Rapidly Promoted Executive

General Information
Game
Path to accomplish	Cannon Ball → Chair → Eject → Beans → Rocket Jump → Dirk + Tools/Yo-Yo + Goods → Glider → Dummies
Deaths	Right Hand Man (Later Revived)
Music played	"Brainbite"
Sides
Allied With	Toppat Clan Reginald Copperbottom
Antagonists	Government Right Hand Man Charles Calvin

“	Listen, listen. You've defeated my Right Hand Man, and you've defeated me. I surrender the airship to you.	„
	― Reginald Copperbottom

Rapidly Promoted Executive is one of the four different endings to Infiltrating the Airship.

After being captured by Captain Hubert Galeforce with the task of taking down the Toppat Clan for his pardon, Henry chases down the ringleader of the Toppat Clan, Reginald Copperbottom, while dealing with trouble from his Right Hand Man and the Toppats.

He sticks to the plan, but in the end Reginald offers him leadership of the Toppat Clan. Henry betrays the Government and becomes the new Leader of the Toppat Clan.

Its auxiliary ending is "Relentless Bounty Hunter", sharing one single pathway up until the final choice screen.

Plot

The pathway is kicked off by Henry Stickmin choosing to go after Reginald Copperbottom with help of the Cannon Ball.

Charles Calvin launches Henry inside the Cannon Ball towards the cockpit of the Airship. When the ball crashes into the cockpit, it completely knocks out Thomas Chestershire and Oldmin. Reginald runs away while the Right Hand Man tries to hold Henry off.

• [X] Laser - Henry fires a laser toward the Right Hand Man, but the force of the laser knocks him off of the airship. (Message: Newton's third law: one force is actually two forces, and they, uh, are the same but they're also different.) Yeahh...something like that.
• [X] Thruster - Henry tries to use 2 thrusters on the ball, but the Right Hand Man shoots one of them and the ball goes out of control, tossing Henry into a wall. (Message: Yunno, I really expected you to go faster with those thrusters.)
• Chair - Henry uses a motorized chair to chase Reginald, and busts the door after the Right Hand Man moves out of the way.

Henry enters the warehouse behind the cockpit, as the Right Hand Man raises the alarm. A crane operator, Herb Stokes, loading large pieces of coal, sees Henry and prepares to crush him with the coal.

• [X] Timeout - If no option is chosen, Henry doesn't notice the giant piece of coal that falls on him, crushing and possibly killing him. (Message: Whoa! That thing was COAL-ossal!)
• [X] Spikes - Henry has the ball turn into a giant spike ball, and the spikes cause the ball to stop. However, the spikes fail to offer any protection against the coal, and Henry and the ball are crushed. (Message: I see you went with a defensive move. Good choice.)
• [X] Boost - Henry uses boosters on the ball to get past the coal, but hits a ramp near the door, knocking him out or killing him. (Message: Gotta go fast! (oh by the way there's a ramp to the door.))
• Eject - Henry ejects from the ball just before it is crushed, and knocks down a door.

Henry continues the chase on foot down a hallway. Reginald tries to lose him by remotely shutting down the doors.

• [X] Timeout - If no option is chosen, Henry slams into a door while running. (Message: Ok, Ok! No more quick time events. (How's your head, by the way?))
• [X] Metal Fist - Henry tries to destroy the door using metal fists, but he manages to only dent the door with the fist, while Henry himself groans in pain. (Message: I think it would've been cooler if you turned into a rhino. (Rhinos are difficult to draw [unused in the remastered version]).)
• [X] Warp - Henry warps past the doors, but his mind cannot handle the effects of being warped. He successfully gets to the Clan Leader, but falls to the ground, frozen. (Message: Some are not mentally prepared enough for alternate dimensions.)
• Beans - Henry eats a can of beans and farts, which gives him the momentum he needs to make it past the door in time.

However Henry goes so fast he breaks through a walkway and falls to the brig below, to the shock of Dave Panpa, while above him Reginald tries without success to open a door. Henry has to get back up to him.

• [X] Metal Bend - Henry tries to metal bend a piece of metal on the ground to lift him up, but instead ends up bending the ship engines' joints, causing them to lose power, and the ship crashes as a result. (Message: “You're a bender, Harry.” —Gandalf)
• [X] Robo Pants - Henry tries to wear a pair of mechanical trousers and walks up the wall with them, but once he gets up to the roof he falls. (Message: You forgot to wear the harness didn't you?)
• Rocket Jump - Henry uses a Rocket Launcher to get up to the platform via "Rocket Jump." This is oddly successful.

Reginald opens the door just in time and the chase continues. In the next room, the Right Hand Man catches up to them again and Henry has to fight him. There are two options. Both activate a minigame with four options on its own:

Option 1: Dirk - This option opens up a Final Fantasy-style screen. Henry has 495 health. From here, there are 4 available options.

• [X] Fight - Henry attacks the Right Hand Man, dealing a small amount damage to him. He then bombs and kills Henry. (Message: Out of all those options you chose Fight? How boring.)
• [X] Blitz - Henry uses Suplex and removes 645 health from the Right Hand Man successfully, but is killed by the Right Hand Man with a chain gun, taking 1337 damage. (Message: I thought for sure that would've done it.)
• [X] Magic - Henry calls for magic for one turn. The Right Hand Man casts Reflect on himself. Henry then casts fire on him, which was reflected back at Henry, killing him. (Message: Gee, that.. BackFIREd. (10/10 jokes here folks))
• Tools - Henry dons a white hockey mask and defeats the Right Hand Man with a chainsaw.

Option 2: Yo-Yo - This opens up an EarthBound-style game screen. Henry has 495 health and 98 PP. From here, there's also 4 available options.

• [X] Bash - Henry strikes the Right Hand Man with a Yo-Yo, dealing small damage, but Right Hand Man creates a shockwave that kills Henry. (Message: What did you expect hitting him with a yo-yo would do?)
• [X] PSI - Henry uses PSI Flash which makes the Right Hand Man start crying, but causes the Right Hand Man to fire a machine gun at him, killing Henry. (Message: I’d be crying if you flashed me too.)
• [X] Defend - Henry defends himself, but the Right Hand Man violently lashes out at Henry, killing him. (Message: “The best offense is a good defense.” -Somebody Unsuccessful)
• Goods - Henry fires a Multi-Bottle rocket and defeats the Right Hand Man.

Henry, after defeating the Right Hand Man, walks into a room with a massive gap in front of him (how Reginald crossed this gap is not shown).

• [X] Jet Boots - Henry uses Jet Boots to get across, but the boots are too heavy, causing him to stop mid-flight and fall into the gap. (Message: JetBoots production notes: find lighter material to construct boots out of)
• [X] Beef Up - Henry swallows some Beef Up, and his legs gain considerable strength, but they later explode from possible pressure. (Message: BeefUp! See results in up to eight seconds!)
• Glider - Henry gets across the gap using a Glider, and proceeds to chase the Clan Leader.

Reginald runs into the cargo hold of the airship, but Henry tackles him, holding him by his necklace. With the Government helicopter outside, Henry opens the bay doors in preparation to hand him over to the Government, but Reg informs Henry that since he had defeated him, the airship is now his. Captain Galeforce calls out to Henry from the helicopter, urging him to get Reginald to their hands and complete the mission.

Now Henry has to choose between taking the offer or continuing his mission. There are four choices, two for each path Henry can take from there.

See Relentless Bounty Hunter if Henry does not accept the offer.

If Henry decides to accept the offer, he can use:

• [X] Missile - Henry fires a missile towards the helicopter but misses. Galeforce orders Charles to fire upon Henry. He does so, and causes the airship to fall. (Message: On second thought that might not have been such a good idea..)
• Dummies: Reginald and Henry throw dummies of themselves overboard, and both dummies hit the ground hard.

Thinking that the two men jumped from the Airship, Charles and Galeforce pilot the helicopter to the ground and inspect the scene. Charles is concerned about the fact that the two had jumped from a high altitude without anything to break their fall, but Galeforce assures him that Henry likely had a method to evade the fall damage.

However, the two Government personnel discover that Henry and Reginald had thrown dummies to lure them away from the airship. Realizing that they had been double-crossed, Galeforce screams at Henry in rage.

Back at the Airship, Reginald lends Henry his upper top hat decorated with his necklace, officially transferring leadership of the clan to the newcomer. During his tenure as leader of the Toppat Clan, Henry is shown leading meetings, embarking on more criminal heists, and enjoying his time in the high seat.

Aftermath

• Henry Leader of Toppats - Henry now leads the clan. Reginald Copperbottom plans on overthrowing him unless Henry manages to impress him sufficiently.
• Right Hand Man Defeated - RHM has been rebuilt as a cyborg and now holds a big grudge against Henry. He plans on turning against Henry as well, although only on Reginald's cue unless Henry proves himself worthy.
• Government Betrayed - Henry betrays Galeforce and the Government to become Toppat Leader, therefore the government remains enemies with him, and he does not gain Charles as an ally.

Rapidly Promoted Executive can be combined with Ghost Inmate to get Toppat Civil Warfare, Convict Allies to get Toppat King, Presumed Dead to get Toppat 4 Life, and The Betrayed to get Revenged.

Characters

• Henry Stickmin - The protagonist
• Captain Hubert Galeforce - The main antagonist
• Rupert Price - The tertiary antagonist
• Charles Calvin - The secondary antagonist
• Reginald Copperbottom - The main antagonist turned deuteragonist
• Right Hand Man - The secondary antagonist turned tritagonist
• Geoffrey Plumb
• Sledge MacRush
• Hanz Spearman
• Thomas Chestershire
• Oldmin
• Herb Stokes
• Dave Panpa
• Toppat Prisoner (Flash)
• Starman (Achievement, legacy version only)
• Cool Katie
• Benjamin Bourseious
• 3 Unknown Armed Toppats
• Matthew Norbert
• Two-Ton Tony
• Magnus Eriksson
• Floyd Winters
• Derbert Daniels
• 1 Unknown Toppat (Flash)

Italics indicate they only appear in this pathway, as well as its auxiliary ending, "Relentless Bounty Hunter." Note that the three Unknown Toppats in the Flash version's credits scene only appear in this ending.

References

Isaac Newton

The fail message for the Laser option references Newtons Third Law of Motion: "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

Sonic X

The fail message for the Boost option references the famous line from Sonic X.

Donkey Kong Country

The Metal Fist was going to have Henry turn into a rhino from that game, but Puffballs didn't know how to draw or animate a rhino. This is referenced in the fail message.

Lego Racers

The Warp's appearance and function reference an item from the game.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Metal Bend is a skill in Avatar.

Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings

Metal Bend's fail message is a reference to a famous joke in which people would intentionally misquote speeches and shove them in the wrong direction This message in particular references "You're a wizard, Harry." from Harry Potter, only Dumbledore is replaced with Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.

Wallace and Gromit

The Robo Pants are a reference to the Techno Trousers from Wallace and Gromit. They were even named that in the legacy version, but had to be changed in the remastered version for copyright reasons.

Team Fortress 2

The Rocket Launcher used during the Rocket Jump option is a stylized RPG-7 from the game.

The confrontation with Right Hand Man references two games:

Final Fantasy

The Dirk leads into a Final Fantasy-esque fight scene with options very similar to the UI in those games.

Blitz is a special command exclusive to the character Sabin in Final Fantasy 6. Suplex, also called Meteor Smash, is one of Sabin's Blitz attacks.

Earthbound

The Yo-Yo triggers a fight scene and UI very similar to Earthbound.

PSI Flash is a reference to PK Flash, which can cause random status ailments on enemies. Crying enemies, like what happens to Right Hand Man, have reduced accuracy. Higher levels of PK flash can even kill enemies instantly, though this does not happen to RHM.

The Multi-Bottle Rocket is one of the most powerful items in Earthbound. Interestingly, its name was NOT changed for the remastered version, though this could be because Earthbound is not officially owned by Nintendo and therefore Puffballs cannot get sued by Nintendo for using that name.

Internet Slang

During the Blitz option, RHM deals 1337 damage to Henry. 1337 is a numbered form of "leet", which is short for "elite."

Friday the 13th

The mask Henry puts on during the Tools option looks very similar to the one Jason Vorhees wears.

Escaping the Prison

The Jet Boots were likely inspired by the Jetshoes option for Escaping the Prison, which were replaced by the Jetpack.

Fallout

Beef Up is likely a reference to Buffout from the franchise.

Pilotwings 64

The music played during the Glider option is from Pilotwings 64, though Puffballs made his own version of the track in the remastered version to avoid copyright.

Worms

The way the Missle looks in the remastered version is a reference to the Homing Missle from Worms. Notably, Worms is one of PuffballsUnited's favorite games, and sound effects from that game were used for Crossing the Pit, the precursor to the Henry Stickmin franchise.

Breaking the Bank

A flash-forward in the ending shows Henry as the Toppat leader successfully stealing money bangs from the Bank that he failed to rob in Breaking the Bank.

Trivia

• During the ending credits for the paths, Reginald is shown to be displeased with Henry taking charge of the Toppat Clan, frowning at his presence. This is a direct set up into "The Betrayed" path of Fleeing the Complex where he reveals his plan on wanting to get rid of Henry and take back leadership all along, right before he does it.
  • In the "Toppat Civil Warfare" path of Completing the Mission, Reginald doesn't directly reveal this to Henry but uses the news of him ditching Ellie Rose and leaving her to rot at The Wall to dethrone him in an attempt at getting rid of Henry by killing him (by also throwing him off the Airship) and taking back the Toppat throne.
  • Reginald also floats around the idea of betrayal during "Toppat King" when he has Henry by the hand but doesn't out of his sense of comradery and witnessing Henry risking his own life for to save the Clan.
    • The only Post-RPE path in Completing the Mission where he doesn't attempt to betray Henry (or float the idea around) is in "Toppat 4 Life". In that path, Henry and Reginald never interact until the end (with Reginald believing he is dead before then). By that point, Henry had already completed his mission of ensuring that the Government can't go through with a raid on the Toppat Clan and reveals this to Reginald, with him accepting Henry as the rightful leader of the Toppats.
• This ending and the "Pure Blooded Thief" ending are the only endings that cannot be combined with the "International Rescue Operative" ending in Completing the Mission. This is because Henry betrays the Government and becomes the leader, and the latter is due to abandoning both sides with the airship being destroyed.
• This is the only ending that can be combined with "The Betrayed" in Completing the Mission, since that ending requires Henry to be the leader of the clan during the events of Fleeing the Complex.
• During the ending scene, Henry can be seen successfully breaking into the Bank, which was his first plan in Breaking the Bank.
• In the ending scene in the Remastered version, the chair that Henry sits in appears to be missing.
• This is the only ending in Infiltrating the Airship in which Henry sides with the Toppat Clan.
• This is also one of two endings in which Henry betrays the government, the other being Pure Blooded Thief.

Music

Track	Composer/Artist	Notes
🎧 "Recruited"	PuffballsUnited	Opening theme for Infiltrating the Airship, remastered
🎧 "Grim Melancholy"	HonorOfStyle	Opening theme for Infiltrating the Airship, flash
🎧 "TCP - Elevator Music"	tijnn	"Look out for a guy in a big plastic ball-- no, no, I'm serious."
🎧 "Psychosis"	i9incher	Main theme for Henry's pursuit of Reginald Copperbottom.
🎧 "The Decisive Battle"	Nobuo Uematsu	The Dirk battle theme. It is taken directly from Final Fantasy VI.
🎧 "The Conclusive Battle"	Nobuo Uematsu, Ockeroid	The Dirk battle theme. It is a remix of "The Decisive Battle".
🎧 "Sanctuary Guardian"	Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka	The Yo-Yo battle theme. It is taken directly from Earthbound.
🎧 "The Right Hand Man Attacks"	Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka, PuffballsUnited	The Yo-Yo battle theme. It is a remix of "Sanctuary Guardian".
[1] "Danger Wise"	Kmax	Played when Henry catches Reginald Copperbottom in the Cargo Bay, flash
[2]"Grab Him"	PuffballsUnited	Played when Henry catches Reginald Copperbottom in the Cargo Bay, remastered
🎧 "Brainbite"	Jack Liddle	Ending theme for the route

Extra

CtM Icon in the Endings Hub Screen