| “ | He took out our central core, we don't have any power. We can't really get down to Earth without it, so we're kinda just stuck. Who was that guy anyway? Why'd you grab him?
|
„ |
| ― Burt Curtis |
Free Man is one of the sixteen endings in Completing the Mission.
In this ending, Henry is captured by the Right Hand Man, who is now the leader of the Toppat Clan. Henry manages to escape from captivity by fighting him and putting the orbital station out of action.
This pathway is selected by choosing the "Relentless Bounty Hunter" and "Ghost Inmate" endings.
Plot
Intro: Wakey Wakey
Henry Stickmin wakes up in a cell on board the Toppat Orbital Station. He is greeted by the Right Hand Man, who is now a cyborg and in charge of the Toppat Clan after Henry got Reginald Copperbottom arrested during his mission aboard the Toppat Airship.
Right Hand Man tells Henry how he kidnapped him because of what Henry did to Reginald and himself and mocks him for his predicament. Henry naturally plans an escape. To first escape his handcuffs, Henry has the following options:
- [X] Remote: Henry swings for the remote on the wall and pushes a button with his feet. The button he pushed opens a hatch underneath him, and he suffocates in the depths of space. Message: Hmm... seems there is still an impostor Among Us.[1][2]
- [X] Inner Strength (fail): Henry tries to break out of his cuffs, but they’re too strong for him. Message: You can't break those cuffs.
- [✓] Magic Spell: Henry magically breaks out of his cuffs using a thunder spell.
Now that he is free, Henry has to open the door of the cell. He can use these options:
- [X] Lockpick: Henry attempts to unlock the door with the lockpick, but there is no lock for him to pick. For the first five times this option is selected, nothing happens, and the player is returned to the choice screen. At the sixth Lockpick attempt, the game spawns a lock after becoming increasingly annoyed by the player’s persistence. Henry successfully opens the door, but a Toppat, Holey Cap, immediately holds him at gunpoint, leading to the actual failure. Message: You should've just moved on to something else...[3]
- [X] Melt Ray: Henry aims the gun at the door and fires, but the gun itself melts instead. Message: It melted alright.
- [X] Bomb: Henry triggers the bomb, but soon realizes he has nowhere to take cover from the explosion. The camera cuts outside, where Henry is killed either by the explosion or the vacuum of space. Message: Door's open.[4]
- [✓] Metal Hat: Henry puts on the hat and gains metallic properties. He then slams through the door taking out Holey Cap.[5]
Henry breaks out and runs through the station, with his newfound metallic features reflecting bullets. The transformation wears off when he reaches an Armory. Henry quickly locks himself inside, and as Fredrick Muenster, accompanied with Chuck Wellington and The Bookie, gather around the door, he has to choose which weapon to use to make his getaway:
- [X] Underbarrel Grenade Launcher: Henry grabs one of the AK-47 rifles, fixes the grenade launcher onto it and attempts to blow up the Toppats. The explosion breaks a hole on the hull and depressurization sucks everyone into space. Message: Who brings a grenade launcher onto a space station?!
- [X] Big Sword: Henry attacks The Bookie with the sword and kills him, but the Sword gets stuck in the ground in the process. Henry is unable to lift it, rendering him defenseless against the other Toppats. Message: That's a big boy sword. For big boys only.[6]
- [✓] Pew Pew Gun: Using a retro light gun, Henry proceeds to kill Chuck, The Bookie, Fredrick, and Fred Finestone with ease, and continues his escape.
Henry fights his way to the cafeteria, where the Right Hand Man awaits him. As Henry is about to shoot, the Right Hand Man throws Henry onto the floor and prepares to finish him. Henry can:
- [X] Harden: Henry turns himself to stone, but the Right Hand Man easily shatters him regardless. Message: It's not very effective...
- [X] Sweep the Legs : Henry kicks at the Right Hand Man's legs, but only ends up hurting himself from Right Hand Man's reinforced cybernetic legs. The Right Hand Man then proceeds to beat Henry to a pulp. Message: That's gonna be an 'Ouch' from me, Dawg.
- [✓] Nano-Suit: Henry summons the suit, which forms around his body. He blocks a punch from the Right Hand Man before he breaks through the cafeteria's glass window and flees into space, with the Right Hand Man following close behind.
The Right Hand Man shoots Henry's suit, forcing him to run down one of the station's solar panels. The Right Hand Man is preparing to fire another shot to finish Henry. He can:
- [X] Timeout: If no option is chosen, Henry is killed by Right Hand Man's laser. Message: You don't have time to read the instruction manual for that suit!
- [X] Fire Missiles: Henry activates a missile and fires it at the Right Hand Man, but Henry forgets to disconnect the missile from his suit, causing him to fly with it, much to the Right Hand Man's surprise. The missile makes impact on the Right Hand Man, killing them both. Message: The release mechanism is located near your thumb on the right hand. It’s a small button with a missile symbol on it. All you need to do is hit that to fire off the missile. WARNING: If you do not disconnect the missile, it may activate while still connected to your suit.
- [X] Positron Reflector: Henry activates his refractor and reflects the lasers, but the Right Hand Man proceeds to smash him with his fist. Henry jettisons off to the left, his body bursting into a flame pillar that extends to the right when he gets far enough, similar to when Grigori and Ellie exploded by Henry when he used The KNEE on both of them. Following afterwards, the "GAME" word from the Super Smash Bros. franchise appears on the screen. Message: Unfortunately, it only reflects projectiles.[7]
- [✓] Max Gravity Boots: Henry uses the suit's gravity boots to break through the solar panel, shattering it while temporarily evading the Right Hand Man.
Henry then hides among the debris, as Burt Curtis warns the Right Hand Man about the damage. Henry spots three satellites nearby, as well as a way back to Earth. He can:
- [X] Go to Earth: Henry leaps into the atmosphere, expecting his Nano-Suit to protect him from air friction. This doesn't happen, and Henry is reduced to ashes. Message: Toasty!
- [X] Communications Satellite: Flying towards the Satellite, Henry attempts to use it to destroy the orbital station, but finds out that he used a communication satellite, which sends attack inputs to Burt. He picks up the attack inputs and tells the Right Hand Man in confusion, who soon locates and kills Henry. Message: Next time you want to attack, don't use a communications satellite.
- [X] Laser Satellite: Leaping to the Laser Satellite, Henry attempts to use its laser to attack the space station, but this laser was aimed toward Earth, and the planet is hit by the laser. The Right Hand Man catches up to Henry at the satellite, arms crossed, and presumably kills him afterwards. Message: FRONT [line break] TOWARD ENEMY
- [✓] Drop Pod: Henry leaps to the off-site Drop Pod, enters it and sets it to travel to Earth.
With alarms flaring on the station, Burt warns the Right Hand Man about the fact that Henry has hijacked one of their pods and is about to crash into the Orbital Station. The Right Hand Man attempts to stop Henry's drop pod from taking off, but it plows through him and the station's core before crashing onto Earth. Henry survives and walks away.
The Right Hand Man returns to the unpowered space station, where Burt informs him that without any electricity, the Toppats are effectively stranded in space. Burt then questions the Right Hand Man about the identity of the prisoner and why he was imprisoned in the first place.
Henry is then seen relaxing by the shore of a beach by sitting on a beach chair.
Characters
- Henry Stickmin - Protagonist
- Right Hand Man (Reborn) - Main Antagonist
- Holey Cap
- Fredrick Muenster
- The Bookie
- Chuck Wellington
- Fred Finestone
- Unknown Toppat (Voice)
- Burt Curtis - The Secondary Antagonist
- Captain Hubert Galeforce (Flashback)
- Rupert Price (Flashback)
- Reginald Copperbottom (Flashback)
- Jefferson Smithsonian (Flashback)
- Ellie Rose (Flashback)
Italics indicate they only appear in this pathway.
Trivia
- Out of all the endings in the series, this ending has the least amount of:
- Letters for its name (7)
- Flashback screens (6)
- This ending has the most screens of any CtM ending, with 6 real screens, tied with Toppat King and Special BROvert Ops.
- Of these, Free Man has the most fails, at 15, closely followed by Toppat King at 14 and then Special BROvert Ops at 13.
Music
| Track | Composer/Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🎧 "Not Again" | PuffballsUnited | Opening theme. |
| 🎧 "Metal Hat" | PuffballsUnited | Played during the "Metal Hat" scene. |
| 🎧 "Stranded" | Ockeroid | Ending theme. |
Notes
- ↑ A white Among Us character is seen in this scene, linked to the "Assemble the Crew" medal.
- ↑ This references Among Us, specifically The Skeld's ejection scene where the player is thrown into space.
- ↑ Choosing the Lockpick six times in a row and seeing the actual fail grants the "Lockpick Pro" medal.
- ↑ Possible reference to DOOR STUCK! DOOR STUCK! video
- ↑ The Metal Hat is a reference to the N64 game Super Mario 64, where a power up exists in it that grants the player a "metal" body and invulnerability for a temporary amount of time
- ↑ The Big sword fail is a comedic reference to Cloud's Buster sword from FFVII~
- ↑ The Positron Refractor references the Reflector that Fox McCloud can use when he triggers his Down Special Move.
Gallery
