The Wrath of Sliphead

A strange robot appears out of nowhere in New York City and cause chaos for the Zapbots and the Earth.

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Synopsis

Anthony faces an increasingly hostile press corps on Earth after a destructive incident in New York City, struggling to explain the Zapbots’ actions and intentions. As reporters accuse the Zapbots of recklessness and corruption, Anthony reflects on the events that led to the crisis.

One week earlier, Anthony and his companion Mike Quartz travel to New York City for a rare day off. Before leaving, Anthony learns of a mysterious device stolen from a Gearatron research facility, suspected to involve the Nonocons. Believing the situation under control, he leaves the investigation to Botimus Prime and the Tech Team. While in New York, a strange unidentified robot attacks the city. Anthony pursues it in his X-O suit, but the robot escapes.

Back on Fortress Misslemax, the Zapbots identify the attacker as Sliphead, a renegade Nonocon responsible for both the stolen device and the energy surge beneath New York. Slipstream, an Air Guardian, reveals a personal history with Sliphead dating back to Anthony’s prior death. Zapbot teams, including the Protectors, are deployed across the city to track him down.

Anthony investigates a warehouse linked to the energy surge, only to trigger a bomb that collapses the building on top of him. Though he survives, the incident worsens public perception of the Zapbots. Meanwhile, against orders, Mike escapes Misslemax in a pod to help Anthony but is captured by Sliphead.

As battles erupt throughout New York, Sliphead escapes again, leaving behind a data chip. Analysis reveals a direct challenge: Sliphead has taken Mike hostage and demands that Shortstop face him alone. Media coverage increasingly turns against the Zapbots, portraying them as the cause of the destruction.

Shortstop confronts Sliphead at a junkyard arena, where Sliphead attempts to force Anthony’s surrender. Although the Zapbots nearly rescue Mike, Sliphead escapes using teleportation technology. The stolen device’s energy signature reappears at the North Pole.

A Zapbot task force, including the Snow Team, tracks Sliphead to a hidden arctic fortress. During the confrontation, Slipstream reveals that Sliphead is his brother, separated at creation. Sliphead merges the stolen device into his power core, growing to massive size. The Snow Team combines into Defender to battle him, eventually knocking the device loose.

It is revealed that Sliphead has been controlled by a neural implant placed by Amphotron and enforced by Secretish. In desperation, Sliphead removes the implant himself, collapsing unconscious as Mike is saved. Secretish and the Nonocons escape before retaliation.

Returning to the present, Anthony explains to the press that Sliphead was not inherently evil and had actively resisted harming humans. The media rejects his account. Zapbot investigations uncover extensive human governmental corruption, propaganda, and covert cooperation with enemy forces. Concluding that humanity is being manipulated beyond repair, the Zapbots decide to withdraw from public involvement on Earth.

The Zapbots formally sever ties with Earth governments, remaining only to defend against off-world threats. They adopt strict disguise protocols, abandoning open flight and overt intervention. Mike is sent back to university for his safety, and Anthony accepts a painful separation.

Sliphead is repaired and welcomed into the Zapbots, joining the Air Guardians alongside Slipstream. In a quiet epilogue, Anthony witnesses visions of another timeline—one where humanity faces catastrophe alone—leaving him with the unsettling realization that something about reality itself feels profoundly wrong.

Featured characters

Zapbots	Humans	Nonocons	Planets
Boaty Botimus Prime Carry-On Camper Click Earnon Experiment - mentioned Flier Fortress Misslemax Gaxator Hightone Flapbat Muncher Scout Slywing Steel Iron Pick-Up Pliers Protectors Burn Rubber Copter Double Shot Phiston Repairs Roberta Scan Shortstop Slipstream Sliphead Snow Team Sledski Puncter Killer Plower Twirl-Spin Defender Speedy Superrobot - mentioned Terrain Tiny - mentioned Ultra Attack	Mike Quartz	Lowtone Secretish Skyscream Skydust Sliphead	Earth Gearatron

Quotes

“Stuffed Octopus,” I replied. “I don’t recommend it.”

Anthony to Mike at a fancy restaurant

Notes

Versions

• First Version: 1990?
• Second Version: 2020
• Third Version: 2021

Production notes

• First appearance of Sliphead duh...
• The idea of expanding upon this came up with this rewrite in 2020. As I have become more aware of how the world works and the inner workings of politics and governments, various friends and family would label me a conspiracy theorist as I try to explain things. As such it was time to start to introduce some of this logic into the Zapbot stories, especially considering the joke that is the Corona Virus scam. It helped the story immensely in that, we now are forcing the Zapbots to remain ground bound (no flying boats) and they really are robots in disguise. We are also establishing the humans as faulty. When I watched the Michael Bay movies I never thought it was reasonable for the Autobots to be helping the U.S. Military. They would quickly realize how corrupted the U.S. was with their war machine and stay the hell out of the effort. By adding this context to the Zapbot this will all made sense in the upcoming stories.
• Third pass to provide extra details and upgrades happened in 2021.

Continuity notes

• We start to get more into Anthony and Mike's relationship here. Yes this will all stay PG-13.

Other trivia

• Original version also had the Waterbots in it, but it was just too many characters and not enough time to get their proper development, so they were cut. I'm sure I'll include them in a future story at some point.
• Realize some of the plot points require some stretch of imagination, but remember this is a TV show for kids :P