Episode 6 - Limits

## **Episode Synopsis**

### **Recap**

The team were in the Tikul coliseum where bug people were infiltrating the tournament. Dariun faced a bee swordsman, Norman fought a mage butterfly and Zippy, along with Apophis, battled with a dung beetle. The butterfly teleported away, Dariun defeated the bee and drank the honey blood and Zippy tricked the dung beetle and made it start rolling up dung balls. The team, along with Apophis and the chameleon in tow, decided to head to the castle while being chased by the dung beetle. As they were chased, Norman and Zippy were caught in the dung beetles ball but Dariun made it into the castle with Apophis. The tarantula hawk who killed king Veal appeared. Apophis went to fight the tarantula hawk as Dariun stares at wall of dirt and sand, trying to figure out how to get his friends out.

### **Episode Summary**

Dariun starts to dig into the dirt wall but it's very compacted and hard to get through. He activates planar warrior and pulls his arm back but Dracken stops him and challenges him to save them with just his own strength. Dariun is not too convinced considering the gravity of the situation with Zippy and Norman potentially suffocating within the ball. Dracken  still encourages him, saying that Dariun won't always have his spells. Dariun agrees and decides to go with it and punches the ball with no spells activated and it feels the dirt become even more compacted. He goes again, three hits, only some dirt and sand falling away.

Dariun begins getting frustrated, punching again and again. Dracken tells him that his friends are dying in there and Dariun gets even more frustrated, punching even harder than before. His mental barrier starts to break and his knuckles become bloodied. His punches become even harder and more dirt falls away. Becoming even more emotional with Dracken telling him that his friends are going to suffocate. Dariun charges his next hit, ready to punch through harder than before and goes, more dirt crumbles. Dracken tells him to change seasons and become angry. Dariun keeps punching harder and harder and harder and there is a flash as he changes to gold, to summer. The dirt is falling away and Dracken tells him to activate Zephyrs strike and he does, punching through even harder with his anger fueling him.

Zippy and Norman's eyes open and see they are in a black sea and are standing atop the waves with a giant, luminescent blue tree in the background. They see each other and Zippy asks if he is dead. Norman asks where they are and Zippy is not all too sure. Norman recalls this place looks like the place where he was in a boat and Royce tried to pull him under. As he says this, Zippy sees two large horns rising out of the water and black skin with lava flowing through rise behind him. Norman suggests they wake up and maybe ask Viso for help but Zippy recalls they aren't on good terms anymore. The being behind Norman is now towering behind Norman, fully out of the water.

Norman tells Zippy they really haven't talked to each much other since Norman was brought back so Zippy suggests they sit. Norman feels a hand land on his shoulder and Zippy tells him there is something on his shoulder. Norman tells Zippy that he has been feeling like something has been on his shoulder since waking up but Zippy says there is actually something there.

Norman looks at the clawed, black hand on his shoulder and up to the blank face of Royce looking down at him. Norman turns around and firmly takes his hand off of him. He back up and tells Zippy to stand back. Norman looks at Royce and says that this is happening sooner than he expected. Royce out reaches his hand to Norman, invitingly. They feel vibration and shaking and Zippy knows this is something from outside affected him in the dream plane. Norman doesn't take notice and keeps watching Royce. Zippy wakes up and Norman stays in the dream. Norman looks at Royce and tells him to go to hell. They lower their hand and Norman wakes up.

Zippy can't really open his eyes and the sand and dirt is shaking. He can move only slightly and can feel the chameleon is nearby but can't find Norman. Zippy calls out for his carpet and it slowly moves towards Zippy as he starts to shuffling towards the carpet but doesn't move very far. He's starting to struggle to breath. He is able to start digging through the sand and grabs onto Norman who has just woken up. Norman clasps his hand in Zippys and mumbles the word to cast dimension door. They feel a door appear underneath them and fall through, falling into the palace hallway.

They see the golden skin Dariun smashing the dirt wall and between them is Apophis fighting the tarantula hawk. The hawk digs it's claws into Apophis and goes flying down the hallway. Norman whispers to Zippy asking if they should go back in to make Dariun feel better but decide honesty is the best policy. Norman calls out but Dariun has his head in the game and doesn't hear him. Norman and Zippy walk up to Dariun, telling him they are okay but Dariun is still pretty worked up. Norman puts on his hand on Dariun's shoulder then his other on his face and puts his forehead against his and tells Dariun it's okay and they are okay.

They hear a shriek come from the throne room and they start running towards it. Norman gives Dariun his last healing potion as they run. They come into the large room with large columns along the side. Emerald serpents line the floors to a large, elevated throne resembling a snake eating it's tail. They see Apophis' arm on the ground and it looks like the tarantula is getting the upper hand. Dariun asks for permission to use his weapons and Dracken grants it. Dariun throws his dancing blade to the tarantula hawk and it hits it. Apophis tells them to stay back as Norman hides behind a column and uses disguise self to look like King Veal. Norman steps out calmly but notices behind the emerald throne is a robed being with a furry arm and no head. It reaches for something on the throne but Norman keeps focus and whistles to catch the tarantula hawk's attention and asks if he is the one he wants. The hawk screeches and jumps to Norman.

The arm reaches around the throne and a green barrier from the snakes goes up in a circle around Apophis and the tarantula hawk. Apophis gets the tarantula hawk in a choke hold. Coming from behind the throne, they hear laughing as a head of a goat and dragon comes out from Kind Veal's body. They come to the conclusion that King Veal is a chimera but are all very confused as to what is going on. Dariun goes to use his bow but the emerald barrier that king Veal put up don't allow the arrows to go in. King Veal tells them the best way to get rid of a bug is to feed it to Genala as he pushes a button on their throne and the floor inside the barrier starts to sink.

Dariun calls out to King Veal, telling him that Apophis is there but Kind Veal admits that the winners of the tournament go down to see Genala anyways. Dariun uses Zephyr's strike and dashes over to the king in aims to tackle him. As Dariun is running. the dragon head turns around and the flames in the mouth shoot out, letting loose fire all around the room. Zippy dives behind a pilar, still getting a little singed before putting on Gruppie's goggles, allowing him to disable any feature on a person. As the flames billow, he stares into the flames to the king and sees Dariun uses absorb element and leaps through the flames. The fire cuts out from Zippy's use of the goggles just as Dariun gets close and draws the samurai sword and activates the elemental energy and zephyrs strike, attacking King Veal twice.

As he unsheathes it, he feels at one with the blade. The goat head looks at Dariun and he sees behind King Veal is mirror image of himself. He slashes the dragon head and his mirror image goes for the goat head. In a blink he appears in the mirror image version of himself and he decapitates the goat head. When he looks back to where he was before, there is nothing. The body falls down and Dariun sheathes the blade. He sees the green barrier is still active. Dariun sees two orbs on the chair, a green and a blue one. Dariun hits the green one and the barrier falls but the elevator keeps going down. Zippy heads down into the pit with his carpet to save Apophis.

Apophis is fighting the tarantula hawk, both looking very bloody. Zippy keeps flying down and flies to the chains in the wall that is moving the platform down. Zippy touches the wall and uses mold earth to create obstructions to the chains stopping them from going down. The platform starts to dip and Apophis and the tarantula hawk start to slide. Zippy jumps off the carpet, aiming for Apophis. The carpet scoops Apophis up and grabs him from underneath and flies upwards. Zippy transforms into a bird to fly back up as the tarantula hawk claws into the platform.

Zippy starts to see a deep pit below the platform and his emerald green tattoo starting to glow. Lots of green eyes in the pit start glowing and the hawk starts yelling, shooting a stinger and piercing into Zippy, causing him to revert back and fall into the pit. Apophis comes out and gets onto the palace floor. He starts yelling, saying he needs to get back in the pit to help little dude but the carpet is pulling him back. Norman in the meantime had run to King Veal's body and can feel the heat from the dragon head. He opens the mouth and can see a flame in the throat. He reaches in and it starts burning his hand. His hand starts cracking obsidian black. Norman grasps the flame, feeling only a slight warmth in his black, obsidian hand.

Dariun sees Zippy falling and asks for Norman's help, saying he has nothing left to help. Norman rushes over as Dariun takes two shots at the tarantula hawk, hitting only once. Dariun hits the arm of the hawk that is holding the platform causing it to start falling. Dracken tells Dariun he can sense the danger but tells Dariun he needs to make his own decision here. Dariun can sense way down deep is no portal or plane but there is a door leading somewhere. Dariun grabs the chain on the side and slides down. Norman follows, climbing down and tells Apophis to keep watch.

Zippy can see the floor is coming very close and the green eyes all disappear. He shouts out to Dariun and has a flashback, to all the times he spent with him. The good, the bad, when they became closer when Norman was down and just as he is about to hit the floor he unlocks something inside of himself. Zippy teleports to the platform and he grabs onto it. Dariun slides down the rest of the way and grabs onto Zippy. They hear the tarantula hawk slam into the ground then there are some roars. The tarantula hawk says they hava come to them, Genala, to slay them but then they hear a snap and cracks. They see a blue glow coming from below and they can see vines coming out from the tarantula and the blue glow becoming brighter. Then a voice comes from the tarantula hawk, a familiar voice. The voice of Lou Blonger.

Lou tells them to hand over their grand treasure clue. They all know they need to get out of there but they see a bee swordsman fly over the pit and the emerald barrier is restored. Lou continues to talk, telling them, despite their differences in opinions, he wants the scale they stole from the Beroger spire. Norman keeps climbing down to reach the others. Zippy tells them they need to get back to Apophis and away from this trap that they have been lead to. Zippy gets onto Dariun's back and they all start climbing back up top.

Lou notices they are trying to get away and he jumps up. They see the enhanced, vine covered body of the tarantula hawk flying up. There are four stingers coming out of their forearms and Lou gives them one more chance. Dariun reaches to his hip and grabs the wand of webs. Meanwhile, Zippy touches Norman and uses hidden paths on him to teleport him up and outside the barrier, despite Norman's protest. Lou becomes frustrated at them trying to run away again. The web flies out but it misses. Lou flies towards them and slashes at them both. Zippy falls unconscious but Dariun grabs him to stop Zippy from falling into the pit.

Dariun casts cure wounds on Zippy, bringing him back awake and continues to climb up. Norman walks towards the barrier and to the bee, holding his hand out that is holding the flame. The flames shoot out, burning the bee but it keeps standing. Zippy uses wall of stone, blocking the space between Lou and the others. Zippy then touches Dariun, teleporting him up on top near Norman. He hears banging on the wall of stone and Lou breaks through. Lou goes to impale Zippy but he misses, digging into the wall with his four blades, two to his left and two from his right. Zippy is now face to face with Lou in the tarantula body.

Dariun shoots two arrows at the bee and darkness goes over their eyes. It's hand moves away from the button but the barrier remains. Norman books it towards the button and despite Dariun telling him to wait, he pushes it and the barrier releases. Zippy at Lou and pulls out the flame blade and slashes across the chest and as soon as he says his goodbyes, he uses his last hidden pass to teleport right next to the chair and slams the button to put the barrier up again.

Lou flies up and starts slamming into the barrier but he can't get through. The ceiling of the castle starts to crack and an emerald green symbol falls into the pit and glows brighter as it falls. Lou starts pushing through the barrier and it starts bending. They hear a roar and a mouth chomps on Lou. A large koybra, white skin with black and orange dots and two long antennae off its face comes out of the pit. Lou's voice cuts out and they see the black eyes of the beast reflect green. They all know they need to run.

Norman picks up Zippy and they start sprinting down, Apophis still being carried on the magic carpet. They pick up Apophis' arm and keep going on. Chasing behind, another koybra comes out of the pit. Dariun digs deep and leans on his athleticism to pull him through and he keeps running. A third koybra climbs out of the pit and starts to chase them. Zippy puts his hand on Norman and gives him cat's grace to help him. Norman flips down staircase and lands at the bottom. Two more koybras come out of the pit and one tries to bit at Dariun. He waits to the last second and dives away but it nips at his leg. It bites down and he hears a crack of his star metal band around his leg before falling unconscious.

A second koybra jumps over the other and goes to bite Norman and Zippy. Norman uses minor illusion to great the image of a giant owl and the koybra spooks and misses. Zippy commands the carpet to pick up Dariun, putting Apophis on the ground to run. Apophis goes to slither but he falls cause he's gassed. The carpet grabs Dariun and Norman gives Apophis his last bardic inspiration. Apophis is able to get up and go, Norman and Zippy keep running with Dariun flying besides them. They are close to the exit and see the citizens of Tikul being attacked by the insectoid people.

Norman keeps running, dodging the attacks and legs of the koybras. Parts of the castle start falling apart and they see the fighting outside starting to slow and they hear people yelling to get the blue pills to fight them. The koybra steps forwards and looks out into the city and lets out a roar. The city comes to a standstill and the koybra spits out the half-digested body of the tarantula hawk king. The insectoids start to run and the koybras stamped out to chase their food.

Norman throws Zippy out of the way and it slams on his arm. Zippy gets trampled by a foot of a koybra and falls unconscious again. Apophis grabs Zippy and slings him over his shoulder and gets Norman on his feet. They try to keep running and they hear the sounds of galloping horses and a carriage. Dariun falls to the ground as the carpet cannot continue working without Zippy's command. Norman and Apophis see the door of the carriage swing open and the familiar face of Valentine appears, asking if they wanted to buy anything before realizing the mess they're in. He tells them to get in so Apophis carries Zippy in and Norman grabs Dariun and follows in, lying on the floor bloodied from their battle.

## **Quotations**

* Connor "*Apophis must be protected!*"

* Zippy "*We can probably do this right? You* [Norman] *and I, we can beat people up!*"
* Norman "*Well I mean we're the heavy lifters of the team obviously.*"

* Seth "*Hey physicists! Look at me now! I studied!*"

* Zippy "*It's good seeing you Lou, but it's time we part again and next time, we're gonna be coming after you.*"
* Norman "*Apophis, shed the skin of doubt.*"
* Apophis "*Yo that's kinda weird… shedding skins like stripping dude.*"
* Norman "*Well you’re a snake I thought it'd be appropriate.*"
* Apophis "*Well it's not! But okay!*"

* Valentine "*Talk about good timing! But anyways wanna buy anything?*"

## **Featured Characters**

### **Main Cast**

* Norman D
* Dariun Branch
* Zippy Westborrough

### **Returning Characters**

* Dracken
* Royce
* Apophis
* King Veal
* Lou Blonger
* Valentine

## **Locations**

* Tikul
* Tikul Castle
* Valentine the Cursed Curiosity Collector