"When will Ziggy be back?" Jasper asked Dr. K. "He won't be back for at
least twenty hours, unless he stops for food and sleep. Since that is
the most likely scenario, I estimate two or three days."
"Rangers!" Scott Truman alerted them via the monitor. "I need you to see
this transmission we just received."
The image of a missile-shaped attack bot replaced that of Scott. "Rangers!
This is Atomic Bomb Bot" the missile greeted them. "Henry Hart has one hour
to surrender or I will destroy the city."
The rangers looked at Henry with concern. "Henry must come to me at the
plaza. Massage Chair Bot and I will bring him to my master. If anyone tries
to tamper with me I will destroy the city immediately." The transmission
ended and Scott reappeared.
"What is your assessment of the attack bot, Dr. K?" Scott asked. Dr. K
scanned the location. "My scans indicate there is enough Uranium-235 in
that bot to destroy the whole city. It's a real atomic bomb."
"So, what do we do?" Scott asked. "There's only one thing to do" Henry
said. "I'm going to surrender." "There has to be another way" Charlotte
pleaded. "We've only got one hour to think of it" Henry warned her. "Fifty-
two minutes, actually" Scott informed them.
"Henry, may I speak to you in private?" Dr. K asked. "Yeah, sure" Henry
said. He and Dr. K left the lab.
Twenty minutes later Henry and Dr. K returned. "What's the plan?" Scott
asked. "We've agreed" Dr. K said. "Henry will surrender."
Suddenly Scott's image was replaced by that of Atomic Bomb Bot. "Time is
running out" the bot warned. "You better make up your mind, Henry!"
Scott reappeared on the screen.
"You heard the bot" Henry said resolutely. "I'm going to turn myself over
to Venjix, and I'm going alone."
Henry arrived at the plaza in the troop carrier and parked. He stepped
out and approached Atomic Bomb Bot and Massage Chair Bot. "A wise
decision" the Bot commended. "Now have a seat in Massage Chair Bot and
don't try anything."
Henry sat in the chair bot and metal restraints wrapped around his legs
and torso. "Just tell me one thing" Henry inquired. "What does Venjix
want with me?"
"I'll let you in on a little secret" the bomb bot teased. "Venjix is not
the one responsible for this." "So, who am I surrendering to?" Henry asked.
"No more questions" the bomb bot ordered. "You'll find out soon enough."
The chair bot rose up on two legs and started to follow bomb bot out of
town and into the desert.
Dr. K watched the local news coverage from her monitor with the rangers
looking over her shoulder. "Traffic is heavy as panicked civilians attempt
to flee the city" the news reporter stated. "The mayor is urging calm and
and the military insists the situation is under control."
The reporter was handed a note. "I've just been informed that Atomic Bomb
Bot is leaving the city. Witnesses describe a walking chair carrying an
unidentified man leaving with the bomb bot."
Dr. K turned off the news coverage and switched to Henry's hidden body
camera. She watched Atomic Bomb Bot exit through one of the city gates.
"I hope you and Henry know what you're doing" Charlotte said anxiously.
The chair carried Henry across the desert for hours until they arrived at
the ruins of a compound that had once been a base for Venjix. The bots and
Henry entered the compound and then went into a large metal building.
Henry was greeted by a short stout man about sixty years old wearing
glasses with thick frames. "You made a wise choice, Henry" the man said
patronizingly. "Hi, Dr. K" he said, waving at Henry. "Thought you could
spy on me, didn't you?"
The man snatched the tiny camera from the buttonhole of Henry's shirt. He
threw it on the ground and stomped on it until was completely destroyed.
Dr. K suddenly lost the camera feed. "Who was that?" Charlotte asked. "I
don't believe it" Dr. K remarked. "Balthazar Frittleman." "As in, Jack
Frittleman?" Charlotte asked. "I don't know of any Jack Frittleman" Dr. K
answered.
"Balthazar Frittleman was a reclusive inventor and a genius at robotics. He
hasn't been seen since before the war. He was assumed to be dead." "Why
would he be working with Venjix?" Jasper asked. "I would like to know that
myself" Dr. K pondered aloud.
"You were behind these attacks?" Henry demanded. "I am a master of
robotics, electronics, mechanics, all the 'ics'" "You look familiar" Henry
said suspiciously.
"My name is Balthazar Frittleman! You almost killed my father! Prepare to
die!" Henry was dumbstruck. Balthazar laughed. "Oh, you have no idea how
long I've been waiting to say that!"
"Is that why you've been sending all these robots after me?" Henry asked.
"To get revenge on me because your dad blew himself up?"
"My dad wouldn't have blown himself up if you and your friends hadn't
tricked him" Balthazar answered defensively. "Well, we wouldn't have
tricked him if he hadn't tried to blow us up" Henry retorted. "If you and
Captain Man hadn't blown up his factories he wouldn't have tried to blow
you up!" he shot back. "Okay, you got me there" Henry relented.
"You've put the whole city of Corinth in grave danger" Henry admonished.
"An unfortunate necessity" he replied. "I needed the robot parts that
Venjix left behind and this is where most of them were. Then I discovered
that Dr. K had the technology I really needed to get my revenge."
"I almost captured her lab, but then you and your friends showed up and
ruined everything!" "Sorry, not sorry" Henry quipped. "You will be sorry
very soon." Balthazar reached for a laser blaster from a table near him.
"RPM! Get in gear!" Henry shouted and morphed. Before Balthazar could
react he broke free of the chair that was holding him and leaped onto his
feet. "I hope this works" Henry thought as he activated his force shield
and lunged at Atomic Bomb Bot.
Dr. K watched from her monitor as a mushroom cloud rose on the horizon.
"So long, you crazy old man" she remarked. "What about Henry?" Charlotte
asked.
Near the explosion a military vehicle arrived. Soldiers wearing radiation
suits stepped out of the vehicle. "Over here!" a voice shouted. Behind
them was Henry, still morphed. "What took you so long?"
A couple days later Ziggy returned, and Dr. K finished making repairs to
the dimensional transporter. Henry, Charlotte, and Jasper said goodbye to
Ziggy and Dr. K and were teleported to new adventures in Dystopia.
The End