Rush Zone S3 E3

## Plot

The episode starts with Marty and Jackson playing a video game called Redzone Retaliation at the arcade, which Jackson wins. He's really good at scouting and strategizing. Before Troy and Marty can play, they're given "next gen controllers" by a disguised Stellaria and Angkoro, which sends them into the game. Meanwhile, Ash, Ish, Ricky, and Tua are video chatting about fantasy football. After a few seconds, Jackson logs on, and explains that he was just at the arcade with Troy and Marty. The others ask him if he and his stepdad can come up with some new plays to help them beat the Mini Steelers that weekend. Ash says it must be so cool having a stepdad who's into the same stuff. Jackson makes up an excuse about running more stats on his trade and logs off, but he tells Ish that he'll call him later. Ish noticed how quiet he got when Ash mentioned their coach. He just remarried, so he and Jackson are still getting used to each other. Ash's dad is just dating someone, and she already finds it weird. Ish decides to see Jackson later to see if he's okay. Ricky wonders why Troy and Marty haven't logged on yet, especially since Jackson said he was just with them. Troy and Marty can't transform inside the game, and if they die in the game, they die for real, and they only get one life. Angkoro, Stellaria, Zich, and Sudden Death are watching them. Their Anticorian anatomy isn't detectable by the Safe Zone, so they can pretend to be human. Sudden Death tells them to proceed with the next phase of their latest plan immediately. The kids bring up their concerns about Troy and Marty to RZ at the HoK. They can't find them anywhere, and they aren't answering their communicators. They get a call from a Rusher about RZ sending them some weird new equipment, but RZ tells him that there's no record of any equipment shipment to them. Ish volunteers to check it out, but RZ forbids him from going into the field alone until he can fully transform. His Core powers may have been restored, but they still aren't connecting to his NFL-R. Ash and Tua volunteer to go with him, and RZ agrees. He and Ricky will keep looking for Troy and Marty. The others will meet Mike Tomlin and Marvin Lewis, head coaches for the Steelers and the Bengals. Ash and Tua transform right away because they don't know what they're facing yet. The equipment looks like a gaming console. Before Ish can check it out, Ash tells him that she, Tua, and the Rusherz will do it just to be safe, while he and the coaches secure the perimeter. Ish tells the coaches that it's hard to be on the sidelines while everyone else is still in the game. They point out that they're always on the sidelines, but they're still in the game. And not just them either. They both have a whole crew of coaches and trainers. Without them, no one could take the field. Being on the sideline isn't the same as being sidelined. Knowing how to read a situation from the sideline is where strategy comes in. No one knows what's going to happen on the field, so preparing the players for the unexpected is key. Ash, Tua, and the Rusherz see that Troy and Marty are inside Redzone Retaliation. Angkoro, Stellaria, and Zich teleport in behind them and throw BlitzBorgz at them, which they easily defeat. Stellaria tosses controllers at them and claims that they're bombs, so Tua and Ash catch them before they explode, and they're pulled into the game. They're saved from being killed immediately by Troy and Marty. Angkoro doubts that they can fight long enough to stay alive. They have to face green players, but at least this time they're in their suits. But they can't move. It's the Anticorians' game, so it's their rules. They control their every move. They stop so Zich can have them fight his green team, but he can't hurt them too badly, because Sudden Death has plans for them. This lets them move on their own again. They're able to win the first game, but there's still many more to play, and if they lose, that's it. Angkoro logs off, and they change back to normal. They have to find a way out of here. Meanwhile, Ish is telling RZ what happened. The Bengals Rusher saw Ash and Tua get sucked into the game. Ish wants to head back to the field with Ricky, but RZ tells Ricky to go alone instead. He needs Ish's help to try and decode the game. It might have a cheat code or a backdoor they can use. Ish goes over to Jackson's to ask him, but before he can, he sees some amazing plays that would help them beat the Mini Steelers. Jackson hasn't shown his stepdad yet, because coaching is his thing. Ish tells him that he's really good at this stuff, and everyone else sees it. Jackson wonders what he wanted to ask him. Ish asks him about any Redzone Retaliation cheat codes. Jackson doesn't want to give away all of his secrets, so he decides to teach Ish some combo moves instead, and even lets him borrow his custom built controller that he made himself. Meanwhile, the others try to get a message to the outside world. Ricky and the Steelers' Rusher are looking around the field when Angkoro and Stellaria teleport right in front of them. Ricky hears Ash's voice from the controller that Stellaria has, and the others can hear him. When he grabs Stellaria's controller to get in touch with them though, he's also pulled into the game. The Anticorians easily capture the Rusherz. They don't think they have to worry about Ish. They assume that he's useless without his powers. Meanwhile, the others wonder if RZ got their message, since Ricky had his comm channel open when he got zapped. They're forcibly transformed by the Anticorians to attack the Rusherz. Sudden Death tells them to complete their mission already, because they've already wasted enough time. He'll control the guardians instead. RZ was able to get a lock on Ash's signal thanks to Ricky. Ish plugs in Jackson's controller. He told him how to beat the game. Ish offers Sudden Death a deal: If he wins, then Sudden Death has to let his friends go, but if he loses, then he'll surrender. Plus, it comes with revenge on him for what happened in Dallas. At first I thought he was referring to what happened in the previous episode, but I double checked, and those events happened in Detroit, so I thought it was a mistake in the script. But it turns out that he's actually referring to when he defeated Sudden Death the first time and nearly killed him by cutting him in half, vertically, with his own weapon. Ah, memories. Sudden Death accepts his terms, and starts a sudden death match. The first team to score wins. Ish is using a controller that blocks digital interference, so the others can move on their own now, and have complete control over their powers. Ish will be their coach and their eyes in the sky. They're able to win, but of course Sudden Death was never going to keep his word, and attacks the others with lightning from a goal post. Luckily, Ish expected that he wouldn't keep his word, and even counted on it. He tells the others that the goal post is an energy portal. He can pull them out with a power surge from his controller, but only if they get closer to the thing that's currently trying to kill them. Or maybe it was just Ish all along and they took it the wrong way at first, who knows. However, Sudden Death says he can make the power flow both ways, and zaps Ish. RZ tells him to disconnect, but he refuses. He just needs more power, so he transforms. The others are pulled back into the real world… and Ish has a new and improved suit. The energy from the others finalized the recovery of his powers. His old ones are better than ever, and he has new ones too. The next day at practice, Ish thanks Jackson for his help with the game. He took Ish's advice and showed his plays to his stepdad, who decided to make him his assistant coach. However, the whole game thing was a distraction so the Anticorians could steal the Bengals' megacore. Sudden Death is still angry at them though, because he ordered them to bring him the Bengals' *and* Steelers' megacores. He punishes them severely.