Rush Zone S2 E4 "Team Up"

## Plot

The episode starts underneath a stadium. Some construction workers are building a new safe for the Megacores. A surveillance BlitzBot is watching them. Suddenly everything starts shaking. It's a cave-in! Everyone has to evacuate. The head construction worker, the Saints Rusher, and Drew Brees barely make it out. The Saints Rusher holds open the door so everyone can get out. At the field, the Bulldogs are tied 13-13 with four seconds left. Troy tells Ish to pass the ball to him, but Ish says that the ball will go to Marty since the other team is expecting it to go to Troy, so he'll be the decoy. Ish throws the ball to Marty, but Troy steps in front of him to try to catch the ball. Instead, an opponent gets the ball and scores a touchdown. Ish is mad that Troy didn't listen to him. Troy is mad that Ish wouldn't pass the ball to him. Ash suggests that they settle it on the lanes. They're all tied up until the last frame. Troy gets a spare, so Ish needs a strike to win. He gets a strike. Troy demands a rematch, but Ish and Ash are summoned to the HoK. They have to go to New Orleans to check out the cave-in. Before they go, RZ introduces them to the newest Guardian, Troy. Ish isn't exactly pleased with the idea. Troy wants to go to New Orleans because the Saints are his favorite team. RZ says he can't because he's still in training, so he has to stay behind and train with Ash. Ish goes to New Orleans and meets Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham. Brees shows him the vault. It has an alarm that can lock the Megacore in place, no matter what. When the cave-in happened, the alarm was accidentally triggered, so the Megacore is locked inside. Ish breaks through the first door. Now he just has to get through three more. Before he can, BlitzBotz attack. They're huge and they just keep coming. Even with Brees and Graham helping, things don't look great. Drop Kick has the bots keep up the distraction while he goes to take the Megacore. Ash and Troy go to New Orleans to help. "Enter the Rush Zone!" Troy's letters and number are WR 3. All three do better against the BlitzBotz, but Troy's inexperience with his weapons hurts the team more than it helps. Drop Kick breaks into the vault and unlocks the door. Troy has followed him, but he runs out of energy quickly. He's thrown against the control panel, which locks him inside the vault with Drop Kick and the Megacore. Drop Kick tries to finish him, but the special lead lining in the vault short circuited his weapons. RZ tells the others that they have to get Troy out ASAP, since the air supply in the vault is limited. Drop Kick and Troy race to the Megacore, which Troy gets. Drop Kick says that it's pointless, since once Troy runs out of air, he'll get the Megacore anyway. Troy, having a gigantic ego, tells Drop Kick that he's a Guardian. Tell me that did not just happen. Ish and Ash break through another door. They still have to get through two more. Troy notices something flashing on Drop Kick's chest. He figures out that it's a transmitter. He correctly guesses that Wildcard doesn't trust Drop Kick and keeps a close eye on him. Drop Kick and Troy actually bond a little over how hard it is to live up to some people's high expectations. Ish gets a power boost from the Rusher and breaks through another door. Only one more to go. Drop Kick says that the Saints Megacore is gaining more energy, but it has nowhere to go. Troy gets the idea that if they could generate more energy, they could blow the door apart from the inside. Drop Kick says that in theory it's possible. Troy's NFL-R still has a little bit of power left. He can transform one more time. "Enter the Rush Zone!" He holds out the Megacore. Initially, Drop Kick doesn't help, but he changes his mind when Troy asks him if he wants to show his boss that he can think on his own two feet. Together, they blow open the door. The second they're out though, Drop Kick takes the Saints Megacore. Troy's special ability is super speed. However, he's unable to stop Drop Kick from escaping. He thinks that he failed. Ish points out that at least he's still alive. They patch things up between them. The transmitter that Drop Kick has is also a camera. Wildcard is angry at Drop Kick for mentioning "him" A.K.A. Drop Kick's creator. He only forgives him because he retrieved the Megacore.

## Review

This was a… weird episode. It was good, just different. Seeing a hero and a villain bond in a near death situation isn't something you see everyday. Even if you do, it's usually played for comedic purposes, not dramatic ones. It shows us that right and wrong isn't all black and white, there are definitely shades of gray. While Drop Kick denies having human emotions, he does have some because he's essentially an A.I. and has the ability to learn. This is a good episode, even if things were weirder and more complex than I'd expect from this show. This was amazing character development for Troy.