Hostile Makeover

Hostile Makeover is the first half of the ninth episode of Alex Adventure.

Summary
When Alex starts to develop face-bolts, voice changes, mood swings, and excess wires growing out of his 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 Alex with a virus-like nanobot to warp him into a loyal, Cluster-controlled monster.

Plot
After battling off a group of Cluster Drones, Alex faces off with Vexus. But, Vexus gets away by gassing Alex with a cloud of green gas and escapes. As Alex coughs on the cloud of gas, a nanobot finds its way inside of him. The nanobot proceeds to bite Alex in his innards. Alex then rockets off to school. In class, Brad reminds Alex that Picture Day is tomorrow. He then informs him that he wishes to be zit-free for his photo, which brings Alex to mention that he never has to worry about breaking out. Just then, a bolt appears on his forehead, acting as a zit. He then screams, and blasts through the roof.

Back at home, Alex proceeds to remove the bolt from his head by unscrewing it, but this only makes it larger. When Brad and Cheese come to visit, Brad concludes that the bolt is a sign that Alex is going under 'robo-puberty.' Cheese, however, says that bolt is the first sign of some sort of infection of a tiny alien machine, and the infection will turn Alex into a monster. As Brad dismisses Cheese's outrageous (but completely true) theory, more bolts emerge on Alex's head. Brad then offers Alex some of his cover-up to hide her "zits".

That same night, Brad and Alex go over to Mezmer's. But Alex does not wish to be seen in public for fear of his bolts being noticed. The cover-up applied to his face is a different shade compared to his white, metallic skin, so Alex only ends up looking ridiculous and gets snickered at by the customers. After a period of mocking and humiliation, Alex's voice chip malfunctions, making his voice deeper than usual. Completely embarrassed, Alex runs off into an alley with a paper bag over his head.

While Brad tries to comfort Alex, the nanobot inside of his body starts fiddling with his emotions, making Brad believe he's having mood swings. Alex finally decides to take off the paper bag, only to reveal his deformed face, with even more bolts and an enlarged forehead. At the same time, Alex's body starts to undergo drastic changes, involving underarm wires to appear (acting as hair), his stomach and chest to grow larger, and his arms becoming bulkier. Even more embarrassed, Alex flees back home.

The next day, Alex goes to school for Picture Day, now transformed into a neanderthal-like monster. On his turn for his picture, the flash from the camera causes Alex to go red-eyed and berserk. The photographer is then revealed as Vexus, who orders, the now mind-controlled monster Alex, to destroy the rest of the school. Brad tries to reason with Alex, but to no avail. Cheese and Dr. Blackman arrive and try to put Alex into custody by short-circuiting him by attaching car jumpers to him and a power box. When Cheese tries to reach for the power box, Vexus grabs hold of him, causing him scream. Hearing Cheese's horrified cries, Alex becomes distracted, allowing for Dr. Blackman to attach the jumpers onto him. Once the second pair of jumpers were attached to the power box, Alex then short-circuits, as planned, completely immobilizing him, and releasing the nanobot that was taking control of him. Susan explains this, using the same theory Cheese described earlier.

With the nanobot out of his system, Alex then reverts back to normal. When Vexus refuses to release Cheese, Alex warns her that he will destroy her nanobot if she doesn't let him go. Not wanting her nanobot destroyed, Vexus trades Cheese for it and flees back to her dimension, stating she will return to Earth, and someday soon Alex will join the Cluster family.

Soon after, Picture Day proceeds as normal and Alex gets his picture taken, but he becomes slightly embarrassed when, in the year book, he sees his picture -- with his belly hatch busted wide open.

Quotes
Brad: (to Alex) Someone's having mood swings.

Brad: (after Alex changes more) What's your hurry, Alice--I mean Alex.

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 Alice turns into- uhh ... BIG Alice.

Cheese: Freaks?! Mutants?! Where?!

Alex: That's one good thing about being a robot--you never have to worry about breaking out. (A bolt appears on Alex's face and he looks up) AHHHHHH!

Brad: Hey Alex, what's with the tiny tears?

Alex: I... I tried to unscrew it, and it just got bigger!

Brad: C'mon! Nothing to freak about.

Alex: But I'm a henious mutant!

Trivia

 * Alex's transformations (bolt zits, hair-like wires sprouting from his underarms, voice changes, and mood swings), though all caused by Vexus' nanobot, vaguely resemble the unpleasant effects teenagers experience when going through puberty.
 * Alex's deep voice and caveman-like speech when he is fully mutated somewhat sounds like the Hulk.
 * This is the first appearance of Queen Vexus in the series.
 * 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.

Home media

 * Nick Picks: Vol. 1
 * Superstar Children's Favourites
 * Alex Adventure - Season One