Spaceship Sabotage and the Elemental Rhino Planet - Episode 345 - A Bedtime Story

0:04 Hello friends from across the nation and around the world. I'm Martin, and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories. And today, we're going to head back into the spaceship universe before getting into a couple other series this week. Now, picking episodes, episode ideas that is, is one of the hardest things I have to do. So I just want all of you to know that you have great suggestions.

0:34 And I listen to every single one, even if I can't pick it. But today, I picked two suggestions because I thought I could make them work together somehow. So let's check them both out. Here's the first one.

0:50 Hi, I'm Hannah. I'm from Westminster, Colorado. And I have a suggestion for the Spaceship series. It's where... you find this really mean girl named Lily, and she used to own a spaceship, but then the spaceship escaped, and that's why he came to you, because you're nice. Thanks. I love your podcast.

1:17 Great suggestion, Hannah. And for anyone out there who's named Lily, I just want you to know that it's just this one Lily who's going to be a bad person. It's not all of you.

1:29 I know there's a lot of you who listen.

1:32 As I said, I figured I could actually combine this with another idea.

1:37 So let's check that one out as well.

1:40 Hi, my name is David from Virginia, and I would like to request a story where you go to this planet, and there's super-powered rhinoceroses.

2:00 Super-powered rhinoceroses, and Lily, who apparently used to own Spaceship. These are all excellent ideas, and I think we can make them happen.

2:15 I really, really do.

2:18 Before we get started, I just want to give a big shout-out to everyone who has bothered to go on my website and check out everything that's available there. I now have all of the links to the books up, though they do lead you to Amazon, of course, to purchase them. We've got the Cards of Power game, which leads you to Game Crafter. And we've had a few purchases this month, and, you know, I appreciate that.

2:45 Thank you. But now.

2:48 I should probably get on with the story. After a possible word from a possible sponsor, unless you're listening.

2:54 On Patreon, of course.

2:57 Close your eyes, get as comfy as you can in that bed, and imagine yourself doing what the kid in the story does. Alert!

3:10 Alert!

3:11 Unidentified portal activation.

3:14 Alert! Alert!

3:15 What?

3:17 What?

3:18 You say as you slowly get up out of bed. You quickly run out to the main part of the spaceship. There's red lights flashing everywhere. The word alert is displayed on the screen.

3:34 Alert!

3:35 Portal activation! What do you mean portal activation?

3:39 You ask.

3:41 Someone is activating my portal. I cannot trace the source, nor can I stop it. a little slit opens in the floor of the ship, and a large circular portal rises up out of it, a portal that you can use to go almost anywhere you've left another portal, of course. It's always been one of the easiest ways to check out other planets, but, well, this particular thing has never happened before. The portal suddenly activates, It fills with a bright blue light that looks kind of like water. And then, someone steps out of it. A teenage girl. Well, well, well, the girl says. If it isn't my old friend, Spaceship. Oh, dear, Spaceship says. You... Know this person?

4:51 You ask.

4:52 Unfortunately, yes. Lily was my first adventurer before I discovered you. Before you discovered me? You had other adventurers? Yes. Did he ever? And, well, I wouldn't get too comfortable because... One day you'll be flying around the galaxy, checking out planets made of cotton candy. And the next thing you know, spaceship here decides that you're not worthy of adventures anymore.

5:36 And just ditches you. Isn't that right, spaceship? That is not exactly my account of things, spaceship says. I would never have left you if you had not become so, well, evil.

5:56 Evil?

5:57 You think I'm evil, do you? Well, let me show you what that looks like. Lily lifts up her left hand, and you see a watch on it that's almost identical to yours. She presses a button. and a little holographic display appears above it. She begins clicking through menus. Warning, system takeover imminent. Warning, system takeover imminent. That's right, spaceship, Lily says. I've had a lot of time to study your systems, and, well... I don't think you're going to be able to stop me. Warning, engine failure. Life system support critical. Have a good crash landing, she says. She presses another series of buttons, and a little pedestal rises up out of the floor. A pedestal containing one of the power crystals that powers the ship. And don't think

7:14 I'll forget this. After all, you'd probably just rebuild your systems if you had the power. She grabs the crystal and walks back over to the portal. Well, kid, have fun. I'll see you sometime in the future. That is, if you survive the crash, of course.

7:41 See ya.

7:43 She jumps back through the portal, carrying the power crystal, and the portal deactivates. Warning, systems critical. Power, reserve, critical. Crash, imminent. Deploying, crash, gel. Activate, spacesuit. Your suit automatically unfolds from your watch, covering your entire body.

8:11 And then.

8:12 Spaceship's cabin starts to fill with some sort of strange jelly. Crash jelly, you ask? Yes, it should help absorb the impact. We are currently headed towards an unknown planet. I have had very little time to scan. Entering atmosphere now. The windows start to glow red. as the ship blasts through the atmosphere. The red light disappears as you plummet through clouds, down towards the surface of the, well, whatever planet it is.

8:57 The ship continues to fill with the strange jelly-like substance, and suddenly, you feel a strange crash. You jolt forward, but Somehow, you're sort of slowed down by the weird jelly substance. There's explosions as the ship tears apart, and before long, you find it motionless. The jelly drains from around you, and you land on the floor of the ship.

9:35 You look around and see... Multiple parts of the thing ripped open to the outside. Huge gouges torn off of the sides and the roof of the ship. Spaceship's control panel is mangled and broken. Limited power remains. Searching for... power crystal power crystal required to run repairs spaceship says located transferring Now. Spaceship goes completely dead. At the same time, your watch receives a ping. You look down at it and it's displaying a map. A map with your location and the location of something else. Obviously it must be a power crystal. Who was that girl who Well, caused all of this damage. Did Spaceship really have another friend before you? And did she really turn evil, as Spaceship said?

11:02 She certainly didn't seem very nice. Well, I guess I better get on finding that power crystal. You crawl out through one of the cracks in the side of the ship. And you find yourself on, well, a green and blue Earth-like planet. Surrounded by grass and trees and vegetation of all different kinds. And rhinos. Everywhere you look, there are rhinos of different kinds. Great, I'm on a rhino planet.

11:49 Probably safest to fly above, you decide. You jump up in the air, activating your flight systems. But with a little pop, they seem to malfunction. You fall to the ground. You stand up and try again. Another spark instead of any kind of flight. Warning, systems malfunction. Auto repair initiated, a voice says. One very much likes spaceships, but without the same life behind it. There's just something empty about the voice. I guess I'm gonna have to walk, you say.

12:43 You look down at the map. and see that it's pinging a location in a distant mountain. Likely a volcano if you know anything about power crystals and exactly where they spawn. There's only, well, hundreds of rhinos between you and the mountain, so as long as they're friendly rhinos, things should be absolutely okay. You start to make your way across the grass toward the mountains, one foot at a time, wearing your broken space suit. The other systems might work, but, well, flight is currently disabled. And that's when one of the rhinos notices you. He looks towards you.

13:37 slams his foot into the ground as if he's getting ready to charge, and then he seems to become surrounded by electricity. He flies forward in a bolt of electricity as if he's turned into a lightning bolt and appears directly in front of you. What are you doing here? The rhino asks. You stick your hands up in the air.

14:09 Nothing, nothing.

14:10 I just, my spaceship crashed over there and I have to find a power crystal.

14:16 You explain. Is that right? Well, need any help? The rhino asks. Uh, yeah, I mean, maybe.

14:29 I have to get all the way to that mountain in the distance and find a power crystal.

14:36 That mountain, huh?

14:38 Hmm. That mountain isn't really an easy mountain. It's guarded by a lava monster. For some reason, you're not entirely surprised. After all, most power crystals you've tried to find in the past were also guarded by lava monsters. There's just something about the environment that grows crystals that also attracts lava monsters. Are you equipped to fight a lava monster?

15:12 You don't look that strong, honestly, the rhino says. You lift up one of your arms and try to activate a laser or a freeze ray or something. But again, your suit just sparks. Weapon systems deactivated. Repair in progress.

15:36 Great.

15:37 The crash must have damaged more than just your flight systems.

15:43 Uh, no.

15:45 I don't think I'm prepared to take on a lava monster. Any chance you're prepared to take on a lava monster?

15:53 You ask? Well.

15:57 Not by myself, but if we find the right team of elemental rhinos, we may be able to do it. Did you say, uh, elemental rhinos? As in rhinos with different elemental powers?

16:17 That's right.

16:19 I am a lightning rhino. They call me Thunderbolt. Well, that's pretty right on the nose, you say? Nice to meet you, Thunderbolt. If you wouldn't mind accompanying me and maybe finding other elemental rhinos to help me get the power crystal, that would be appreciated.

16:45 Very good, then.

16:46 Here, climb on, the rhino says, lowering its front legs down to the ground and inviting you to jump onto his back. You've never ridden a rhino before. At least I'm pretty sure you would have never ridden a rhino before. You climb on top of the rhinoceros. He once again stands up, stomps his front foot into the ground, and then he starts to glow with electricity. The electricity surrounds your body, and in a flash, you're blasting through the world, faster than you can even really pay attention to what's going on. Suddenly, you stop in a different area, surrounded by more rhinos.

17:45 Hey, everyone.

17:48 Long story short... I found this strange-looking metal creature crashed on our planet. It turns out he needs our help. The other rhinos perk up their ears and walk over to hear Thunderbolt talk and explain the situation. We're gonna need to go to Lava Mountain and find one of those crystals that grows there. You all know what that means.

18:24 They all slowly nod their heads.

18:27 Lava monster.

18:29 Now, I'm gonna need a team of rhinos. Preferably at least one of every element we have here. Together, we'll head to the lava mountain, take on the lava creature... and get this strange metal guy his power crystal. Um, I have a question, one of the rhinoceroses says. Why are we helping the metal guy?

19:03 Well, we're helping the metal guy because.

19:06 He needs help. Um, yeah, sure, but how do we know helping him's a good idea? What if he's evil?

19:15 He doesn't seem evil to me.

19:18 And I also don't think we should be assuming he's a he. After all, it's just a strange kid in a suit. Maybe we should call it Metal Kid instead. It seems more appropriate. Yeah, okay. Why are we helping the Metal Kid? The rhinoceros asks again. If I can jump in, you say. I kind of crash landed on this planet. My ship is the one over there that's smoking in the distance. They all look over to see your very broken spaceship. The ship itself is kind of one of my best friends. And I need to help him.

20:12 If we don't get a power crystal, we won't be able to repair the ship and leave the planet.

20:20 Eh.

20:21 Yeah, okay.

20:23 Eh. Kid seems alright.

20:25 The other rhinoceros agrees. I'll join.

20:30 With a little puff of wind, the rhinoceros flies up into the air and lands beside Thunderbolt. I'm in too, a giant earth rhino says. Instead of walking, the earth itself lifts the rhino up and moves it over beside you, before flattening out perfectly once more. I guess I could accompany you as well, says a rhinoceros that's clearly some type of nature rhinoceros. Vines grow out of the rhino's back.

21:14 They slam into the ground and lift the rhinoceros up into the air, planting it over beside you guys. Well, I guess I could help too, says one last rhino. Before it lights up with, well, fire, it shoots up into the air, and lands beside you. Alright, this is a pretty good team, though we could use a water type too, Thunderbolt says, staring down a couple of rhinos who were standing off to the side.

22:00 Betsy, what do you think?

22:05 Oh, fine, Betsy says, Water suddenly appears out of thin air, swoops down underneath the rhino, and pushes it over on a wave to join the others.

22:22 Alright team, let's go. Uh, Hurricane?

22:28 Any chance you'd give us a bit of a lift? We're running out of time here and we gotta get to that mountain.

22:35 Oh, fine.

22:36 The Air Rhino says. Immediately, wind starts to swirl around you and the other rhinos, and you lift up off of the ground, still sitting atop Thunderbolt, of course. The wind lifts you higher and higher into the sky, as if you're riding on a cloud. Soon, You find yourself surrounded by a whole bunch of elemental rhinos traveling over top of the mountains from the elemental rhino world. Slowly, the mountains start to get larger and hotter. You see a gigantic volcano in the distance. You check your map, and sure enough, It's the exact one you must be looking for. You continue to drift along until you come to the top of the huge volcano opening. Slowly, Hurricane allows you to drift down to the ground. You land

23:52 on the top of the volcano, staring down into a huge crevice, which obviously is full of a giant pool of lava. At the center of that pool of lava sits a very impressive looking power crystal. There it is, you say, looking down at it.

24:19 You heard the kid. Let's get that crystal.

24:24 Hurricane once again causes the wind to surround you and the other rhinos You lift up over top of the volcano and slowly lower yourselves down into it. The heat is intense, but luckily your cooling system still seemed to work. And that, of course, is when the lava starts to stir and a gigantic creature made entirely out of lava pops its head up. It makes a strange growling sound.

25:04 Then it begins throwing pieces of lava in all different directions. Some of the rhinos scatter. The fire-based one lights up and blasts off around the thing, immediately pummeling it with, well, fireballs. Hurricane sweeps the rest of you down onto a little island of solid ground surrounded by lava. On my count, attack, Thunderbolt says.

25:39 Now, go!

25:42 Immediately, a blast of lightning leaves the horn of the lightning rhino. It shoots directly into the lava monster. and the lava monster screams. The water rhino opens its mouth and blasts the creature with something that looks like freeze power. Its arm instantly solidifies into obsidian, before eventually heating up again to, well, lava. The nature rhino stomps on the ground, Drawing forth vines from all different directions, they start to wrap themselves around the lava monster, though they pretty quickly burn apart. It's not a particularly useful power for fighting a lava monster, it seems. Neither is the fire, really.

26:42 The main thing that seems to be making a dent is the, well, water rhino. with its freezing powers. I wonder if my transmorphophizer works. We could use more of that power. You point the watch at the rhino, press a button, and it scans the thing. DNA acquired. Would you like to transform? You select yes, and your body instantly starts.

27:16 To feel less.

27:18 Well, solid. Your spacesuit folds back into the watch and your body begins to grow. You become larger and larger. Your arms transform into, well, rhino legs. And you find yourself staring from a very different perspective. You suddenly feel very powerful. and you have a sense for something else as well. Inside your body, you feel a core, a core that can connect with the water around you and seems to produce a very cold sensation. You gather energy into your core as you have many times before when you've transformed into various other things. Honestly, it feels most like it did when you became an ice dragon. You open your mouth and unleash the power directly at the lava monster's legs. You trace up the leg as it

28:36 instantly transforms into obsidian. Seeing what you're attempting to do, the other water and ice rhino hits the other leg. The two of you continue to blast the lava creature, moving up its body through its torso, across its arms, and over top of its head. Now, Thunderbolt, you say in a voice that you barely recognize. Thunderbolt says, Realizing what you're asking for unleashes a blast of lightning straight at the now stone creature. The lightning hits it in the center, the stone breaks apart, and the pieces fall back down into the lava. It's not clear that you've fully defeated the creature forever, As the pieces melt and start to bunch back together into a glob of water, lava.

29:41 I say we.

29:43 Get the crystal and get out of here, you suggest. You press the button on your watch using your nose, and once again you transform. Only this time, you turn back into a human. There's intense heat until your spacesuit folds out across your body again. You run over to the power crystal, pull it out of the stone, and look over at the others.

30:14 Hurricane, now!

30:17 Wind surrounds you once again, and you and the other rhinos rise up out of the volcano again. You fly back across the mountains, across the fields, and land gently beside your ship.

30:36 So, what now, metal kid? The rhino says.

30:41 Ah, now I place this back in its place and hopefully spaceship can do the rest. You crawl back through a hole in the ship. You find the pedestal still sticking out of the ground, and you place the crystal inside it. Something latches on to the crystal. Power surges through the ship. Spaceship's command center activates once again. Systems activated.

31:18 Thank you, power restored. I have gained access to my systems once again. Repair sequence initiated. Little slits in the side of the ship open up and little robot drones make their way out. They begin welding and repairing panels while a 3D printer in the back of the ship activates and starts printing new pieces. Estimated time of completion tomorrow morning. I recommend you get some sleep. You decide to head out and hang out with the rhinos a little bit longer. You use the transmorphophyser to try out some of the other rhino powers and you spend most of the rest of the afternoon as a wind rhino.

32:21 using the currents of the wind to lift you up into the air and fly almost anywhere you want to go. As the sun sets, the rhinos lay down in the grass. Something about being a rhino makes it seem like a very comfortable way to sleep. So, you curl up with the others, lay down in the grass... And close your eyes.

32:54 With each breath. Your mind begins to drift away. Your muscles relax. And you just feel the open air around you. Before long. You find yourself drifting off.

33:16 To sleep.

33:19 Good night everyone.

33:38 Thank you. Thank you.

35:13 Thank you. Thank you.

37:51 Thank you.

38:47 Thank you.

39:20 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Thank you. Thank you.

45:01 Thank you. Thank you.

47:17 Thank you.

47:52 Thank you. Thank you.

49:27 You Thank you.

51:26 Thank you. Thank you.

55:40 Thank you.

56:34 Thank you.

58:33 Thank you.

59:15 Thank you.