Episode 1
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Parent Page: Television Episodes
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Trials of Furno is the first episode in the Rise of the Rookies miniseries that aired on Nicktoons. The episode aired on September 20, 2010 and was written by Sean Catherine Derek and directed by Mark Baldo.
Plot Summary
At a mining center on Merak 9, Heroes Preston Stormer, Jimi Stringer, Dunkan Bulk, and rookie William Furno are guarding a ship carrying C-4000 explosives. Stormer, Stringer, and Bulk see the explosives being shipped safely to the ground while Furno already told the miners to stay underground until the shipment is secured. Stormer, Stringer, and Bulk drop down from their Hero Craft to the ground to guard the explosives. Stormer then fires at Rotor after telling Furno to stay back, despite this mission being Furno's mission trial. Rotor dodges the blast and returns fire. Stringer and Bulk join Stormer in shooting at the criminal as well; however, they are unable to hit him. XPlode suddenly flies in on his hover bike and runs Stormer down. Dismounting the vehicle, he begins firing at the Hero. Stormer leaps for cover, narrowly avoiding the blast.
At Hero Factory, Nathaniel Zib and Quadal contact Stormer from Makuhero City, as they are worried about him.
The three Heroes fight the two villains, but the villains get the upper hand on the Heroes. Furno asks Stormer to let him help Stormer and other Heroes, but Stormer denies him.
Rookies Natalie Breez and Mark Surge rush to Zib, asking if the team is alright. Surge voices his confusion about Stormer's refusal to let Furno fight. Breez reasons that Stormer simply wants to keep Furno safe. Furno disagrees, pointing out that he is positioned directly over the explosives. Surgr asks Zib if Zib can do something about the situation, but Zib assures that Stormer knows what he is doing, though he and Quadal are not completely sure.
Stormer emerges from cover and freezes XPlode's Meteor Blaster solid. XPlode discards the weapon and sword-fights with Stormer. After the Alpha 1 leader disarms him, XPlode uses his Explosive Spikes to create a diversion and retreats, leaving Rotor at the mercy of the Heroes. Stormer summons Furno from the ship, ordering him to cuff the criminal alone as part of Furno's trial, despite Furno feeling uncomfortable in doing this. As the rookie approaches, Rotor floats up just out of reach, taunting him to try to decapitate him with his rotors. Bulk asks Furno if he needs backup, but Furno claims that he can do this alone. Furno jams the criminal's rotor blades with his weapon, felling Rotor, and proceeds to cuff him. Rotor pulls out a concealed pistol-like version of the Meteor Blaster.
Stormer knocks Furno away. Rotor fires at Bulk and Stringer and escapes. Furno becomes irritated with Stormer, claiming he saw the weapon and was handling the situation. Stormer takes the blame for the criminal's escape, telling Furno he should have left him in the Hero Craft, frustrating Furno.
Surge tells Zib that he believes Stormer is too tough on Furno, but Zib gets them to go. Zib has Quadal get down to Weapons Analysis and make sure they are working on new Hero armor based on today's mission data. As Quadal leaves to do his assignment, Mr. Makuro enters and asks for Zib's evaluation of the mission. Zib concurs with Surge and Breez's observations. Makuro reasons that perhaps the reason Stormer treats Furno more harshly is because Stormer realizes Furno's potential. Zib offers another explanation: that Stormer still blames himself for a previous mission that went wrong, saying that the team leader seems determined never to let rookies endanger the mission or themselves again. Makuro states his belief that Furno has the potential to become the leader of Alpha 1 someday, as he remembers witnessing Furno's creation. Makuro hopes that he can overcome the trials he will face.
As the Alpha 1 Team returns to Hero Factory, Stormer advises Furno to replay the mission in the VR training sphere, noting he made eighteen critical errors. Stormer also tells Surge and Breez to do training as well, Surge wants to protest after he and Breez just came back from a couple of hours of doing an action, but Breez quietly convinces him to go along with it. In the training sphere, while Furno is training himself on the mission, he is joined by Surge and Breez, who try to convince him that Stormer is impossible to please. Furno denies it, stating that Stormer demands perfection from every Hero, including himself and that one day, he will earn Stormer's respect.
Later, Stormer finds Breez and Surge, making Surge nervously want to avoid him by asking Breez if there are other rookies in the plaza, but Breez quietly tells him that there are no other rookies and to go along with it. Stormer inquires as to Furno's whereabouts, as the rookie was supposed to be at the Hero Launch at 6 sharp. The three find him in the training sphere, exhausted, and take him to be recharged.
While Furno is getting recharged, this reminds Zib of Stormer training so hard that he became very inactive, like Furno did, while Stormer does not like remembering it. Breez and Surge discuss the feeling of being supercharged for the first time. After Furno is fully charged, he tells Stormer that he was wrong about how many critical errors he made; Furno counted nineteen in the mission replay. Stormer instructs Furno to go to the launch deck and to bring his bike to do a training mission; Breez volunteers herself and Surge to come along, despite Surge's protests. When Surge asks what kind of obstacles, Stormer does not say.
At the Hero Factory's Call Center, Lucy receives an alert from someone from Tyral 9. She then receives an alert from someone from the planetoid Lemus 2, where an explosives plant is under attack. Zib receives the alert as well, and contacts Stormer in his Hero Craft, requesting his team to respond as they are the only one close enough. Stormer is reluctant to go, having only rookies with him. But at Zib's urging, he flies to Lemus 2.
At the plant, XPlode and Rotor carry crates of explosives to their vehicle, bickering. Rotor notices a Hero Pod descending from the sky and shoots it down. Some distance away, Furno lands the Hero Craft and joins Stormer, Surge, and Breez on the ground, noting the decoy's success. The group attacks the two criminals. The pair aim for Stormer, convinced that if he falls, the rookies will be easy to take down. Stormer is hit and falls unconscious. The rookies rush to his side and Breez deduces that the impact of the shot disconnected a vital power unit. Furno tells them to get Stormer to cover and retrieves his bike from the Hero Craft. He races towards XPlode and Rotor, dodging their fire as he goes. As Furno nears, XPlode abandons Rotor once again. Furno leaps off his bike, tackles Rotor and begins fighting him in hand-to-hand combat. XPlode tries to make off with the explosives but Surge's lightning blasts cause him to retreat and fly away on his vehicle.
As Furno continues to wrestle with Rotor, Breez repairs Stormer. Furno defeats Rotor, binding him with Hero cuffs in the process (using the move he was practicing in the training sphere). Furno escorts Rotor to the Drop Ship, prodding the criminal with his weapon as he walks. Stormer gruffly congratulates Furno. Furno then reminds Surge and Breez that XPlode is still at large.
Cast
| Actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| John Schneider | Preston Stormer |
| Eric Christian Olsen | William Furno |
| Stephen Stanton | Jimi Stringer |
| Christopher B. Duncan | Dunkan Bulk |
| Jean Louisa Kelly | Natalie Breez Lucy |
| Bryton James | Mark Surge |
| Joel Swetow | Rotor |
| Jeff Glen Bennett | XPlode Nervous Citizen |
| Henry Winkler | Professor Nathaniel Zib |
| Malcolm McDowell | Mr. Makuro |
| Fred Tatasciore | Frantic Citizen |
Trivia
- Stringer's line "That went down as smooth as a bass riff" is likely referencing his prototype 2010 set name, "Jimi Riff".
See also
- Gallery:Television Episodes - Episode 1: Trials of Furno
- Comic 1: Trials of Furno - based on the episode's script
- Saga Guides/Rise of the Rookies
