Episode 44: Down Under

Dick and Johnson are in their house, in the open earth wine cellar room on the -30th floor to satiate their geological curiosity, comparing the soil deep below ground with the one closer to the surface. The floor also houses the Genesis Cave, in which they regularly conduct various genetic experiments and create new hybrid creatures such as a Venus flytrap-corgi, literal magic mushrooms, and Audrey IV. As they inspect the dirt, the Chief calls on the Red Phone to send Dick and Johnson on another exchange mission, just about a year after their previous one. While the Australian heroes **Donger and Snag** are coming to America, Dick and Johnson are going down under (and then to Australia).

Due to a clerical error, an extra ticket has been booked, and so Dick and Johnson are free to take a third person with them. Wanting to make a new friend, they walk into a Ralph's and decide to invite the first person that will talk to them. Since the other customers are avoiding the two, the only one that acknowledges them is the cashier, Sadie Smith. She happily accepts the invitation to join the two on their trip, as she feels dissatisfied with her average life and also really needs some friends. After quitting her job through song—a peculiar habit Dick and Johnson notice—they take Macho Fan Randy Savage back home to drop off their groceries, which consist mostly of Quest Bars.

Dick and Johnson decide to take Autopilot to travel to Australia, as he is much faster than a commercial plane. They attempt to call the Chief to let him know of the change of plans, but realize that they don't have his number or any way to contact him. Using last-call return, Johnson quickly gets a hold of the Chief's Pentagon office number and calls him. The Chief understands that Dick and Johnson's many modes of transportation are much faster, but also states that the government will not cover their exorbitant fuel costs. Johnson asks Sadie to change the Chief's mind, but Sadie, who has never flown first class, is actually excited at the idea and begins to sing about it. Dick and Johnson are startled when her singing suddenly makes images of her fantasies appear, animates the luggage, and causes the red phone to walk away. Seeing that they have no choice, Dick and Johnson agree to take the commercial flight and the three board the plane with their entire vast blue ray collection.

On the flight, Sadie experiences travel sickness, but is also able to use her musical magic to accelerate the flight. Arriving at Perth Airport, the three are escorted by armed soldiers into a small, unfurnished room. Also Diego Luna is there. An Australian government representative called **the Commissioner** briefs them on their mission: a crime lord called Derrek Jeffins, who has taken the codename **the Tasmanian Devil** as he is unaware of the cartoon character of the same name, is leading a terrorist cell from his base of operations, a casino called The Black Star. If defeated in a game of black jack, he may challenge his opponents to personal combat and could thus be taken out together with his entire organization. Dick, Johnson, and Sadie decide to go undercover as **Foster Roo**, **Coala G. B. Reef** (from New Zealand), and **Miss Platypus**. To combine their strengths, Dick picks up a flying boat, Johnson takes several days to go to Sydney and steal a semi truck with the orchestral equipment from the Sydney Opera House, and Sadie uses her singing to conjure animals to operate the plane.

Using their proven car-parachute drop-in technique, the trio drives the semi out of the flying plane, only to realize that they forgot to attach a parachute. Dick manages to avoid a crash by landing the falling truck on the sloped side of a mountain and they continue to the casino. At the entrance, Dick is stopped by security, but with the help of his best friend and a few well placed punches, all three enter the establishment without further unwanted attention.

Inside, Sadie is quickly taken by the excitement of gambling and inadvertently uses her powers to win a large amount of money and also summon Blade. Another song manifests the scene of her conception and a montage of her life in the casino. Dick and Johnson are awed by Sadie's seemingly limitless, yet uncontrolled power, and, for a moment, wonder how well they can even trust this stranger they barely know. A manager approaches them and informs them that Sadie's winning streak has garnered the attention of the casino owner, the Tasmanian Devil, and he is inviting them to a game of black jack against him. The three accept, and, surrounded by heavily armed guards, the game between Dick, Johnson, Sadie, the Tasmanian Devil, and a Texan billionaire begins.

A streak of bad cards hits all of them, and Sadie is, once again, taken by her newly developed and quickly growing gambling addiction and bets everything. She loses, and she as well as the Texan are out. The loss conflicts with Sadie's idea of being a protagonist in her own story, the hero that defeats the villain, and Dick and Johnson have to talk her out of a momentary identity crisis. During their dialogue, the Tasmanian Devil confesses that he knows that they are government agents. Having been found out, the three attack him, but have to stand down as the guards surround them.

The Tasmanian Devil proclaims that they will have to take part in a game in which they will fight for their lives. Just then, he opens a trapdoor below them, and the heroes fall into a pit filled with tarantulas. Sadie quickly uses her animal charming singing to get the spiders to form a ladder, but Dick and Johnson struggle to get over their arachnophobia. Johnson decides to face his fear and embrace the critters, and the spiders form a living suit around him under his control, allowing him to climb out. Dick is still paralyzed with fear and so Sadie must carry him, and Johnson lifts the two out.

Back on the surface, the guards have taken cover and the Tasmanian Devil is inside an armed mech suit, ready for the battle that is about to begin. With his spider suit, Johnson cuts through a swath of soldiers, while Sadie continues to sing to control the spiders and now also Dick, who has been poisoned by spiders bites. Johnson begins suckin' Dick to get the venom out of his blood and Sadie summons leeches to help him. Dick recovers, but the Tasmanian Devil has used the distraction to escape. Seeing how Sadie has used her powers to save him, Dick realizes he feels attracted to her, but he also knows that she has feelings for his best friend Johnson, and begins singing about it.

With the help of their dog **Chit**, whom they have brought along, they attempt to track the Austrian-Australian. Sadie also summons a variety of dogs to pull them along in a dog sled, but when Johnson accidentally feeds all the canines chocolate, they become sick. Dick radios the Chief to send a helicopter and a veterinarian, and—after trying to console a crying Johnson for a really long time—they continue their pursuit of the terrorist leader.

Having located their quarry, Dick leaps out of the air, Sadie parachutes down singing a rousing battle song, and Johnson steers the helicopter right for the villain, while dodging a giant boomerang shot at him. Sadie's song summons Tasmanian devils and Tasmanian tigers, which were believed to be extinct, to charge their opponent in his mech suit. Johnson crashes the helicopter into the Tasmanian Devil, killing him and sending the animals into the air; all land safely and look super cool doing it, Johnson, however, is shot into Uluru and loses his clothes which is super embarrassing.

Back in the USA, Dick, Johnson, and Sadie are receiving the Australian Medal of Honor, Donger and Snag are also being honored for defeating Christofuhrer Walken during their own adventure. With all the well earned praise and attention, Sadie is being offered a position by both the Agency and her former employer, Ralph's, but is unsure of how to proceed in her life. She is, however, grateful for having found two best friends in her life and promises to be by their side forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and...

## Behind the Scenes

...ever and ever and ever and in an after-credits scene, Sadie is seen standing in front of a Trader Joe's, expressing interest in it.

The Tasmanian Devil shares many traits with **the Superior**, a previously defeated, minor villain of Dick and Johnson's: both have one white eye, are the head of a crime organization, operate out of a casino, are bound by a code of honor to accept challenges in games of chance, and see hand-to-hand combat as ultimate challenge. Since the Superior did not die in their encounter, it could be possible they were the same person.