[980503] Today on RoboMan . . . Kathy invites Brad and his friends over to her apartment for a dip in the rooftop pool but Aaron discovers a secret about her that may break Brad's heart. Meanwhile, Virex develops a weapon that can immobilize the Robon warriors. Are the lifeguards ready for the hardest challenge they've faced since becoming the automatons of RoboMan? Discover the answer today on Earth Defender RoboMan -- next! EARTH DEFENDER ROBOMAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starring: Aaron Roland Lifeson .............................. Gold Robon Brad A. Seed .................................... Silver Robon David Sykes ....................................... Blue Robon Amanda E. Waterman ................................ Pink Robon Copyright (c) 1995-97, 1998 Artist Bros. "Freeze Frame" Written By Dairenn Lombard ACT I: It was the middle of the week and at Hermosa Beach, there were few people to look out for. In the morning and afternoon hours during the week, the most Brad ever was alert to were potential trouble makers like pan handlers and the thugs. At Tower 18, he worked on the crossword puzzle in the Los Angeles Times while lying in the beach chair outside of the tower's cabin. "Five down," he mumbled to himself. "I know it's gasoline but it wants only six letters." The sound of the ocean's tide against the sand-covered shore was sharply off-set by someone knocking on wood. He looked over and saw Kathy, the brown-haired girl he'd met a while ago standing beside his tower. She was in a yellow t-shirt and denim shorts and looked as if she'd been carrying boxes all day. Standing up and off of his chair, he put his puzzle down and smiled upon seeing her. "Hey," he cheerfully greeted. "What are you doing here?" "Do I need a reason?" Kathy jested. "Heh, I had a feeling you were gonna say something like that," Brad remarked. Kathy shrugged. "What's new?" "Ahhh, not too much. Just makin' sure no one's throwin' trash on the beach," Brad commented. "What brings you here on this partly cloudy day?" "I have some awesome news and I wanted to tell someone who'd care," Kathy answered. "I got a new apartment!" Brad nodded. "Cool. Where?" "In Lawndale," answered Kathy. "I moved in today and since I don't go to work until 9 o'clock tonight to do the overnight shift at AmTrak reservations, I wanted to have a little celebration." "A celebration eh? How come you wanna throw a party?" Brad asked. Kathy shrugged. "I didn't like living in Venice--a lot. I'm happy to be in a city that's safer, a little bit more community oriented. And anyway, I was wondering if you and your friends would like to come over to my place and go up to the roof-top pool for dancing and take-out chinese." "Amanda would love to go dancing and Aaron and I love Chinese so sure. I'm pretty sure David would like to come too, I'll ask them just to be sure." "Okay great," Kathy replied. She walked towards his tower with a piece of paper. "Here's my number and address. I'm gonna go home to make some phone calls but I got call waiting so when you call, I wont miss it." Brad smiled. "Sure you want me to tell my friends now." Kathy laughed. "Yeah. If you wanna stay overnight though, I mean, just in case you need to rideshare with your buddies, I got a futon that makes a pretty comfortable bed." "Yeah but where are you gonna sleep?" Brad joked. Kathy laughed. Brad grinned. "Thanks again." Kathy started to walk away. "Bye," Kathy said while waving. Within the sands of the Mojave Desert, the ProcBot's ship was partially buried within one of the desert's hills. Aboard their crashed vessel, the dark green ProcBot's silver fist held a pistol shaped like a minature sattelite dish as he said, "the Microwave emmisions from the immobilizer will jam electronic signals between their electric brain and central impulse network." Virex looked at Abominor and Tyrannotron standing before him on the bridge. "Essentailly, with a clear shot, they will be instantly paralyzed." Abominor held his shin. "What is implied by ``clear shot,'' Virex?" asked the dark red ComBot leader. "They can't be already moving because the voltage between their CIN and brain is too high. Between movements, the signals reach a dip low enough to be stopped remotely," Virex answered. "The ComBots are going to have to work hard in order to acheive a length of immobility of approximately 13 millicycles." Tyrannotron nodded. "Good enough--even if we can slow them down, it becomes exponentially easier to at least trap them," the blue leader of the ProcBots said. "Abominor--coordinate with Ivicon and Virex on a plan to exploit this new technology and report to me at your earliest convenience." Abominor bowed his head. "Yes, my leader." "Dismissed," Tyrannotron said. ACT II: The lifeguard administrative offices were housed by a white building located in the hills behind the pier. Inside of the hallways, lifeguards in bathing suits and swim trunks were walking around with their red cans. Standing by one of the clock-printers was Aaron, sticking his timecard in. After the dot-matrix head burned the black print on his card, he slipped it back into the metal slot holding over two dozen other timecards. "Everytime you tell me about that woman, I never fail to realize how lucky you got." "Yeah, man," David added. "I mean, what'd you do?" Aaron asked, "fall into a tub of holy water?" Brad laughed out loud. "Ghehehe! Heh-heh, I don't know but she's really cool, I know that much." As others approached the clock to punch out, the for of them began to wander away towards the changing stalls. "I'd love to go," Amanda spoke up. "I'd never miss an opportunity to see the city from a roof top." "Yeah, the clouds cleared out so I'm game too," David added, "don't have much else to do tonight." "All right, then, we're set," Brad declaired; "who's drivin'?" "I'll drive," David said. Brad smiled. "Cool. Thanks guys. This is gonna be great." Meanwhile in the Mojave Desert, it was overcast in the sandy hills where the ProcBot battleship had crash landed. Onboard, Abominor appeared behind the doors that had separated. After the dark read ComBot ProcBot left the elevator, the doors closed and, Tyrannotron standing in the center of the bridge turned around. "Report," the blue ProcBot requested. Abominor walked around the bridge until he came up to Tyrannotron. "The ComBots are preparing to take subterranian channel B to sector G7 and assemble Decimatron. That should get the Robon's attention and they will attempt to intervene. That's when you and Deploridon attack; Virex will be waiting behind the large structure at that location for a clear shot against the Robon." "Two against four are not good odds for our chances of suceeding are about 50 50," Tyrannotron replied. "However, because I'll be there doing most of the work, those odds should look better." Yeah right, Abominor thought to himself. Tyrannotron walked up to the elevator, having the sensors open the door. "Proceed with the ComBots and ride Toncur to the site in question. Deploridon and Virex will meet you there and engage." Abominor nodded. "They wont know what hit them. Especially when we disassemble Decimation and move in for the kill." Smooth jazz with a steady rhythm played while the landscape of Los Angeles County was in clear view below the mountains on the horizon where the blue sky had ended. The sun was at an evening position, still rendering the roof-top of Kathy's new apartment building very warm despite the strong wind. In a red bikini, Amanda somersaulted into the swimming pool with a single twist and David, sitting beside the portable stereo system smiled and nodded. She is awesome, he thought to himself. Aaron moved his head to the steady beat of the music. "That's some pumpin' music, Brad." "Yeah I know," he replied, "Kathy's got a cool selection of music. I'm not into jazz but that's not bad." The heavy blue door in the concrete structure on the roof opened and Kathy, herself, backed out of the stall in a bathing suit and cover up. Her flip-flops clicked against the tile flooring as she carryed a tray of punch in a pitcher and several eight-ounce plastic cups. "All right, drinks," Brad said. Aaron smiled, realizing Brad couldn't be happier. Fly Like an Eagle by Seal started to play and after Kathy sat the drinks down on the umbrella-covered table between two patio chairs, she looked up and smiled. "Ooh, David--turn that up." "Sure," he replied while reaching over the volume knob. Brad watched Amanda do a backstroke across the pool when he heard Kathy shout out, "Hey, Brad, come'ere!" He looked at her and saw her standing by herself while she used her fingers to signal him. As soon as he stepped near her, she started dancing softly. "Wanna join me?" Brad grinned and shrugged--beginning to accept everything. "'kay," he said, with calm and started to do a little shimmy himself. Soon they were grooving while David watched. Shifting her shoulders, Kathy slid her hips from side to side while Brad danced with his arms. Meanwhile, Amanda was tredding water while looking at Aaron. "Come on, Aaron, the water's fine!" "I'm gonna freeze to death when I get out here. It's almost six o'clock!" "Hey, Kathy--you got some snacks?" David asked, "if not, I can walk to the 10-4 store up the street to go get some." "Oh, no, that's okay--I've got some downstairs," Kathy told him. "I'll get 'em." Brad looked at her suddenly, hoping she wouldn't go--for Kathy danced very well. "It looks like you two are having too much fun," David replied. "I'll get them." "No!" Aaron suddenly said, "I'll get them." Looking at Amanda, she grinned at him from the pool. He smiled with pretend innocence and shrugged. Still dancing lightly, Kathy said to Aaron, "My door's open--I'm room 1109." Aaron nodded and walked away while, below, in the pool, Amanda rolled her eyes and swam for the stairs. And while she was beginning to climb out, Brad listened to the music more intently as he'd watched Kathy close her eyes and more dynamically move her body. In a hallway, Aaron walked down the brown carpeted floor in his yellow shirt and shorts, wearing a pair of flip-flops as well. He looked over at the golden numbers 1109 on a door and turned the knob. It was open and he walked inside. The room was scented with her perfume and other beauty and haircare products used frequently in the area. Aaron immediately saw the kitchen and walked towards hit but his knee hit the edge of the coffee table, bumping it loudly. "OW!" he groaned while sucking the air in through his clenched teeth. "Ugh, that hurt. Oh man," he moaned when he saw letters fall on the floor. Aaron knelt down and picked up the envelopes and put them back on the table but one letter's post mark date was for March. Over a month ago; however, the address was her current location. "Hm, funny--I thought she just moved in here last night," Aaron thought. He also noted it was from Dr. Kazmirov of Kaiser Hospital. "Hm," he moaned. Knowing he should immediately dismiss any thoughts of invading her privacy and reading the letter, he stood up to approach the kitchen. Opening up a cabinet above the counters, he looked in and saw a bag of Lays potato chips. "All right," Aaron cheered while smiling. His mind immediately returned to the party and that train of thought led him to pondering Brad's new found happiness with Kathy. And then began to ponder what would happen to Brad if anything were to happen to Kathy. On the soft couch, Aaron sat down behind the coffee table and picked up the envelope and took a letter out. "Dear Miss Michaels, we regret to inform you that your tests were positive and that..." he read outloud before his words trailed off; Aaron was reading faster than he cared to speak outloud to no one. "...and that we estimate you have... Wait a minute, wait a minute. HOW much longer does she have to live?" Re-reading the last sentence, his eyes widdened in terror. "Oh my Gosh." One and one quarter square miles of Torrance, California houses the Del Amo Fashion Center; the second largest mall in the United States. Ten major department stores, 350 shops, services and restaurants as well as a luxury office tower five stories tall and a 69 suite Medical Facility resided at this location with over 12,000 free-parking spaces. On the Artesia Freeway traveling westbound to Hawthorne Boulevard, a woman almost fourty drove a minivan with a daughter of slimmer build-both wearing bright blonde, shoulder-length hair while two younger boys were in the backseat; they'd sported long hair while they rode in the minivan. It was obvious the woman driving was stressed out by her tight grip on the steering wheel at the ten and two o'clock positions, checking her driver-side mirror every other moment. "Mom, you're going to give yourself a hearattack if you don't ease up," her daughter told her. "I know," her mother worriedly replied. "It's just that I've got this guy tailgating me." Behind her was a Hyspanic guy checking his watch every other momment while looking for an opportunity to change lanes. "Aw, come on--why's she drivin' so slow," he complained. "I'm gonna be late to that meeting." In the minivan, the woman looked at her speedometer as the needle inched past 60 MPH. "I would change lanes but that semi looks like it's about ready to jacknive if the wind blew the wrong way." All of a sudden, the entire on-ramp at Prarie Avenue was consumed by Toncur, the ProcBot tank suddenly pushing its way through traffic. A driver was relaxed while rolling when he looked up in his rear view mirror; there, he saw the huge brown tank gaining on it at almost twice his speed. He suddenly turned right to get out of its way. A driver behind him suddenly hit the breaks and swirved left while honking. Meanwhile, as the Tank rolled through traffic, cars narrowly avoided each other while Toncur parted the sea of vehicles. In the rear-view mirror of the woman's minivan, she watched the Hyspanic's old red car drove away and out of sight. "Finally," she muttered. "Ho! Check that out!" one of the boys said. His brother turned around to look out the rear window. "What?" Toncur's huge front side was bearing down on the family like a great wall about to crush them. "Woah ho!" The first son said, "Hey, Mom--you better step on it if you wanna avoid this tailgater." "I don't speed," their mother told them. "You better or that thing's gonna kill us!" the daughter said looking at the side rear-view mirror. "HUH?" her insulted mother asked--she looked up and saw the tank coming. "Oh my Gosh..." A clear cloud of smoke blew out of the exhaust of the minivan as its rear-bumper over the roadway began to move forward much faster. The tracked wheels of Toncur the brown tank rolled down the off ramp of the 91 freeway, rolling around and past the red light. In the back of four cars heading southbound on Hawthorne Avenue, a pair of red brake lights lit up on each of them, jerking the bodies of the cars as the tank turned left. A older, balding man with black sunglasses and a moustache in the black BWM let the cigar fall out of his mouth as he watched the enormous vehical fly by. A bright green robot 30 feet in length shot into the blue sky overhead before rolling out of view followed by the black ComBat, leaping into a somersault in the opposite direction; a white ProcBot ComBot jumped into flipping out of sight before the dark red leader of the ComBots somersaulted overhead and out of sight. While the ComBots stood in the street, Toncur braked to a halt and the people on the sidewalks were making a hasty retreat in random directions. From the ground, one could see the shining sun being hidden by the 30 foot-tall dark red ComBot. "Heh," Abominor sneered, "if they liked that, they're gonna love this. ComBots," he called; standing together, the other three looked Abominor, awaiting his command. "Transform and unite Decimatron!" On the ground, one could find the green, black and white ComBots nodding and grunting at the dark red ProcBot. The center section of Stealthon and Ivicon's limbs had folded, converting the black and dark green robots into large robot legs that gained a bright red aura when struck by lightning. In the background existed a view of the coastal mountains when Toncur, the brown tank, rolled over the sand so fast, dust flew by its tracks. It rolled off a cliff and into the sky and, in midair, the huge metal vehicle had extended at multiple locations throughout its body. The tank, guided by bright arcs of lightning, was lowered onto the robot legs forming a torso. In the sky, the red and white ComBots, Abominor and ThunderBelt had jumped into the air. In the sky, the two had rapidly ascended. While flying, they simultaneously transformed into robot arms that red arcs of light had brought into the sides of the torso. Sliding up from between the shoulders was the head of Decimatron. It was black and had a gray, metallic face with a shiny red visor across its eyes. Both arms flexed out to the sides as the 80-foot robot stepped forth. On Torrance Boulevard, the screaming sirens of the black and Sheriff's Department cars were heard before the cars and their red and blue strobe lights were seen. In one of the parking lots, the noise of a dozen car horns filled the air since everyone had attempted to back out at the same time, in the same places. Women and men in brown uniforms held their black leather belts while running down the sidewalk--wondering how to evacuate a facility larger than a concert hall. Meanwhile, above everything, Decimatron slowly marched ever closer to the scrambling people. ACT III: On the rooftop patio of the apartment building in Lawndale, David had turned on the radio to play more smooth jazz while Brad was showing off a torando kick to Kathy. She gazed at him when he repeated the move while explaining it. Meanwhile, Amanda layed on the beach chair while handling a towel. She hung it up and picked up the sunscreen lotion before opening the cap and turning it upside down. Meanwhile, the big heavy blue metal doors in the concrete structure opened with Aaron walking out with a painted on smile. He held a few bags of potato and tortilla corn chips. Brad looked over and smiled. "Hey, all right, Aaron!" "Yeah," he responded while Brad grabbed a bag. David was walking over and took a bag as well while Brad tore into his. Aaron looked over at Amanda on the chair and asked, "Hey, you want some?" "No, thank you," she answered. While Brad munched, Kathy quietly said to him, "Rideshare with the others?" "Yeah," he asked while grabing another potato chip. Kathy smiled. "It'd be nice if you could stay for dinner. I've got pasta." "I'd love to but my friends will need to be going by then," Brad replied. Kathy nodded. "That's okay. But like I said, you could always stay overnight." Brad suddenly looked at her and she was grinning. And away from them, Aaron stood watching--looking more sour than ever. David was walking back to the stereo to play a compact disc instead of the radio when he was interrupted. Amanda was calling out, "David?" He looked behind himself at Amanda and she used her hand to gesture to him to come to her. So he walked towards her. "Hey, David--do you think you can rub a little of this on my back? I got a big clump of this mess on my shoulders but I can't get it any lower than that." "Uh," David paused while looking at her white creamed hands and the bottle. "I--I mean, are you sure..." Right behind him, Aaron suddenly arrived. "David." "Ooh!" he gasped. "Ugh, Aaron, don't do that." Aaron looked over his shoulder briefly and then said, "Can I talk to you for a second, I really need to talk to you. Can we talk for a minute?" "Uh, sure," David mindlessly agreed; Aaron started to walk away, taking David with him. Amanda looked to the side, confused. "Hmph," she cooed. "Brad's in deep kimshee, David," Aaron said, standing away from everyone. David looked behind himself and then at Aaron. "What are you talking about?" "Dude, I finally figured out why Kathy's so weird like she is," Aaron said. "I mean, no ordinary woman gets a potentially nice guy from meeting them on the bus and continues to agressively pursue an relationship, right?" "Well, I wouldn't know," David answered from experience. Aaron looked at him even harder. "Well I do. David, this woman is going to die pretty soon." "WHA," David interrupted himself, "_what_?" he whispered. "How do you know?" "She got a letter from her doctor saying so and it was sent to this address weeks ago; before she supposedly moved here," Aaron said. "Aaron, what's the matter with you? How could you read some stranger's mail? That's," David was saying. "I wasn't going to but then I realized how Brad would feel," Aaron was starting to say, picking up on David's gesture that it was a cop-out explanation. "Aw come on, David--you know how he gets." "So what are you telling me for?" David asked. Aaron looked up at Brad. "I need to figure out a way to break it to him." "Well we sure as heck aren't gonna tell 'em anything right now--he'll jump off the roof," David said. "Yeah but I think that she knows she's not going to be around much longer and is trying to make the most of her remaining months alive," Aaron speculated. "Why else would she do something so risky as get with some guy after meeting him on the bus." "Well, that's not necessarily..." "Hey guys," Amanda said, standing in front of the stereo next to Brad. "Come listen to this." David looked over and started moving away; Aaron exhaled hard and followed. The of them jogged past the pool and towards the portable stereo. Kathy was silent while the radio played an announcer talking about emergency crews and an evacuation. David asked, "What's the deal with this?" "They say something tall that looks like a machine started moving towards the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance," Brad said. Amanda gasped. "Oh, that reminds me--my brother Spencer is near there!" She winked at Aaron. The hint wasn't lost on him as he played along. "Oh man, that's right, we better get goin' guys," Aaron said. David nodded. "I'll start the car--meet me downstairs." "Bradley be careful," Kathy said to Brad. Brad smiled--enjoying her concern. "I'm savin' the good stuff for tonight so I better be." David and Aaron exchanged looks of deep concern. In the apartment parking lot, Amanda put on a t-shirt over her jeans while Brad looked around the fenses. "All right, we're clear." David nodded and looked to the others. "Let's do it, Aaron." "Right," Aaron replied. "I call on the spirit of RoboMan!" On Aaron and David's t-shirt, glowing red dots had stretched into thin light beams. They turned clockwise, materializing a round red badge on their chests, showing the IV, III, II and I symbol on each badge respectively. Aaron took off his circular badge shouting, "RoboCrystal!!" His left hand on the front of the badge caused it to glow as Aaron moved his hand to the left. A beam of yellow light followed his hand, creating a clear, yellow tinted cone. The two of them quickly raised the yellow and blue cones to the to the sky shouting, "Earth Defender RoboMan!" The four cones spawned a spiraling ray of white light that surrounded them. Amanda, David, Brad and Aaron had become silhouettes of pink, blue, white and yellow light that expanded from six feet to 30-feet. Aaron stepped forth and looked into the sky shouting, "I, gold Robon summon Rocore!" The clouds in the blue sky had parted as Rocore, the large black and red striped aircraft jet-propelled itself downward. "Let's go!" Aaron commanded before leaping into the air. In the sky, the two Robon Warriors had rapidly ascended and, inside of the cockpit, the two forward seats were occupied by the gold and blue Robon. "Full throttle!" David reported. Over the city, the slender black jet bolted southward past the sun in the sky. Kathy picked up a tray of empty cups when a loud, thunderous roar caused wind to gust, blowing her brown hair. Looking up sudden, she exclaimed, "what was that??" In the blue sky, she saw the black jet airship quickly enter the horizon in the distance. "Woah, that was weird." In the blue sky, the four Robon warriors somersaulted in opposite directions overhead and out of sight with the golden, silver, blue and pink Robon shouting "Aiya!", "Hiiya!", "H'ugh!", "Hai!" Landing in front of the evening sun, the four of them struck individual battle positions shouting, "RoboMan!" Tyrannotron stood beside Deploridon, holding his personal blaster. "What kept you?" "It's time to take out the garbage," Brad said, "a couple of tons of scrap should do it." "Kill them, ComBots!" Tyrannotron commanded. Two by two, they fell from the sky and the first to plunge forth was the white ComBot holding his razor sharp sword. Amanda cartwheeled out of the way and turned around to karate-chop across the top of ThunderBelt's sword, causing the white ComBot to stumble away. Brad's silver legs tornado kicked Abominor into rolling over into a flip before running in and kicking both Ivicon and Stealthon down. Deploridon started shooting bolts of purple energy from his large pistol and a sparks blasted out of Brad's silver chest. "Oh man," Aaron said looking at him suddenly. "Robon Weapon IV: Star Darts!" Aaron had announced while holding up a fist full of golden glowing stars. He tossed them ahead and while towers of sparks were exploding, Tyrannotron was rising over the explosion while aiming his arm-mounted cannon--opening fire. In midair, the golden Robon went spinning out of control in front of fire that exploded out of the roadway. David jumped over Stealthon's black axe coming at him and tumbled under the weapon before using his blue daggers to hold up the weapon. Withdrawing one, he knocked the axe away. Meanwhile, the pink Robon ducked Deploridon's spin-kick while blocking Tyrannotron's front kick. She blocked the light red ComBot's punch, knocked his arm high and quickly beat him in the abs and head before the blue leader of the ComBots side-kicked her in the shoulder, making her fall. David stood up and held up his fist. "Aaron, David--spot me!" Switching positions, the silver and blue Robon stood side by side and, running up from behind, was the golden Robon. On their shoulders, Aaron jumped into the air while tossing a pair of shuriken--star shaped darts. The ComBots were surrounded by ten fountains of sparks exploding from the parking lot. Meanwhile, hidden behind a five-story building was Virex, holding the immobilizer. "Come on, you guys--hold them still for a moment." Tyrannotron was joined by Delporidon as the blue ProcBot said, "Enjoy it while it lasts as your day of destiny has arrived." The silver Robon looked up. "What??" Rising into midair, Virex's green CrossBow and Abominor's dark red discus had been launched before they dropped out of sight. Sparks blasted out of the armor of the Robon after the arrows striking them down. "Good work, ComBots," Tyrannotron said. "Take notes, ThunderBelt." "Hm!" the white ComBot fussed. While the streets were smoking, each Robon strained to get up as one could see their shiny steel bodies smoldering from the blasts. "You haven't beat us yet, ProcBots," David said. Stealthon laughed. "Sure we have. Now, Virex!" All of a sudden, the bright green ProcBot was already standing beside a building was the 30-foot ComBot holding the bullhorn-shaped satellite dish weapon. "What is that??" Amanda screamed. Rings of yellow streamed from the weapon Virex aimed. The blue Robon managed to tumble out of the way, and roll out of sight. And while the others were still kneeling, the three Robon warriors were surrouned by the rings of light streaming past their current location; a yellow aura began to outline their metallic bodies with the glow becoming increasingly intense. "What's -- happening -- to -- us?" Brad slowly asked. "Don't... Know!" Aaron answered. Tyrannotron looked on and cocked his head downward. "Yes... Keep firing!" David stood up and looked at his friends. "NO!!" He looked at Tyrannotron and shouted, "What are you doing?" "We're destroying you! And we're doing it because our mission commands us to," Tyrannotron proudly announced. The three Robon warriors were freezing up as the rings ceased their flow and their glowing auras disappeared. Lying on the black asphalt, like fallen statues, the golden, silver and pink Robon looked dead. I'm the only one left, David thought. Suddenly, he heard a click as the weapon was re-charged and aimed at him. He looked to his side to see Virex, the light green ProcBot holding up the Imobilizer. "Say goodnight, Blue Robon." David looked at him with his fists up, wondering what he was going to do. Tyrannotron, Deploridon and Abominor all watched with anticipation. Pulling the trigger, Virex held the weapon that streamed forth the rings of light. The blue Robon jumped into the sky as the rings passed his previous location. In midair, he leaped into a reverse somersault which allowed his fists to come out while he landed. Two silver fists from the blue Robon knocked the Imobilizer out of Virex's hands. And, in the blue sky, the device was sent sailing out of sight. Both feet landing on the asphalt, David brought up his fists. "Fool!" Deploridon said. "You've only made the agony you will suffer in your death multiply ten fold." David sneered. "Heh--like it wasn't bad enough." "Abominor," Tyrannotron called, "wear him out." The dark red ProcBot, leader of the ComBots nodded. "Let's go!" "Oh I'm not going to enjoy this!" David said as he prepaired for battle. After ThunderBelt swung his scimitar sword against David, the blue Robon tumbled beneith his blade when Stealthon jumped in his way. As the black ComBot tried to axe him down, David leaped into a hurricane kick, beating Stealthon's weapon away. In midair, Abominor coasted through the sky shouting, "Sonic Disc!" as he tossed the razor-sharp frisbee ahead. Fire erupts from the pavement and the explosion boosted David into the air. In the sky, the blue Robon was smoking while sailing backwards out of sight. Through the flames, David landed and rolled out of control before managing to stop himself. Ivicon held up on his right side a weapon shouting, "CrossBow!" and aimed it at the blue Robon warrior who just managed to stand up. "Uh oh!" David groaned. Ivicon pulled the trigger, shooting an arrow out of the firing chamber of the gun-shaped bow. Like fountains, towers of sparks blasted out of the street while more yellow bits of fire broke away from his blue, steel-plated chest. The force of the explosion caused him to writhe and yell out before he was forced into spinning downward into the pavement. "David!!" screamed the pink Robon. Lying on his arms, face down on the smoldering street, the blue Robon struggled to push himself up. "This isn't working," he strained to say. Still frozen, the golden Robon shouted out, "David, man, don't let them do this to you! You gotta stop 'em!" David was still down when Ivicon's two green legs walked onto the pavement in front of him. Looking up--he was holding the bullhorn-shaped satellite weapon. "Now, blue RoboMan, hold very, very still," Ivicon said. ACT IV: Next to the golden, silver and pink Robon warriors, the blue Robon faced Tyrannotron standing in front of his team of ComBots. The dark red one, Abominor standing next to white ThunderBelt, black Stealthon and dark green Ivicon. Standing next to the five-story tall medical building was the bright green ProcBot Virex holding the bullhorn-shaped satellite-like weapon, aimed at David. "Say goodnight, Blue Robon." "Not time for bed, yet, Virex!" David ponders how to stop the powers of the Imobilizer. That sure is putting out a lot of radiation, David thought. Maybe that's how they're doing it but how do I prevent it from jamming our motor functions? Ivicon prepairs to press the button. David draws his blue dagger from his right hip and throws it up. The Imobilizer in Ivicon's hands is launched out of his grip by sparks spraying from its body. On the ground, it dropped while smoking and, standing a distance away, Virex slapped his forehead. Ivicon tended to it before looking at the others. "It's damaged." "Shoot!" Deploridon exclaimed. "We must destroy them! Now! While we still have the chance." Tyrannotron nodded and looked at the ComBots, "ComBots, he is but one Robon; unite and kill!" "Finally--destruction," ThunderBelt said. Abominor ran out in front. "Toncur! Roll out!" Brad could hardly bend his head up to look, straining out the words, "No!!" The center section of Stealthon and Ivicon's limbs had folded, converting the black and dark green robots into large robot legs that gained a bright red aura when struck by lightning. In the background existed a view of the coastal mountains when Toncur, the brown tank, rolled over the sand so fast, dust flew by its tracks. It rolled off a cliff and into the sky and, in midair, the huge metal vehicle had extended at multiple locations throughout its body. The tank, guided by bright arcs of lightning, was lowered onto the robot legs forming a torso. In the sky, the red and white ComBots, Abominor and ThunderBelt had jumped into the air. In the sky, the two had rapidly ascended. While flying, they simultaneously transformed into robot arms that red arcs of light had brought into the sides of the torso. Sliding up from between the shoulders was the head of Decimatron. It was black and had a gray, metallic face with a shiny red visor across its eyes. Both arms flexed out to the sides as the 80-foot robot stepped forth. David jumped back and turned around to face the giant standing over him. "My friends are sitting ducks! I've got to protect them!" "You be smashed now!" Decimatron said while picking up its leg. The blue Robon leaped out of the way when its enormous metal foot dropped onto the pavement. While the earth shook, David rolled out of the way and got up after shaking his head. "That's bad. Uh oh!" He looked to see Tyrannotron, Deploridon and Virex running towards himself. "David, augh, call on..." Amanda was unable to continue. "What?! Amanda, say something!" Holding up large black pistols, loud, synthetic sound from Deploridon and Virex's repeated as bolts of light blasted out of the large holes at the ends of those weapons. While the blue Robon warrior stood alone, purple bolts of light slammed into the ground, causing dust to explode to his left and his right. Leaping out of the way, David hit the road and rolled over multiple times before getting up to clench his fist. "Man!! This is going nowhere!" David complained. "If only Aaron was online, I could really use his stars right now," David runs off towards his friends. "Amanda, Aaron, Brad. Can you hear me." They never responded to him. "I've got an idea. I, blue Robon summon Rocore!" The clouds in the blue sky had parted as Rocore, the large black and red striped aircraft jet-propelled itself downward. In the sky, David's body somersaulted overhead into a half-twist out of sight. Within the primary seat of the dark cockpit within Rocore, the blue Robon sat down and assumed control of the flying battleship. "Okay, let's see what this thing can do," David said. Rocore flew down towards Decimatron, looking directly at the jet. Decimatron raised its right arm and fired a bolt of light from his arm cannon and Rocore dodged the blast. "Boy, this is getting dangerous," David said. Rocore flew over Decimatron's head, turned around and flew towards Decimatron firing several lasers at Decimatron. Sparks harmlessly cascaded off of its heavy armor while it walked through the smoke. David pounded the console. "I wish I knew how to free the others! I just can't do this alone!" Virex and Deploridon come to and Tyrannotron runs near them and begins firing into the sky. "Get up and start firing, he can't dodge us all!" Virex and Deploridon raised their blasters and fire repeatedly into the sky. Rocore banks from side to side avoiding the shots. The blue Robon used his arms to regain his balance and looked down. "Let's see how they like it." The black jet aircraft unleashed a lightning beam at the ProcBots and, on the ground, multiple fountains of sparks had burst from the pavement like towers, blasting Virex and Deploridon into a back flip and a twist into the air and onto the ground. "Yes! Haha, got 'em. Uh oh!" Tyrannotron fired into the sky, and Rocore narrowly dodges the blast. Decimatron used his arm cannon to fire two shots at Rocore. Rocore ducked one but it's wing caught the second, causing black smoke the trail off from its tip. Inside of the cockpit, sparks fly as David tried to regain balance. "Oh NO! I'm losing control!!" David hollered. Amanda was furious. "I can't let him die at the hands of these heartless machines," she cried out. "He will live no matter the cost." Brad and Aaron both knew she was very serious. "I, Pink Robon, call on the power of Alumina!" Amanda was shouting; Tyrannotron looked over and laughed. "What are you doing?" Deploridon sarcastically and rhetorically asked. Amanda shouted. "Alumina; use my life force! Take it! Restore us now!!" Her yellow optics had begun to glow, illuminated by the energy coursing through her automaton body. Within her body--a mechanical assembily with four pipes was churning like the wheels of a locomotive; the speed was beginning to increase and, elsewhere, an electronic assembily resembling a long cord with rings along its length were beginning to be covered by a blue aura, generating arcs of lightning. The four-piped assembly was beginning to turn so fast, arcs of electric blue light were crawling all over it as steam began to rise. Her body was encased in a blue aura that began to grow blue arcs of lightning that made contact with Brad on her left and Aaron on her right. The pink Robon's optics were repeatedly glowing like a heart beat as the golden and silver Robon warriors were also being encased in this energy. Their optics were illuminated by the power surge overloading the static distortion, jamming the signals between their electric brains and automaton bodies. "What's going on!?" Tyrannotron asked. "I don't know!" Virex answered. Suddenly, the bright glow and deep humming from the electromagnetic power of Amanda's human life force and Alumina's spirit caused the auras outlining their three bodies to flash. It generated a ring of white light that expanded away from the Robon warriors rapidly. With the blue sky above, the golden, silver and pink Robon warriors stood up side by side. Tyrannotron clenched his fist and threw down his arm. "What?? Virex! Explain this!" "I don't know how this could have happened--this should have worked because they are built just like us, we know them inside and out!" Virex shouted. Aaron stepped ahead, "You're wrong! We're not just machines, like you guys." Brad nodded but noticed that Amanda was nodding off, as if she were falling asleep. "Amanda!" "Don't worry, I'll be all right," Amanda told him. "I'm just a little tired." "Foolish incompetence from my assistance as only forstalled your doomed fate," Tyrannotron said. "Wanna bet?" Aaron said. The gold, silver, blue and pink Robon Warrior stood below the brilliant sun shining overhead. The background dissolved to an image of the tall robot they were about to become as they shouted, "RoboMan Unite!" Their back-mounted containers locking and onto their shoulders over their heads, Amanda and David back flipped while transforming into pink and blue feet and legs of a robot. White bolts of light had struck them, giving the two legs a rolling aura. As if it were continuously descending, Rocore's aft jets pulled out further to form the abdomen and waist. The nose of the aircraft detached and swung, by its hinges into a gap underneath the body of the black jet. The red wings slid forth, forming a V. On the afterburners, a slot had opened where a holster had been ejected into place, containing a red and silver device. Rocore, as the torso, vertically landed on the sockets of the pink and blue legs as the connection generated a great white flash. Aaron and Brad jumped into the sky. In the midair, the gold and silver Robon Warriors' heads descended between their shoulders. Their arms locked onto their chest before connecting together. The containers on their backs had hooked onto their feet, also locked together forming the forearms and fists. Guided by arcs of white lightning, the gold and silver robots were inserted into the shoulder sockets of the black torso. Once the arms had connected, the joints locking caused a bright flashed. The chest had ejected forward, allowing the head to rise into place. Its silver face featuring a metal mask across its mouth, a metallic nose and two yellow glowing eyes. Once the chest had closed, a bolt of lightning energized RoboMan's heavy armor once it flexed its arms and stepped forth. Walking forward between the buildings surrounding them, Decimatron rushed the gold, silver, blue and pink-limbed robot with full force. RoboMan knocked Decimatron's fists skyward before upper-cutting Decimatron in the abs. RoboMan stepped forward and jabbed its right fist into its chest. Smoke from the sparks blasting out of its chest caused it to stand back. Echoing from all directions, Decimatron's voice called out, "Kyosei Scimitar!" while holding up the bladeless hilt of its weapon. Lightning struck the handle of the would-be sword, forging into existence the blade of the curved scimitar. Slicing down and cutting across, Decimatron's sword sparked off of RoboMan's armor before it punched the tip of the Kyosei Scimitar away. RoboMan reverse-punched Decimatron in the chest, causing sparks to break out of its armor. RoboMan took the device from its hip-mounted holster and shouted, "DoubleWeapon!" The tall robot pushed a button on its handle, causing the two sides of the guard to eject upwards into position while ejecting the blade into place. "RoboSaber!" RoboMan held up its sword and struck down. Decimatron got slashed but the sparks weren't even gone before it used the scimitar to block another hit. Virex held up the Imobilizer. "I think I got it working now, Tyrannotron." "Good, one shot is all you'll need now," Tyrannotron replied. "Now just don't mess up like you did the last time." Deploridon looked up and shouted, "Decimatron! Get them into position!" Above, Decimatron looked down at the three of them and nodded. RoboMan struck down and they both clashed blades on both sides before Decimatron locked RoboMan in place. "Four targets instead of one--how brilliant of you," it sarcastically said to RoboMan. Pushing it sword away, RoboMan turned around and stood behind Decimatron. Below, Virex was already pointing the Imobilizer up before rings of light flashed out of the weapon. Above, Decimatron was fighting the rings as they streamed into its abdomen, causing a yellow aura to form. RoboMan looked ahead and watched. "No!" Tyrannotron shouted. "Virex, shut it down!" Pushing buttons on the side of the weapon, Virex shook his head. "I can't! It must be still damaged." "I'll fix it!" Deploridon said while holding out his blaster to the side. Virex waved his hand at Deploridon. "No! Don't shoot!" A bolt of purple light blasted out of Deploridon's hefty weapon and Virex jumped out of the way. On the ground, bits of it were on the ground smoking. Meanwhile, Decimatron was frozen solid and RoboMan picked up its fist and launched straight ahead. The towering robot of dark red, black, white and bright green limbs keeled over like a newly chopped tree. On the ground, Decimatron fell flat on its face before glowing brightly. When the white light flashed, all of the ComBots were lying down before gradually pulling themselves up. "What happened?" ThunderBelt asked. Abominor looked up and saw RoboMan standing over themselves. "I don't know but I know what's about to happen." "RETREAT!" Tyrannotron ordered. On top of Toncur, the ProcBots jumped inside of the hatch before closing the door. The huge brown tank began to drive away. That night, Amanda's small, single-story house featured a triangular rooftop and her red compact car in the driveway in front of the steel garage connected to her home. In the den, Amanda was lying on her couch in a big oversized shirt while resting. Aaron walked into the room with her pillow and stopped to look at her. "So what do you think I should do?" Amanda sighed. "You can't tell him. Brad will push you out of his life despite all of what you are trying to do. At least his sadness from Kathy's death will not alienate him from all of us." "I know you're right but I can't stand to see the guy so happy from this temporary relationship," Aaron replied while giving her the pillow. "What if Brad does something outrageous like buys her expensive things or worse. Tries to get serious with her and makes a commitment to Kathy." Amanda shook her head. "It would happen anyway." "Not if I tell him the truth." The door bell rang, effectively concluding their conversation. Aaron shook his head with his eyes closed. "I'll get it." David was on the front portch in blue jeans and when the door opened with Aaron already at Amanda's house, he seemed disappointed. "Hey," he greeted. Glad to see someone else who knows about Brad's predicament, Aaron smiled. "Hi, David." "Is Amanda okay?" David asked. Aaron nodded a little. "Yeah, she's just tired. That took a lot of her own energy. Want to come in?" "Yeah sure," David said. In the den, Amanda looked up and asked, "who is it?" "It's me, David," he called out before coming in with Aaron. Amanda looked over the couch at him and continued to watch him with a look of concern. "I actually should be heading back to our place; Brad's probably wondering where I am right now," Aaron said. "Goodnight, Amanda." "'nite," she replied. After he walked out of the room, David began to walk closer to Amanda on the couch. "So, how are you feeling?" he asked. Amanda shrugged. "A little numb, I guess." "What you did today was really amazing, Amanda; I don't know how to thank you for saving us all," David said. Amanda didn't smile or say anything at all. "Is there something the matter?" he asked her. Amanda could feel the tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes and looked up again. "It just hit me that someone who has spent their whole lives hoping and not getting despite their qualities and value in life was about to die. I couldn't stand to let someone like that who was my friend of all people be wasted." David listened carefully. Her voice began to flutter as she continued to speak. "I know it's silly for someone who must be a strong warrior to be so emotionally motivated." Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Amanda looked at him. "But, no matter how much destruction I see and lives I know have been lost--I never loose that sinking feeling whenever I know it is about to happen." David nodded deeply. "I care, David," Amanda strongly told him. "I care about us and... I care about you." Losing her composure, her face grew contorted from emotions consuming her. "I care about you, David," she gasped. David knelt in front of her and held Amanda in his arms. THE END Next time on RoboMan: His leg in a cast, David goes stir crazy with child's play in a neighbor's yard while trying to do work from home. As Amanda daydreams about David, ProcBots unleash Slayer Droid Aracnor to mass-consume power. Will the the Earth Defenders short one Robon have what it takes to exterminate the spider? Find out in next week's episode of Earth Defender RoboMan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Earth Defender RoboMan" is a trademark of Artist Bros. Productions. The above content and text is protected under laws of the United States of America and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution. Copyright (c)1995-97, 1998 Dairenn Lombard for Artist Bros. Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Country Of First Publication: United States of America. Artist Bros. and Dairenn Lombard are the author of the preceding text. The characters and events depicted in this story are fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional. [TV-Y7] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------