Hostile Makeover is the first half of the ninth episode of My Life as a Teenage Robot.
Summary
When Jenny starts to develop face-bolts, voice changes, mood swings, and excess wires growing out of her underarms, Brad chalks it up to puberty. However, it soon becomes apparent that the "puberty" is actually the doing of Queen Vexus of the Cluster, who has infected Jenny with a virus-like nanobot to warp her into a loyal, Cluster-controlled monster.
Plot
After battling off a group of Cluster Drones, Jenny faces off with Vexus. But, Vexus gets away by gassing Jenny with a cloud of green gas and escapes. As Jenny coughs on the cloud of gas, a nanobot finds its way inside of her. The nanobot proceeds to bite Jenny in her innards. Jenny then rockets off to school. In class, Brad reminds Jenny that Picture Day is tomorrow. He then informs her that he wishes to be zit-free for his photo, which brings Jenny to mention that she never has to worry about breaking out. Just then, a bolt appears on her forehead, acting as a zit. She then screams, and blasts through the roof.
Back at home, Jenny proceeds to remove the bolt from her head by unscrewing it, but this only makes it larger. When Brad and Tuck come to visit, Brad concludes that the bolt is a sign that Jenny is going under 'robo-puberty.' Tuck, however, says that bolt is the first sign of some sort of infection of a tiny alien machine, and the infection will turn Jenny into a monster. As Brad dismisses Tuck's outrageous (but completely true) theory, more bolts emerge on Jenny's head. Brad then offers Jenny some of his cover-up to hide her "zits".
That same night, Brad and Jenny go over to Mezmer's. But Jenny does not wish to be seen in public for fear of her bolts being noticed. The cover-up applied to her face is a different shade compared to her white, metallic skin, so Jenny only ends up looking ridiculous and gets snickered at by the customers. After a period of mocking and humiliation, Jenny's voice chip malfunctions, making her voice deeper than usual. Completely embarrassed, Jenny runs off into an alley with a paper bag over her head.
While Brad tries to comfort Jenny, the nanobot inside of her body starts fiddling with her emotions, making Brad believe she's having mood swings. Jenny finally decides to take off the paper bag, only to reveal her deformed face, with even more bolts and an enlarged forehead. At the same time, Jenny's body starts to undergo drastic changes, involving underarm wires to appear (acting as hair), her stomach and chest to grow larger, and her arms becoming bulkier. Even more embarrassed, Jenny flees back home.
The next day, Jenny goes to school for Picture Day, now transformed into a neanderthal-like monster. On her turn for her picture, the flash from the camera causes Jenny to go red-eyed and berserk. The photographer is then revealed as Vexus, who orders, the now mind-controlled monster Jenny, to destroy the rest of the school. Brad tries to reason with Jenny, but to no avail. Tuck and Dr. Wakeman arrive and try to put Jenny into custody by short-circuiting her by attaching car jumpers to her and a power box. When Tuck tries to reach for the power box, Vexus grabs hold of him, causing him scream. Hearing Tuck's horrified cries, Jenny becomes distracted, allowing for Dr. Wakeman to attach the jumpers onto her. Once the second pair of jumpers were attached to the power box, Jenny then short-circuits, as planned, completely immobilizing her, and releasing the nanobot that was taking control of her. Nora explains this, using the same theory Tuck described earlier.
With the nanobot out of her system, Jenny then reverts back to normal. When Vexus refuses to release Tuck, Jenny warns her that she will destroy her nanobot if she doesn't let him go. Not wanting her nanobot destroyed, Vexus trades Tuck for it and flees back to her dimension, stating she will return to Earth, and someday soon Jenny will join the Cluster family.
Soon after, Picture Day proceeds as normal and Jenny gets her picture taken, but she becomes slightly embarrassed when, in the year book, she sees her picture -- with her belly hatch busted wide open.
Quotes
Brad: (to Jenny) Someone's having mood swings.
Brad: (after Jenny changes more) What's your hurry, Sally--I mean Jenny.
Brad: My only battle today is between my urge to gorge on chocolate and my desire to be zit-free for school photos tomorrow. (sees a huge chocolate bunny) Foul temptress!
Brad: ... and little Sally turns into- uhh ... BIG Sally.
Tuck: Freaks?! Mutants?! Where?!?
Jenny: That's one good thing about being a robot--you never have to worry about breaking out. (A bolt appears on Jenny's face and she looks up) AHHHHHH!
Brad: Hey Jenny, what's with the tiny tears?
Jenny: I... I tried to unscrew it, and it just got bigger!
Brad: C'mon! Nothing to freak about.
Jenny: But I'm a henious mutant!
Trivia
- Jenny's transformations (bolt zits, hair-like wires sprouting from her underarms, voice changes, and mood swings), though all caused by Vexus' nanobot, vaguely resemble the unpleasant effects teenagers experience when going through puberty.
- Jenny's deep voice and caveman-like speech when she is fully mutated somewhat sounds like the Hulk.
- This is the first appearance of Queen Vexus.
- Jocelyn Blue who voiced the teacher and the photographer previously was heard as the voice of Nerdluck Pound on the 1996 Looney Tunes/Michael Jordan film, Space Jam.
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