Robot Trek II
The Nonocons return and are deadlier then ever, while Bop must confront his past.
Synopsis
Part 1
In the holoroom Anthony wrestles with his good friend Mike Quartz which is no way gay. ;)
On Gearatron the Zapbots are enjoying a recreation of a waltz-like setting, with Speedy leading the band on piano. Various Zapbots question Botimus Prime if he's heard from Anthony at all. Roberta pressures Pliers to set a date for marriage but he is hesitant. Ultra Attack strolls in looking for the Snow Team.
Anthony emerges from the holoroom after Mike defeats him and joins his Zapbots in his Shortstop body for the festivities. Suddenly a device crashes into the ceremony and emits a hologram of Amphotron that warns Shortstop of their return. Shortstop upset leaves and orders Fortress Misslemax ready for departure.
Three months go by and the Zapbots can not find the Nonocons. Reports surface of a large warship appearing at several planets. Anthony argues with his friend Mike like an old married couple.
Later on, the bridge Pliers announces he and Roberta have set a date for Marriage. Shortstop notes that since this is a Zapbot first he would have to think about how to celebrate. Suddenly warning signals go off and the crew detects a previous ship's wreckage in the vicinity. Bop strangely strolls onto the bridge and two Nonocons' ships decloak and attack Fortress Misslemax. The Zapbots destroy the two Nonocons' ships but now their shields are completely gone. At that moment several more Nonocons ships decloak. The Zapbots on the main bridge are taken captive.
Shortstop (Anthony) awakens to find himself with his fellow Zapbots in a holding cell on a Nonocon ship. After Flier is damaged by the Nonocon Mercy, Anthony creates a plan to escape the cell using his smaller human form. Bop discloses that he has a twin brother who has now apparently sided with the Nonocons. On Fortress Misslemax various Zapbots hide in Terrain's quarters to devise a plan to retake the ship.
Shortstop, Botimus Prime, Bop, Flier, Speedy, Hightone, Scan and Pliers escape the Nonocon prison cell and attempt to find a way off the ship. Meanwhile, the Zapbots on Fortress Misslemax began their three-pronged attack. Vision distracts the Nonocons Murder and Canton while Hot Shot disabled them with his stun ray allowing the team to get into the armory. Using new weapons Terrain and Iron overtake the main computer room to start the computer reboot process. Lastly hiding on the bridge the Tapes crew proceeds to cause a distraction, long enough for the Minibots to activate the secret control central bringing everything back online. Once the bridge starts up it emits audio disruptor waves that only affect the Nonocons, causing Amphotron and his crew to retreat.
Back on the Nonocon ship, the remaining Zapbots are trapped down a dead-end hall. Shortstop provides a force field to protect them as Bop blasts a hole in the ship allowing them to escape into space. With that Shortstop's energy runs dry and falls to the attack from the Nonocons.
Anthony awakens to find himself being strapped down to a table, as a Nonocon medical droids slowly take his bionic body apart. As Amphotron stands in a corner, the medical droid injects Anthony with poison causing him immense pain. However, at that moment Omega Dupreme breaks into the ship and grabs Anthony recovering him to safety. He proceeds to disable the remaining Nonocon ships. Anthony awakens back on the Fortress Misslemax human medical bay as his Minibots are repairing his body. Forced to rest and recover, Anthony relinquishes control to Botimus Prime as Omega Dupreme and Fortress Misslemax head back to Tockmak 3 Starbase for repairs.
Part 2
Ambassador Tonta arrives on Misslemax to conduct an investigation as there is a perceived spy aboard the ship. Botimus Prime denies her access to the memory banks due to Class A status for the ship. Botimus Prime informs Anthony as he is recovering of the incident with Tonta. Anthony explains to Mike the oddity of her arrival and discusses a new invention he is working on to completely replace damage human tissue.
At Bop's bar Speedy presses [[Bop] for information about his brother. Bop only indicates that he knows his brother is up to no good.
At the far end of the Universe the Nonocons have survived the attack from Omega Dupreme. As they argue Bop's brother Shock enters the discussion and indicates that they have to destroy Fortress Misslemax to win the battle.
Tonta begins her investigation and questions Boaty's abilities. Botimus Prime furious with her actions stops the inquisition and has her escorted back to her quarters. Anthony and Mike proceed to have another argument where Mike storms out of the medical bay.
In Tonta's quarters she brings up a communication with Amphotron as she explains that Botimus Prime hasn't discovered her identity. Amphotron asks her if she has placed the devices around the ship. Suddenly she detects movement in her room and grabs Mike who was secretly monitoring the conversation. When Mike is captured Anthony watching from his bed alerts Botimus Prime who at the same time is greeted by the Zapbot Double Spy Run. Anthony signals a silent Red Alert to help his friend and forces his Minibots to put his body back together although it is not completely finished.
Botimus, Run and Terrain enter Tonta's room but she uses Mike as her scapegoat. She transforms into vehicle mode and proceeds to drive down the hallways of Misslemax while activating her bombs through the ship. One bomb goes off in the main computer core, trapping Bop, Speedy, and Pliers. Anthony puts on his newly created body parts as he proceeds to go after Tonta carrying his friend Mike.
In the engine core, Pliers fixes Bop's leg to get him to transform so they can blast their way out of the secured room. With thirty seconds to spare they are able to escape just as the computer core is ejected into space before it explodes. The explosion around Fortress Misslemax causes the ship to be released from spacedock and starts moving powerless to the sun.
Tonta makes it to the docking bay where she is confronted by Overload and Camper. Anthony using his X-O Suit quickly snatches Mike from her hands. Tonta engages the Zapbots in the battle of which the atmospheric controls are disabled causing the Zapbots to fly haphazardly in the room. Tonta is finally pushed out of the docking bay and is destroyed by the sun's gravity well. The Zapbots are able to restore atmospheric controls to the docking bay and rescue Anthony and Mike.
Scan uses the gravity of the sun and the last remaining bit of power from Fortress Misslemax to break free from the sun and adjust course. The Zapbots are successful in evading the sun and begin the rescue of those damaged and hurt.
Part 3
Back in the Misslemax Conference Room, Shortstop grants Bop immunity from harassment. Bop has a private conversation with Shortstop indicating he knows someday he will have to face his brother and he is not sure what he will do.
Anthony returns to his quarters and has an explosive argument with Mike. After the argument turns to a fistfight, Anthony restrains him. Finally, Anthony gives up trying to control his friend and leaves indicating that Mike's destiny is his to choose now.
The Nonocons fleet approaches Tockmak 3 and Omega Dupreme and Duplaflex arrive to help Fortress Misslemax. The Space Force arrive from Duplaflex carrying a new computer core and weapons for Fortress Misslemax. All three ships and the Space Force began to fight the Nonocon fleet. During the battle Bop leaves Fortress Misslemax to fight his brother, while Shock leaves Skyscream as his ship is about to be destroyed.
As the remaining Nonocons ships flee suddenly an enormous ship comes into view. The Zapbots are introduced to Amphotron's new war machine the starship Kilter. The three Zapbot cities retreat back towards Gearatron as Amphotron with his new ship gives chase.
Meanwhile in the darkness of space on an asteroid, Bop fights with his brother Shock. Shock almost gets the upper hand, but in a split second when their eyes meet Shock is distracted causing Bop to overtake him. Just as he is about to destroy him Shock now distracts Bop and escapes.
When the Zapbots arrive at Gearatron, Omega Dupreme and Duplaflex provide enough distraction for Fortress Misslemax to transform into robot mode and then transform into the key for Gearatron's robot mode. However Amphotron transforms his spaceship into robot mode as well and reveals his new Kilter body. Gearatron and Kilter fight heavily in space but using the power of the Matrix of Leadership, Gearatron is able to successfully disable Kilter, forcing him to retreat. Anthony senses the Matrix is damaged and gives it to Pliers for repair.
The Zapbots proceed to repair everyone and everything on Gearatron. When the remainder of Anthony's friends come onboard he notices Alan is missing from the crew. He runs to find Alan stealing the Matrix of Leadership. He fires at Anthony and instead hits Mike Quartz knocking him out. Bill and Rogish give chase as Alan attempts to escape with the Matrix. Anthony takes his damaged friend up to his newest invention the lifesaver and uses it to restore his body. Anthony is able to save Mike with the lifesaver but Tri-Star/Alan and Shock escape with the Matrix.
In Bop's bar Pliers and Roberta make amends as Speedy serenades them with a energy cake from Bop. Botimus thanks Bop for his contributions to the crew. Anthony says goodbye to Mike Quartz as Mike leaves to return to Earth.
Featured characters
| Zapbots | Humans | Nonocons | Planets |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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Quotes
"Mike Quartz, you are probably one of the strongest individuals I have met, and yet I still can not get inside of your head."
- Anthony to Mike Quartz after their fist-fight.
Notes
Versions
- First Version: 1990?
- Second Version: 1999
- Third Version: 2021
Production notes
- So this I believe is the longest Zapbots story, as I specifically wrote it into three distinct parts. Sadly this would be the last one I wrote for a while till 2013 when I wrote Rebooted.
- In the original draft of the story I created a Zapbots ship called the 'Cemen' (yes I was totally oblivious) and it looked very much like certain starship we all know and love. When I did the revision I put back Fortress Misslemax as this should always be the ship the Zapbots use for their adventures.
- This is the first appearance of so many characters. Camper, Dematerialize, Heavy, Hologram, Run/Rerun, Chewer, Transport, Photon, Rockets, Spike, Shoot-Up, Attack, Scouter, Leader-A, Carton, Murder, Kilter... I think that's it?
- Third pass to provide extra details and upgrades happened in 2021.
Continuity notes
- I believe this is the first notice of Pliers and Roberta's romantic relationship.
Real-life references
Continuity and plotting errors
- I know it's kind of silly to have the three ships fly back from Tockmak 3 to Gearatron, but hey they needed a bigger body to fight.
Other trivia
- Technically I'm consider Tri-Star a Zapbot up to the end of this story. Going forward I will refer to him as a Nonocon.
