ZETA:
My name is Zeta.
I was built as a w*apon to destroy...
...but I will not destroy anymore.
RO:
Come on, let's go!
ZETA:
It's Bennet. Run!
This way.
RO:
Quick, Zee. Change.
ZETA:
Ro, look out!
[SCREAMS]
RO: We'll get you your freedom, Zee.
I know it.
RO:
Previously on The Zeta Project:
My motor functions. I can't control them.
How are you doing this to me?
This baby's the ultimate remote.
You just load in any schematics
and it runs the device.
BUCKY:
He's stealing my invention.
BUCKY: Admit it.
- Yes. I'm a parasite.
I stole them all.
I just wanted to scare him.
Figured it was the only way
I'd get him to confess.
Terminate target Zeta.
RO:
You're the genius. Do something.
Awesome.
If you're ever in a jam again,
let me know.
Oh, please.
Let's hope we're never that desperate.
Breathtaking, isn't it?
If you're into vast boring wastelands.
HOVERBIKE: Traffic alert.
The New Mexico Magway Authority...
...has declared a tornado warning.
We will now take control of your vehicle
and guide you to the nearest shelter.
Gotta be a mistake.
There isn't a cloud in the sky.
Machines don't make mistakes.
That hasn't been my experience.
What?
RO:
Aah! See?
[RO SCREAMING]
I can't control it.
[TRUCK HORNS HONKING]
We're Magway meat. Aah!
[SIGHS]
Next time, we take the bus.
Whoa!
[RO GRUNTS]
[DOOR OPENS]
Oh, no.
Hey, guys. Long time no see.
- Bucky?
- Ugh.
Why couldn't it be a real tornado?
HOUSE: Welcome home, Bucky.
Remember to wipe your feet.
Is this where you live?
It was, till I got the institute
to rescue me.
This doesn't look like your work.
Your devices are more elegant.
Thank you.
Somebody recognizes the true genius
in the family.
This junk's Mom and Dad's.
[CRASHES]
About as good inventors
as they were parents.
"Don't do this. Don't touch that.
No sulfuric acid at the dinner table."
That's their theme song.
ZETA: They appear to have had affection
for you.
Whatever.
Okay, so if we're done with
the dysfunctional trip down memory lane...
...maybe you'll get to
why you dragged us here.
This was their latest crackpot idea:
the Genome-Reversal Generator.
- And in English that would be...?
- Anti-aging.
Techno-fountain-of-youth stuff.
Point is, guess who hired them to build it?
My old buddy Dr. Tannor.
The man who stole
your inductance controller?
Yeah. Course, as usual,
Mom and Dad messed something up...
...and the machine doesn't work.
Now Tannor's holding them hostage
to make me come and fix it.
Oh. Now I get it.
- Have fun. Send us an e-mail.
ZETA: Ro?
What? Why should we help?
He just said
he doesn't really care about them.
I don't. It's just that...
...I don't want Tannor
stealing anything of mine.
- Parents, old socks, anything.
- See?
How would you feel if you knew your family
was in trouble?
Ooh, that is low.
OLD MAN: About time.
OLD WOMAN 1: My back hurts.
OLD WOMAN 2:
Where's the bathroom?
RO:
Ow! Watch it.
When I said, "next time we take the bus,"
I meant in the bus.
Sorry. Let's find Bucky's parents.
Ugh. I can't believe we're doing this.
TANNOR [OVER PA]: Welcome to
the Tannor Rejuvenation Center.
I'm Dr. Donald Tannor,
inventor of the Genome-Reversal Generator.
- And a lying bucket of junk DNA.
- Shh!
TANNOR: Get ready for a spa experience
that will truly change your life.
As you wait to register, let me explain
my amazing patented process.
As we grow older
and each living cell reproduces...
...it becomes a weaker copy
of its previous self.
The soothing rays
of my Genome-Reversal Generator...
...stimulate your aging cells
to revert to these younger, healthier stages.
It's like rewinding your life
frame by frame.
Until you're a whole new you.
BOTH:
Thank you, Dr. Tannor.
Ugh, salesmen. I'm related to salesmen.
This way.
They don't deserve to be rescued.
Get a grip. You made us come this far.
I made you? That was your choice.
I didn't care, remember?
Got it. Your parents
are in Administration Building, Unit C.
Where? I mean, "C"?
I'd have guessed "S" for "sellout."
Come on.
Yuck. What hit here, a cyclone?
BUCKY:
Probably another lame experiment.
Looks just like home.
Mom? Dad?
We in the wrong room?
Where are your parents?
You don't get it, chickie.
Those are my parents.
- Bucky!
- Ha-ha-ha! Wanna play?
[GLORIA GIGGLES]
Those kids are your parents?
Guess now we know
what's wrong with the machine.
ZETA: I thought it's supposed to
make people younger.
Not that young. Folks wanna be
in their prime, not preschool.
Whatever. Let's get out of here.
- Tag. You're it.
BUCKY: Argh!
Ow!
[SPUTTERS]
Now I see the family resemblance.
Get back here.
I'm trying to help you.
[BOTH GRUNT]
[GROWLS]
[RUDY AND GLORIA SCREAM]
Hey. Ugh!
[GROANS]
[DANTE GROWLS]
Wait up.
[APE-MEN GROWLING]
[RUDY AND GLORIA SCREAM]
What are those things?
- How should I know?
- I thought you knew everything.
Stay behind me.
[GROANS]
Zee!
[WHIMPERING]
[GASPS]
[CHUCKLES]
Heh. You guys from around here?
TANNOR: I knew you amateurs couldn't
understand the nature of my work.
You simply can't rush genius.
Yeah, but we can rush you, old man.
We're 20 million creds in the hole
because of you.
Now, start showing a profit...
...or you'll be the smartest guy
in the unemployment line.
BUCKY:
Get your hairy paws off me.
Bucky. It's about time.
I see you've found your little--
[SCREAMS]
[CLEARS THROAT]
It's okay, Doc.
We know you weren't scared.
Much.
So you wanted me? Here I am.
What's your problem?
You obviously found a way
around minimum wage...
...by hiring these missing links.
An early glitch
in research and development.
The machine didn't de-age them.
It devolved them.
Right back into ape-men.
And your parents promised
they could fix it.
- Well, they fixed it, all right.
- Ugh. Hey.
[CHILDREN CRYING]
Paying clients turned
into formula-swilling infants.
And then to top it off,
they did it to themselves.
So they messed up.
What did you expect?
I expect you to fix it.
I need that machine working...
...or things are going to get really ugly.
For you and your parents.
[RUDY GRUNTS]
[GLORIA GRUNTS]
You get to work.
And take them with you.
[GRUNTS]
[APE-MEN GRUNTING]
Wait. What about Zee?
I'm keeping him
until Bucky finishes the repairs.
Dante, destroy that thing
before it wakes up.
[MACHINE WHIRRING]
[BOTH GRUNT]
Whatever you do, don't touch anything.
Trust me, I wasn't planning on it.
I was talking to my parents.
Hey. Get out of there.
[GRUNTS]
[RUDY AND GLORIA LAUGHING]
No wonder this thing doesn't work.
It's a mess in here.
Yeah, well, hurry up and fix it
so we can get Zee back...
...and get out of flab central.
Huh, smart.
The power source is geothermal.
It's tapped right into the hot springs
underground.
What's this?
Cool.
Mom. You're gonna get hurt.
Don't touch this.
Don't do that.
And no sulfuric acid at the dinner table?
Yahoo! Faster, faster.
- Get off of that.
- Whee!
Someone's gonna get a time-out.
Going up. Going down.
Dad, stop.
RUDY:
Whee!
Got you.
Smooth move.
- You could help.
- I'm no babysitter.
[BUCKY SCREAMS]
Whee!
My turn. My turn.
No way. It's still my turn.
Get out of the-- Ugh!
No!
- They're having fun.
- At least they'll go out happy.
Or should that be go in?
Will you help me?
The generator won't shut off.
What can I do? You're the genius.
Yeah, but you're good at breaking stuff.
Point taken.
[GRUNTS]
Thanks. You can sit the rest out now.
[SNIFFS]
RO:
Isn't there just a plug we can pull?
BUCKY: It's powered geothermally.
You can't shut off the Earth.
Huh?
[APE-MEN GROWLING]
[APE-MEN GROANING]
- Are you guys all right?
- We are, but they aren't.
Ingenious programming, really.
Can you save the compliments till later
and get them out?
I'll try, but the machine's badly damaged.
[IN UNISON]
Hurry.
Got it.
Huh?
- Oh, crud.
- What?
That direct tap into the geothermal veins?
The blast must have disrupted
their pressure.
And in English?
- This whole mud pile is gonna blow.
- We were just leaving.
Huh! The other kids.
A whole mess of them
next to Tannor's office.
I'll go. You two get to the buses.
- He has enough time, right?
- Beats me.
TANNOR:
I trust everyone's relaxing.
But when are we gonna get
to use the genome thing?
Soon. Soon.
Our technicians
are working out some glitches.
It'll be back up in--
- What is that?
- That an earthquake?
It wasn't me.
OLD MAN:
What's going on here?
- No, wait. It's okay.
OLD MAN: Out of my way.
It's part of the natural wonder of the site.
OLD WOMAN:
I want a refund.
[GRUNTS]
Oh, no.
[GUESTS SCREAM]
[SIGHS]
Why me?
[GROWLS]
Bucky.
Whoa!
Bucky. I have had it with you.
Here. Get them to the buses.
He'll follow me.
And I thought you didn't care
about them.
Don't rub it in.
ZETA:
Hurry. Everyone in the bus.
Bucky? Ro?
You guys stay here. I'll be right back.
My life was ruined
from the day I met you.
Get off it, Donald.
Your life blew chunks
before I was even born. Aah!
[SCREAMS]
I've got you. Finally.
[GASPS]
Remember me?
[GASPS]
[STAMMERS INDISTINCTLY]
[SCREAMS]
Come on.
BUCKY:
Wait for me.
[BUCKY GRUNTS]
[YELLS]
Out of my way.
ZETA: I've studied the schematics
I downloaded from your parents' machine.
I can help build one to reverse the process
and return them to normal.
- Sounds like a plan.
- Sure you wanna do that?
I saw what they had to put up with today.
I don't wanna have to be the grownup.
We can use it
to restore the other kids too.
They're awfully quiet back there,
aren't they?
Uh, Zee, what other kids?
BOY: I want ice cream.
GIRL: I gotta go to the bathroom.
I want ice cream
and I got to go to the bathroom.
TANNOR:
I hate kids.
ZETA:
These were called scissors.
They're what people used
before laser cutters.
RO: You know what I hate?
How grownups say:
"No running with the laser cutters."
Bet they didn't have to hear that
back then.