Epilogue
The Zapbots enter a worm hole that takes them to the other side of the Universe and also to a huge discovery.
Synopsis
We open with Anthony entering his log dealing with a mid-life crisis. Stressed out he puts Botimus Prime on most of his shifts as he tries to deal with the possible impending doom. He roams the empty human levels of Fortress Misslemax searching for answers. Under advice from his mini-bots, he takes some time off and revisits his hometown and old school to reflect on memories. Not finding the answers he wanted from the visit, he turns back to Fortress Misslemax and heads home. When he gets back to his quarters he tries to ring several of his friends, all who appear to be busy. He reflects on his frustration.
The bridge pings him and indicates that there is a wormhole near the Earth that suddenly appeared. Appearing to be stable for several days, the Zapbots head into the wormhole to see what is on the other side. Once they exit the other side of the wormhole they see a Class M planet with lifeform readings. They head down to investigate.
As Shortstop, Botimus Prime, Hightone, Carry-On, Speedy, Iron and Terrain head down to the surface they find a wreckage for a spaceship. Suddenly they are attacked by a seemly similar robot who ends up using Speedy as a hostage. Once they talk to the strange robot in English he starts to lower his guard. When Shortstop explains they are from Earth, the robot asks if they are there to take them 'home'. The robot's head transforms into a human, revealing himself as a HeadMaster Zapbot. He takes them back to his base and to the surprise of the Zapbots they find the Ancient Zapbots Lighting, Bridge and Knife still alive.
The Ancient Zapbots explain they rescued the human whose name is Shane P., from one of the Gongos raids on Earth. Running from the Gongos they escaped through the wormhole before it collapsed and crash-landed on the planet. Here they raised Shane and trained him in the ways to be a Zapbot Head Master and is now called Geo. As they learned about the exploits from a rare television transmission, they kept up with what was going on Earth for the past fifteen years. The Zapbots agree to take the Ancient Zapbots and Geo (Shane) back to Earth space. Anthony attempts to bond with Shane which at first seems difficult due to his lack of social skills. After a check, Anthony takes Shane to one of the holorooms to try and build a relationship.
The next day as the Zapbots are helping the Ancient ones pack up, they are attacked by Gongos who also have followed them through the wormhole. The Animal Team come down to assist and divert the Gongos enough so the main team can retreat back to Fortress Misslemax. Once everyone is on board they head for the wormhole with the Gongos following them. When the Gongos fire a torpedo in the wormhole it causes a blackout.
In his blackout Shortstop (Anthony) meets again with Matt E. who informs him he must protect Shane at all costs. When he comes to they discover the wormhole is temporarily frozen as their ships are disabled. Anthony takes Shane to the medical bay to use the Lifesaver device to save him.
The Zapbots go to work to try and repair the ship so they can move before the wormhole begins to move again. With the Structural Integrity Field and Inertial Damper Fields offline, if the wormhole starts up again the entire ship would be crushed. The Ancient Zapbots offer their technical assistance and the Zapbots race to repair everything as quickly as possible.
The engine room Botimus Prime helps corral the team to work together under stress, while Anthony and Shane repair some holes in the human sections of Misslemax. During this a Gongo invades the ship and is about to kill Shane, but Anthony uses his Matrix magic to stop him seconds before the Gongo attacks. The crew finds that thanks to the Ancient Zapbots they were able to repair most of the damage in an incredible amount of short time.
The team's race to the bridge as the wormhole begins to start moving again. Overriding safety protocol Repairs starts up the engine sequences and Misslemax's systems begin to slowly come online. Fortress Misslemax comes out of the wormhole as well as the Gongos ship not far behind. They transform into Battle Station mode and destroy the Gongos ship just as it exits the wormhole.
Later in Shortstop's the ready room he uncovers there is a device on Bridge that was transmitting their location to the Gongos the whole time. When the Zapbots try to take Bridge into custody the device explodes causing him severe damage. However, Pliers discovers that unbeknown to Bridge, he was unaware this bug was placed on him fifteen years ago with the original battle with the Gongos.
While Fortress Misslemax is docked at a starbase for repairs, Anthony has one last visit from Matt E. who indicates that everything he has done has set things in motion for the conclusion and that Anthony will be the one who saves the Universe. Before he leaves Anthony for the last time Anthony begs to get the answer to the question he always had. Matt E. acknowledges back that he already knew the answer.
As the Zapbots return to Gearatron, they give the Ancient Zapbots a hero's welcome. Omega Dupreme takes Shane back to Earth to reunite with his lost family. As they continue to bond he mocks Anthony for his taste in music and also inquires if Mike Quartz is his romantic interest. As they watch the sunset Anthony is grateful for the time he has left with his newfound friend and his old ones.
In the Epilogue scene we see the Nonocons pull up to the space where New Gearatron use to exist and find Skyscream and Shock bringing aboard the lifeless bodies of both Amphotron and Tri-Star, floating in space.
Featured characters
| Zapbots | Humans | Nonocons | Enemies | Planets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
“Phil Collins! You like him?” he said laughing. “Yeah why?” “He sucks!” “No he doesn’t” “He sounds like he’s castrated!”
- Shane talking to Anthony
Notes
Versions
- First Version: 1993?
- Second Version: 2021
- Third Version: 2021
Production notes
- First appearance of Geo.
- This story was really the last of the original batch of stories I wrote just before I went to college and started revamping them. It is meant to take place just before The Fall and Rebirth.
- Most of the conversations between Shane and my character are taken from actual conversations we had in real life.
- See Preface for the backstory on how I met Shane.
Continuity notes
Real-life references
Continuity and plotting errors
- I believe Creater was destroyed in a previous story. Must have just rebuilt his body at some point. Tee hee
Other trivia
- When I started to rewrite this story I googled Shane’s name and saw that Shane had passed away in 2018 due to a horrific car accident. This makes this story a very important memory of someone that was very near and dear to my heart. It is a shame I never had the chance to reconnect with him.
