possible,
At least for a short night's rest.
Well,
It's more of a day's rest at this point.
Without meaning to or realizing it,
We are becoming just as nocturnal as the Knucklers in order to defeat them.
You cannot underestimate your opponent,
As we know,
But you also can't become them in the flurry of strategizing for a win.
That is for tomorrow.
For now,
The soft sun rises over the valley and Mr.
Honeybee lets us know when we're out of the radiation's range.
You again push the button on the remote at your hip.
The same blue lightning flashes and creates a sizzling circle of light that cuts into time and space.
In the blink of an eye,
We are pulled into the vortex through a whirling wind of color.
Before we know it,
We are back home.
Mrs.
Honeybee,
They're here.
The hammocks are ready in the garden.
Perfect.
I'm pouring them in.
I'm making the tea now.
Do you have any fresh lavender left over from the sleep pouches?
Maybe we can set that up for them too.
Oh,
Good idea.
I'll bring them some.
Like good neighbors,
Mrs.
And Mr.
Honeybee have tea prepared for us and Melodybee has set up two hammocks in the garden.
We take off our suits and helmets after a long day and night and lay them beside us.
The soft morning sun shines down on you,
Magnifying the warmth of the tea that you sip.
We collapse onto our hammocks which are side by side facing the sunrise.
It's just like we're on our rooftop,
But here,
Another little fluffy friend joins you.
Mrs.
Honeybee's little dog,
Harold,
Jumps into your hammock and curls up beside you.
We finish our chamomile tea,
Sink into the soft pillow,
And pull our brightly colored blankets up to our chins.
The warm breeze sways us back and forth and we enjoy the best day's sleep we've ever had.
We'll need to be refreshed to build a bigger,
Better strategy to defeat the knucklers.
For now,
We rest.
That concludes our adventure.
I can't wait to see you again.
Captain EJ,
Over and out.
