While the police continued to question Frink about his suspicious invention, the Justicebot, the Simpsons drove to Springfield Harbor to tour a 17th-century Spanish galleon which Captain McAllister had acquired. They followed the old sea dog across a strong, freshly built wooden ramp that led onto the vessel.

The captain recounted the history of the large sailing ship as he led them from deck to deck. "Yarrr. This old girl be called the Santa Ana. She was used to carry treasure from the Spanish colonies, but never for warrr."

As Homer was admiring the mast and sails, he felt a certain type of pressure building up. "Er, excuse me, captain," he inquired, "but does this ship have a little sailor's room?"

"Narrrr," the captain replied. "If you have to go, you go over the side."

Marge grabbed Homer by the ear while he gazed longingly at the railing. "Don't even think of it," she scolded him.

The waves of Springfield Bay gently rocked the old vessel as Captain McAllister led his guests toward the center of the ship. "This part be called the poop deck," he educated them. "This other part be the flush deck." Homer gritted his teeth and struggled to hold it in.

"Hey, Lis, watch this," said Bart, grabbing the spokes of the ship's wheel and attempting to turn it. "Urgh...urgh...hey, it won't budge!"

"The hinge be rusted solid," said the captain. "The old girl's staying put."

He stopped the family as they were about to ascend the old wooden stairs leading to the poop deck. "Only one at a time," he instructed. "The poop deck be very weak. It can't support the weight of all of ye."

Lisa was the first to climb onto the upper deck, and was allowed to look through the ancient spyglass. Then the other Simpson family members followed suit.

When the tour was over, the captain followed them onto dry ground. "Arrr. Thank ye all for coming."

"Hey, where's Bart?" Lisa suddenly wondered.

They turned, hurried onto the ship, and found Bart straining himself against the wheel, fighting uselessly to turn it. "Ugh...ugh..."

"Give it up, Bart," Marge ordered him. "It hasn't been turned for three hundred years."

Bart could only complain as he sat in the back seat of the car with Lisa and Maggie.

"I could feel it starting to give way," he protested. "If only you'd waited a few more seconds."

"You could have damaged it," Marge said sternly. "Do you know how much the captain paid for..."

Homer slammed on the brakes, and the car screeched to a halt. Standing in the street before them was a man with dense, spiky red hair, an elongated face, and a nose like a meat hook. He wore a dark overcoat, and his face was a mask of mortal terror. The Simpsons gasped when they recognized him.

"SIDESHOW BOB!" screamed Bart and Lisa.

Bob, looking more frightened than fiendish, hurried to the passenger side of the car. As Marge lowered the window, he ranted, "Please, you must help me! It's trying to kill me!"

"What is?" asked Marge.

Bob pointed down the street. "That...thing!"

A block and a half ahead of them, a towering metal creature was marching along the sidewalk, knocking down mailboxes and bending traffic signs as it moved inexorably toward them.

"Cool!" exclaimed Bart. "A robot!"

"Oh, my Buddha!" cried Lisa. "What if it's the same robot that killed Snake and Fat Tony?"

"You've got to take me away from here!" Sideshow Bob pleaded. "I can't outrun it!"

"But there's no room in the car," said Marge.

Suddenly angry, Bob stuck a hand into his overcoat...and pulled out a revolver.

"Get out," he barked, pointing the gun's barrel at Marge's face.

"Okay, okay!" the terrified Marge agreed. "Don't shoot!"

"Mom, don't!" Lisa begged as her mother opened the door and stepped out. "The robot will get you!"

"It's not after her," said Bob, who clambered into the passenger seat and trained his weapon on Homer. "Now drive!"

Seeing that resistance was futile and possibly fatal, Homer stamped on the gas pedal. The car roared away and turned a corner, leaving Marge alone to face the seven-foot robot.

Paralyzed by fear, she watched as the metal juggernaut veered off and started to pursue the fleeing vehicle. She breathed a sigh of relief, as the robot's speed clearly wasn't enough to overtake her family.

The mood in the car was tense. Bob kept his gun pointed at Homer, and didn't lower it for a second.

"I thought you were in prison," said Bart.

"I was paroled for good behavior," said Bob. "I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to be mangled by a mechanical monster, either."

"What is it?" asked Lisa as she watched the metal beast's reflection in the rear-view mirror disappear. "Where did it come from?"

"I don't know. It just showed up at my house and started shouting, 'Kill...kill...kill...'"

"We'd better go to the police," said Homer.

"No!" exclaimed Bob. "I know a safe place. Wait, no, I don't. We'd better go to the police."

----

"Cuff him, boys," Chief Wiggum instructed officers Eddie and Lou. "Carjacking's a new one for you, Bob."

"Oh, yes, please," said Sideshow Bob frantically as the cops slapped handcuffs on him. "Put me back in jail. Anything to protect me from...Aaaargh! It's coming!"

From their position outside of the police station, the Simpsons, the policemen, and Bob could see the hulking robot approaching a block away.

"Get ready, boys," Wiggum told Eddie and Lou, who drew their guns and assumed defensive postures. "Don't fire until you see the whites of its..."

Then he noticed a puzzling thing--the robot had stopped in its tracks. A device on the top of its head, apparently an optical sensor, blinked and waved about.

It turned and trudged away in the opposite direction. "Follow it," Wiggum ordered his men. "See where it's going."

"Why did it turn back?" Lisa wondered.

"Who cares?" said Bart.

"Of course," Bob realized. "It's a Justicebot. It thinks I've been brought to justice."

----

In his laboratory, Professor John Frink was tinkering with his newest invention, an enlarging laser. Aiming the mounted device at a miniature marshmallow, he pulled the trigger, and suddenly was the proud owner of a marshmallow the size of a grand piano.

"Great glavin, it works!" he exulted. "I'll make millions selling it as a sexual aid."

As he plucked off a chunk of the giant marshmallow to see how it tasted, the door to the lab burst open and Eddie and Lou entered, guns out. Chief Wiggum stepped between them. "Professor Frink, you're under arrest," he declared.

Frink panicked. "But...ng'hoyven...glavin...I didn't do anything," he insisted. "Yet."

"You're hereby charged with the murder of Antonio D'amico and whatever Snake's real name is," announced Wiggum as Eddie and Lou cuffed the professor, "as well as the attempted murder of Bob Terwilliger. You have the right to remain silent..."

"These allegations are outrageous," said Frink indignantly. "What proof do you have?"

"We followed the killer robot to your secret warehouse," said Lou.

"So, you thought you could make Springfield a better place by sending a robot to bump off all the criminals," said Eddie accusingly.

"That's not true," Frink protested. "I've had the power to wipe out the city's criminal element for a long time, but I haven't used it. It's the whole free will thing, ng'hoy."

"Save it for the judge," said Wiggum flippantly, and his men dragged Frink to the squad car waiting outside the lab.

----

Is Professor Frink guilty? Find out in the next exciting chapter! (Or maybe the chapter after that...)