Ace Lightning

Episode 1

Upgrades

Fri, Sep 3, 2004

Mark returns home from England, discovering Samantha is attending a boarding school, while Ace and Sparx plan to return to the Sixth Dimension with Random Virus. However, Lady Illusion interferes when Mark tries to send the heroes back to the game, causing Ace and Sparx to be sent home. The mysterious Master Programmer summons Lord Fear and Staff Head back to the real world. Mark and Chuck begin their first day in high school, meeting new girl Kat Adams, and discover Mr. Cheeseborough is their homeroom teacher. Lady Illusion returns to Lord Fear's side, promising to find the pieces of the Amulet to redeem herself, revealing has disguised herself as Felicity Fury, the new housekeeper of Mark's family. Lord Fear uses two pieces of the Amulet to summon the zombie Rotgut.

Episode 2

The Game's On

Fri, Sep 10, 2004

Ace sends an SOS to Mark, which is picked up as Morse code, Chuck deciphering it with help from Mr. Cheeseborough, realising the truth about Mark's game. Mark attends Kat's basketball match at school, giving Chuck his piece of the Amulet. Chuck finds a microchip inside, which has recorded events of the first season. An electrical surge frees Ace from the game, and he appoints Chuck his second sidekick. Lord Fear summons Anvil using more stolen Amulet pieces, continuing his battle with Ace. They take the battle to the school, where Mark helps defeat the villains. Kat wins the game.

Episode 3

Uninvited Guest

Mark invites Kat to watch movies at his house, but Heather insights an unwanted house party, getting Mark in trouble with his parents. He also realises that Felicity is Lady Illusion. Lord Fear summons Dirty Rat back into his service, and then lures Chuck into a trap, but Ace comes to his rescue, using his new Ring of Flame upgrade to defeat Anvil. Throughout the episode, Kilobyte the Cyber Stalker, activated by the Master Programmer, watches the other characters from the shadows, plotting to destroy Ace.

Episode 4

A Secret Life

Tue, Oct 12, 2004

Kilobyte reveals himself to Lord Fear, overthrowing him and taking over the carnival. He upgrades Lady Illusion, giving her the ability to inject Ace with human emotions. Ace soon becomes emotionally unstable, going on a rampage against the villains, rejecting Random and wounding Chuck. Kilobyte plots to let Ace's emotions destroy him.

Episode 5

Welcome to the Nightmare

Ace encounters Kilobyte for the first time and is terrified of him. Mark and his classmates go to a friendship farm, where Mark's past relationship with Samantha is revealed to Kat, and she gives Mark the cold shoulder. Ace hides on the farm, while Mark tries to make amends with Kat. Kilobyte, Dirty Rat, Rotgut, and Duff arrive, Kilobyte stinging a wasp with his power, causing it to grow and mutate, naming it Fred. Kilobyte and Fred then battle Ace, while Mark rescues Kat from a malfunctioning quadbike, and they make up.

Episode 6

The Search for Sparx

Ace and Mark are taken captive by Kilobyte and held prisoner in the junkyard. Random's evil side joins forces with Kilobyte, but is troubled by Ace's cowardice. Chuck makes contact with Sparx, but the Master Programmer causes him to be sucked into the game. Mark's cousin Ashley helps Chuck by guiding him through the game, leading him and Sparx to the game's backdoor via a cheat code. Mark inspires Ace to stand up to his fears, battling Kilobyte, in turn inspiring Random to rejoin the Lightning Knights. Chuck and Sparx escape the game and help defeat Kilobyte, who is revealed to be vulnerable to bright lights.

Episode 7

Bound to Fail

Tue, Nov 2, 2004

Lord Fear once again kidnaps Mr. Cheeseborough, convincing him that Ace is an evil alien and requires the teachers scientific knowledge to be defeated. Kilobyte awards Lord Fear by creating the Doom Wagon, a hoverbike. Cheseborough creates a formula which can drain Ace of his electrical energy, but Mark catches him in the act. Lord Fear chases Mark during his driving test, leading to his failure.

Episode 8

Formula for Disaster

Mark has a bad day at school. He goes behind Chuck's back to eliminate Rotgut when he wanders into the school, destroying Mr. Cheeseborough's lab. Mark hides just as both Wayne and Mr. Cheeseborough enter, and Wayne is blamed. Kat plans to write a damning article on Wayne for the school newspaper, but Mark takes responsibility, instead penning a more heartfelt one. Mark admits his blame to Mr. Cheeseborough, encouraging him to end his deal with Lord Fear, and will protect him from harm. Meanwhile, Ace's increasing paranoia about Kilobyte worries Sparx. Confronting him, Sparx hears Ace's theory that Kilobyte is controlled by someone else. Kilobyte obtain another piece of the Amulet, summoning Pigface, but the Lightning Knights defeat him.

Episode 9

Choices

Samantha returns to Conestoga Hills for a visit and to tell Mark some important news, but keeps getting interrupted. Mark himself must choose between Samantha and Kat, choosing the latter when Samantha reveals she is dating someone else. Lady Illusion flees the carnival when Lord Fear tries to murder her, turning to Ace for help, but the villains kidnap him and Sparx. Lady Illusion warns Mark, who frees them, but in the following battle, loses the sixth piece of the Amulet, which Lady Illusion steals and gives to Lord Fear, summoning Googler.

Episode 10

Rotgut Rides Again

Mark grows jealous of Chuck's favouritism in the Lightning Knights, allowing him to be stalked by Rotgut, who possesses Chuck's body. Sparx and then Ace are hurt by Googler's new powers and face oblivion, their own salvation being an invulnerability upgrade offered by Chuck. The brainwashed Chuck arrives at Mark's house, hanging out with a Texan accountant hoping to hire Mark's father Simon. Mark has to protect his friends from the villains, but Chuck is freed from Rotgut's control, rescuing Ace and Sparx. Kat begins to investigate the strange events surrounding the carnival.

Episode 11

Putting It Together

Mark and Chuck investigate an encrypted database on Kilobyte, discovering his origins and confirming Ace's theory that he is a puppet for someone else. The boys stumble into the back room of the computer store Chuck works at, discovering a mainframe containing the world of Mark's game, and realise that Chuck's employer, Rick Hummel, created Ace Lightning. Rick appears, explaining he developed a computer program that could bring the game characters to life, but was mocked and fired, inspiring him to take on the role of the Master Programmer. He inserts a floppy disk containing Kilobyte's last orders, but a power cut causes Kilobyte to become free of Rick's control, vowing to conquer the world.

Episode 12

Kilobyte Bites Back

Kilobyte begins his plans for world domination, defeating Random, and then targets Rick and Mr. Cheeseborough for elimination. Rick turns to Chuck and Jessica to delete Kilobyte, but the villains invade the school to stop them. Mark is shanghaied into helping protect Mr. Cheeseborough, whilst trying to stop Kat from writing an article about the carnival. While Rick escapes, Mr. Cheeseborough is captured and trapped within the game.

Episode 13

The Master Plan

Kat connects Ace Lightning to the carnival, but when she tries to interrogate Duff, she is captured alongside Sparx and Random. Kilobyte announces his plans to rule the world by trapping all of humanity within the game, along with the Lightning Knights. He traps Rick in the game too. Lord Fear has his own hidden agenda, forming an alliance with Ace to destroy Kilobyte. Ace discovers he is from a video game, but Mark convinces him that he is real. Ace and Lord Fear systematically defeat the other villains. Chuck frees Mr. Cheeseborough from the game, but Rick remains trapped when Kilobyte restores the Amulet. Ace and Lord Fear defeat Kilobyte, blasting him into the game. Lord Fear then betrays and mortally wounds Ace, who is revealed as Lady Illusion in disguise. Ace chases away Lord Fear, and Lady Illusion dies in his arms. Mr. Cheeseborough is condemned a madman by the police. In the closing scene, Kilobyte orders Rick to free him so he can get revenge.