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DD II Shrine

Superhighway Warriors
Episode written by Rich Mueller

     The episode opens at night in Metro City.  A lone scientist is working in some laboratory when a couple of masked thugs break in and begin ransacking the place.  The Lee brothers pull up in their Dragon Cruiser and announce over their loudspeaker that they're special deputies and that the muggers are under arrest.  However, the criminals attempt to run away and the Dragons are forced to pursue them on foot through the streets.
     The Dragons quickly catch up to the criminals, surrounding them on both sides.  Billy offers them to chance to give up without the need for violence.  However, they quickly reject Billy's offer and attack only to get their butts kicked.  Marian then arrives in a squad car and apprehends the thugs.
     The Dragons then check on the scientist through the window the criminals broke.  The scientist is named Dr. Bright and he's a neurobiologist.  While he thanks the Dragons for helping him, he seems a bit preoccupied with something on his computer.  He then says that he has to deliver a paper to the Academy of Science in the morning.  As the Dragons begin to leave Dr. Bright to his work, the Shadow Master appears on his screen wearing a helmet similar to the one from a prior episode, Virtual Reality Bytes.  The Shadow Master then laughs as some sort of energy beam flies out of the computer and hits the doctor in the head.  The energy beam then appears to rip the doctor out of his own body and pull him into the computer, except the doctor's actual body is still in the laboratory.  The Dragons run over to check on the doctor, but he appears lifeless.
     Inside the computer, the Shadow Master is talking to Ice Pick, asking "did you get him?"  Ice Pick confirms that he got the doctor.  We then see the doctor being placed on a beehive-like wall where several people have been stuck inside the individual hives.  The doctor is unable to move as he's stuck to his hive, but he's able to speak.  He asks what the Shadow Master is doing to him as Shadow Master's helmet appears to be using an energy beam to connect to the doctor's brain.  The Shadow Master then confirms that he's absorbing people's minds to become the smartest person alive.  The doctor then blacks out and Ice Pick asks who's next.  The Shadow Master says someone with a different expertise; someone he knows.
     Back at the Dragon Dojo, Chop and Kona are talking about some secret jet Kona thinks he saw while he was on a retreat.  Chop is attempting to look it up on a computer, but the brothers walk in and tell them there's something more important to worry about.  They just saw Dr. Bright getting sucked into his computer.  Chop doesn't sound too surprised and says it's just like the others.  Kona doesn't understand, so Billy explains that several important people such as scholars, generals and even martial artists have recently been found at their computers alive but comatose.  When Kona hears about martial arts masters being captured, he becomes worried.  He then calls his Chi Master, Su Lien, to inquire about her safety.  However, she says there is nothing to worry about.
     As Su Lien gets up to walk away from her computer, the Shadow Master appears on the screen and rips her mind out of her body the same way he did to Dr. Bright.  Su Lien is then placed in her own section of the beehive-like wall while the Shadow Master welcomes her to his brain bank.  He calls her mind interesting, but says he'll come back for it later.
     As the Shadow Master walks around admiring his brain bank, he asks who can stop him.  Ice Pick suggests either the Shadow Khan or the Double Dragons, but the Shadow Master calls Khan an ancient scam artist and dismisses the Double Dragons as incapable.  He then shows Ice Pick something he learned from Su Lien.  As the Shadow Master's eyes glow, Ice Pick's left hand turns into what looks like a bird's talons.  However, it quickly changes back as Ice Pick weeps in fear and the Shadow Master laughs.
     Ice Pick asks if they should attack the Double Dragons, but Shadow Master says not yet.  First, he wants the plans for the military's new top secret jet (the one Kona was talking about).  He tells Ice Pick to get it.  We then see Su Lien struggling on the wall.
     Back at the Dragon Dojo, Chop is working on some new helicopter design when he gets static on his screen.  He quickly realizes that the static is Morse code.  He tells the Dragons to come to see.  Chop then deciphers the message.  It's from Su Lien.  She says the Shadow Master is holding her captive and she also says something about a Shadow Ship and the Information Superhighway.  Billy says they need Megabyte, and Kona says they also need Sashiko.
     We then see Megabyte at a computer terminal as the brothers, Kona, and Sashiko put on virtual reality helmets and lay down on some flat couches.  Chop oversees Megabyte, who is connecting the Dragons and Sashiko to the Information Superhighway.
     From inside the Information Superhighway, the Dragons and Sashiko spot the Shadow Master's ship fortress.  Ice Pick is about to retrieve the plans for the military's secret jet when the Shadow Master notes that the Dragons have already arrived.  He tells Ice Pick to attack.  Energy beams then fly out of the ship and attack the Dragons and Sashiko, but they either dodge or dispel the beams using weapon attacks.  The Shadow Master then dispatches Shadow Warriors, but they're purely digital and look like blocky video game characters.  The Dragons and Sashiko quickly smash the digital Shadow Warriors to pieces.  As the brothers are about to transform, Jimmy gets hit by an energy beam, which paralyzes him.  The beam then pulls Jimmy into the ship and sticks him in a hive on the wall.
     The Shadow Master then starts entering Jimmy's mind through his energy beam, causing Billy to feel the same.  As Billy, Kona and Sashiko begin to head toward the Shadow Master's ship, the Shadow Master tells Ice Pick to input Jimmy's knowledge into the Shadow Warriors so they'll predict Billy's every move.
     Billy then unsuccessfully attempts to fend off a new batch of Shadow Warriors only to be tossed into a spiraling vortex.  However, Sashiko manages to pull Billy out.  Billy says the Shadow Warriors seems to know his every move, to which Sashiko replies, "Moves your brother also knows?"  Billy wises up.
     Billy tells Kona and Sashiko to break through the hull of the ship while he takes care of the Shadow Warriors.  Billy then dispatches the Shadow Warriors with a brand new move, and Sashiko opens a hole in the ship's hull.  However, the Shadow Master manages to surprise the three by shooting energy beams out of the wall behind them and attaching the beams to their heads.  The beams then pull the three onto the beehive-like wall.
     Back in the real world, Chop says that if only the Shadow Master were in the real world, he'd take care of him with his new helicopter.  When Megabyte asks if the designs are in the computer, Chop says yes, and Megabyte says the computer can build the helicopter inside cyberspace.  Megabyte inputs the Shadow Master's coordinates and the helicopter appears.  Billy recognizes Chop's helicopter and tries to break free from the wall as it begins attacking the Shadow Master's ship.  The Shadow Master then tries to counterattack only to have the helicopter reflect his attack back onto him, knocking him clear out of the ship.  Kona quickly tosses Ice Pick out of the ship as well. 
     As Kona and Sashiko try to work on freeing Jimmy via the Shadow Master's computer terminal, the Shadow Master flies back in and zaps Kona, Billy and Sashiko.  He tells Ice Pick to get his secret jet from the military.  Jimmy then breaks free from the wall while the Shadow Master is distracted, and he and Jimmy transform into the Double Dragons.  As the Double Dragons exchange blasts with the Shadow Master, Ice Pick summons the military jet, and he and the Shadow Master jump inside.  Unfortunately for the Shadow Master, Ice Pick says he barely read the manual.
     The Dragons then board their helicopter while Sashiko goes to work on the Shadow Master's computer.  The Shadow Master and the Dragons engage in a dogfight, but the Dragon helicopter splits into three separate parts and blasts the Shadow jet.  Ice Pick falls from the explosion, disintegrating his virtual reality self.  However, the Shadow Master takes off on some sort of escape hover bike and flies into his ship where he attempts to blast Sashiko with his Scythe weapon.  Kona then intervenes and takes the blast for Sashiko, but the Double Dragons step in and blast the Shadow Master.  The Shadow Master then says that he is going to destroy the brain bank, leaving all the connected minds to float around in cyberspace.
     However, Sashiko has made headway into the Shadow Master's terminal, and she takes away his special helmet, freeing all of the trapped minds.  As she departs, Su Lien tells Kona that she likes Sashiko.  Kona and Sashiko appear to balance each other.  Each mind then returns to its respective body, and we see everyone back at the computer terminal with Chop and Megabyte.  Sashiko then teases Kona about what Su Lien said, and Kona blushes as he becomes nervous and tries to explain it in a way that doesn't imply them dating.  Sashiko laughs and tells Kona she'll explain it to him over dinner.
     Epilogue Message: Billy and Jimmy are standing over Megabyte, who is sitting busy at a computer terminal.  Billy says that everything is computers these days, but if you don't have one, try your school or your local library.

     Dojo Master's review: This episode is pretty bland.  The virtual reality theme had already been done before at least twice.  There was no need to revisit it.  This episode pretty much added nothing to the concept of "cyberspace" that wasn't already developed in "Virtual Reality Bytes."  Also, Su Lien was supposed to be all powerful in cyberspace according to the "Mistress of Chi" episode from the first season.  So why did that get thrown out the window suddenly?
     The whole episode just feels like a half-hearted attempt to fill in the requirements for a certain number of episodes for the second season.  That's a shame since there were so many other things the writers could have done instead.

Rating: C