The Fall and Rebirth of Gearatron
The story comes to an Epic Conclusion as the Zapbots fight the biggest war yet. 2026-AI-Zapbots-Fall and Rebirth of Gearatron.png
Rebooted - Next--->
In the Alternate Timeline
Anthony comes face-to-face with a battle-wounded future version of himself — Anthony Prime — accompanied by a damaged Timetravel. With the Matrix nearly depleted, Anthony Prime uses its last remaining power to merge his essence with the younger Anthony, transferring the full knowledge of everything that has happened and everything that must happen next.
Back in the Present Timeline
Anthony travels incognito inside Slide when they are ambushed by Nonocons. Slide is left severely wounded, but Anthony unleashes Matrix energy and destroys the attackers.
Across the galaxy, the Nonocons unite the Zapbots’ enemies — including the Gongos and Morphites — under a resurrected Amphotron. Skyscream reveals they recovered Amphotron’s body from the wreckage of New Gearatron and rebuilt him using the lingering residue as a power source. Passing a prison cell, the reader glimpses Tri-star, reanimated into a deranged Nonocon zombie.
Anthony celebrates his 32nd birthday with two gatherings: one with the Zapbots, where he checks whether Boaty and Click have completed research for a terrifying contingency: Plan B — and another with his human friends.
At the Nonocon base, the double-agent Run transmits a warning: the Nonocons have discovered a new power source that makes them unstoppable. He is ambushed by Creater. Mortally wounded, Run detonates a nearby generator, destroying both of them — but the warning is sent.
Back at the human party, Anthony is pressured about marriage to Mike Quartz, leaving him unsettled and unsure. Before the moment can deepen, Boaty interrupts with urgent findings from Slide’s repair.
On the Zapbot bridge, Scan and Boaty reveal the Nonocons’ new weapons can now penetrate Zapbot shields and bodies, causing catastrophic damage to nearly everyone — except Shortstop, keeper of the Matrix. Analyzing residue from Slide, they conclude the Nonocons harvested energized remnants from New Gearatron and fused it into their systems. The Ancient Zapbots claim the Zapbots can acquire the same power if they retrieve crystals from Noland III. Scan also identifies a shield-strengthening formula held by the people of The Yellow Planet, but their king insists it must be delivered in person.
A distress call arrives from Run on Jumi, confirming a broader Nonocon assault is underway. Shortstop splits the response into multiple missions: • Shortstop orders the Space Force to retrieve crystals from Noland III to enhance Zapbot firepower. • He sends Gaxator and Duplaflex to The Yellow Planet to recover the shield-strengthening formula from King Titus. • Fortress Misslemax heads to Jumi to confront the Nonocons before they reach deeper into Federation space. • Combiner teams, Head Masters, and Target Masters are alerted on Earth. Anthony orders Mike Quartz to go to Earth with the Head Masters and stay hidden.
Spacebots Mission: Noland III
The Spacebots locate a hidden passage into Noland III’s interior — only to discover the crystal caverns are infested by Insectabots harvesting the same resource. Attempting stealth, the Space Force is forced into a chaotic split. They secure a valuable haul, but their escape is blocked.
They combine into Meteorite to break through — but the Insectabots swarm and devour the combined body, tearing the team apart. Only Transport and Chewer escape with the crystals.
Duplaflex Mission: The Yellow Planet
Duplaflex arrives to find a losing war: the Gongos and Morphites are overwhelming the Yellow Planet. Worse, enemy weapons have been upgraded, making Duplaflex’s defense costly and unstable.
Rup reveals a secret directive and insists on leading the ground team. With Hot-Shot, Vision, and the Tech Team, he fights through enemy forces to reach King Titus.
Above them, Duplaflex is boarded. Level by level, Zapbots die holding the line as invaders punch through the ship’s interior.
On the surface, Titus hands over the formula moments before he is killed. The Tech Team forms Circuitbreaker to buy time for the transfer. When the data is secured, Rup confesses his identity is not truly “Rup” and that he is connected to the Primax Cluster, sent for a specific purpose. He pulls Hot-Shot and Vision through a portable temple portal, declaring: “Prime needs us.”
Circuitbreaker falls. The Yellow Planet is nearly overwhelmed. Duplaflex escapes orbit, barely functional, and warps back to Gearatron with the formula.
Fortress Misslemax Mission: Jumi
Shortstop reviews Boaty and Click’s Plan B with Timetravel — a last resort so grim it feels like surrender — but agrees it may be the only way if the worst comes.
The team approaches Jumi undercover in Slipstream and is horrified to discover Amphotron is alive. The Nonocon threat proves real: Slide is blown apart, and Overload is destroyed during the retreat back to Fortress Misslemax.
On Jumi’s surface, Bop confronts his brother Shock and Bop is mortally wounded. As Shock is about to kill him, Bop forgives him. Shock hesitates — too late. Bop dies in his arms. Amphotron orders Shock aboard his new ship and commands him to join the assault on Gearatron.
The Fall of Gearatron
A massive enemy armada warps into orbit and attacks Gearatron’s planetary shield. Ultra Attack orders Omega Dupreme and every available Zapbot to engage.
When the shield collapses, Amphotron arrives fused to his rebuilt Kilter starship and transforms into robot mode. In a single devastating strike, he destroys Omega Dupreme. Ultra Attack orders civilian evacuation.
Shortstop receives two distress calls: one from Gearatron, one from Earth. Forced to choose between homeworlds and families, he commits to saving Gearatron — realizing Earth sealed its fate long ago.
Fortress Misslemax warps into Gearatron orbit to find catastrophic damage. Duplaflex arrives with the shield formula, and Transport and Chewer arrive with the Noland III crystals. On the surface, Ultra Attack and the Ancient Zapbots reveal the Nonocons destroyed the planet’s transformation cog. It can be repaired — but they need time inside the lower levels.
Scan distributes the updated shield formula to every Zapbot. Fortress Misslemax and Duplaflex transform and engage the enemy in orbit while Ultra Attack’s team descends to repair the cog.
Inside the planet, Skyscream and Nonocon drones attack. Almighty and Ninjatus draw the enemy away while the Ancient Zapbots complete the repair. On the surface, Duplaflex orders full evacuation and rams his entire body into Kilter, destroying both — but Amphotron’s body is not recovered, and Shortstop knows exactly where he will go next.
In Gearatron’s core, Skyscream collapses the ceiling, trapping everyone. He believes the transformation will crush them. Ultra Attack orders the transformation anyway. Ninjatus blasts an exit open as the last pieces lock into place. Almighty and Ninjatus hold the structure long enough for Ultra Attack and the Ancient Zapbots to escape before the chamber collapses — crushing both Combiners and Nonocons inside.
Earth Mission
The Head Masters warn the U.S. President to prepare for disaster. A vast armada approaches Earth. Starfleet scrambles, but Earth is invaded.
Teams across the planet are wiped out in the defense of major cities: Snow Team, Water Team, Combat Team, Animal Team, and the Protectors are destroyed. The Head Masters and Target Masters lead the last defense in Washington, D.C.
Mike Quartz stays with the President — until the President reveals he is working with the Nonocons and shoots Mike in his X-O suit. Shane P. kills the President to save Mike — but the President’s death triggers the launch of Earth’s nuclear missiles. The Head Masters sacrifice themselves destroying the missiles, but nuclear warheads still devastate the planet.
Geo (Shane) takes Mike to the old Battle Base as a final refuge. Amphotron arrives and kills Geo. He prepares to kill Mike — until Shock arrives and blasts a hole through Amphotron’s chest, killing his spark in revenge for Bop.
As Earth’s space fleet collapses, Gearatron — now transformed — warps into orbit and obliterates the remaining enemy ships. Shortstop descends to Battle Base and finds Mike alive. Shock offers no fight, apologizes for his crimes, and walks away.
Conclusion
Earth is devastated. Gearatron is nearly ruined. The Zapbots’ enemies are mostly vanquished — but there is no true home left.
Shortstop initiates Plan B: he takes Timetravel back to the moment before the Zapbots helped humans create Starfleet. Using the Matrix’s last power, he merges his essence into the younger Anthony, transferring everything he knows. Then the Zapbots deploy global mind erasers, wiping humanity’s memory of Zapbots. The Zapbots go into hiding. The memories of Anthony and his Head Master friends are sealed into storage and their lives rewritten — to be reactivated only if the Nonocons return.
Back to the Alternate Timeline
The younger Anthony, now carrying Prime’s knowledge, watches future Timetravel fade away. He walks up the ramp to Fortress Misslemax to brief the Zapbots on what must happen next. As the mind eraser is prepared, the story ends with one final thought:
“…and it begins again.”
Featured characters
| Zapbots | Humans | Nonocons | Enemies | Planets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"It’s over now… Shortstop…Anthony… The fighting is over… for good."
- Shock to Shortstop after a critical event in the story.
Notes
Versions
- First Version: 1985?
- Second Version: 2021
- Third Version: 2021
Production notes
- This was the fourth original story I wrote, I then went back and put all the stories crammed in between The Return (Zapbots the Movie III) and this one.
- Yep, the gangs all here and pretty much everyone dies. This is the Infinity Wars/Justice League Apokolipse war story for the Zapbots.
- With the original draft, this was originally Zapbots the Movie IV, which had a simpler timeline and I died a second time. When I rewrote this I already had Rebooted done, so I obviously couldn't die.
- I knew very early on with these rewrites that I wanted this to be completely different and more in-depth. I also had to find a way to tie it into Rebooted as this story was already complete. Knowing I wanted to have a massive battle from multiple viewpoints, I came up with the various missions happening at the same time. Then even though they don't really succeed, you get a Flashpoint type of reset that sets the stage for the reboot.
- The goal was to try and have as many of the original Zapbots standing at the end, thus coming full circle with the story.
- The Battle base appears to always be the place of last resort for saving the day.
Continuity notes
- Who's standing in the end?
Real-life references
Continuity and plotting errors
Other trivia
- True Transformers fans will know who Rup is by reading this and his mention of the Primax cluster. If you don't then you're not a true fan.
