Replox: Abstract Foundations

Replox: Abstract Foundations is a 2001-2002 short story written in the Cormorant era. It chronicles how mild-mannered 22nd-century Kevin Mend is turned into a "human Rubik's Snake." This project is listed as entry #18 in the history of Dozerfleet Comics due to its comic book genre nature. However, as it was written to be a book; it overlaps with Dozerfleet Literature. It would later be re-released in A5 paper format, as well as in PDF format and EPUB format, at 7:30 PM EDT on Monday, October 1st of 2012.

Plot
Two brilliant men, Robert Abstracadia and Maxwell Hurtz, discover a gateway to a world known as the "Abstra-Matri World," and seek to capitalize on it. However, Hurtz grows greedy and uses the strange properties of the new world to turn himself into an evil entity that looks like a walking pinball machine, calling itself "Enjerié."

Three cities in Texas; Friedburg, Maverickville, and Merinda Twp.; combine to form a town called Triple Play. Mayor Ernest Thrum of Triple Play is not yet aware, but Enjerié is vying for his job - and much more! Enjerie is already the supreme emperor at this point of the city of Enjosh in the Abstra-Matri World, but he wants to rule both worlds! To aid him, he believes in creating super soldiers to aid his cause that are made of humans bound to "abstra-matrices" to become puzzle-bound mutations that will do his bidding.

The latest model in the works is to create a human Rubik's Snake, able to shape himself into various entities limited only by the number of combinations possible with a Rubik's Snake. The doorway to his world is underneath the city's largest buildings, the Super Apartments and Broadcasting Staions Complex (SABS.) This is what gives him an idea for a candidate for his experiment.

A caretaker for the elderly, Kevin Mend, is also an aspiring gymnast. Kevin is engaged to Anyce Hamilton, the daughter of local town DJ John B. Hamilton. Both families live on the south side of town, on the major landmass of Friedburg. As they are on the bridge to Maverickville, a band of thugs attacks and sets up a barricade for Kevin and his family.

They force Kevin on top of the van, and then detonate explosives to force him flying off the top of the bridge and into the stream below. From there, he is abducted by divers and a submarine. His family is torched inside their van.

Anyce, believing she is the only survivor and having been left behind by the thugs, returns to living with her father to mourn the loss of her fiancé.

Kevin wakes up inside the Abstra-Matri world in a lab, where he has been awakened by a sympathetic man that aids him in his escape. Kevin is horrified to learn that he has been transformed into a snake, but follows the sympathetic man's lead and escapes.

He introduces himself to Anyce as a snake, and she is distraught to find him alive and mutated. The two of them learn of Dr. Robert Abstracadia's brother, Herb. Herb, a paranoid old man living alone, agrees to help the couple avenge their loved ones lost at the hands of Enjerie and company. He teaches Kevin how to transform into various animals and objects by accessing his snake matrix in the Abstra-Matri World.

The members of the newly-formed "Rubik's Gang" decide to teach Kevin how to transform into a superhero. Although they are initially unsuccessful, Kevin is soon adept at transforming into a humanoid form with the aid of cube-shaped energy crystals known as "cubiyons." After getting some practice at busting criminals, Kevin adopt the alias of "Replox" and sets to work trying to foil the latest conspiracy that Enjerie and company have been launching. He learns that Enjerie has set up as the head of the gang syndicates in town a very dangerous man bound to a metallic stork matrix. This man, known in his new form as the monster Miscarriage, has a very sinister plot in the works that somehow involves the mayor.

Miscarriage and Replox both soon know that the information Miscarriage needs to fulfill his plan involves the institutionalized and manic-depressed Andrea Schlemming. Miscarriage turns Andrea's ex-boyfriend, Charlie Rigsbelt, into a chemical vat monster named Molarity to capture her. Replox rescues Andrea from Molarity by setting a trap for the monster that results in a violent explosion.

Miscarriage, outraged at Replox's interference, vows to capture Andrea one way or another. Herb plants tracking bugs in Andrea's socks to make her easy to find in case she is ever captured. Kevin and Anyce elope, so that they can feel more comfortable about their new living arrangement. John joins with Kevin, Herb, Anyce, and Andrea to help bring down the threat of Miscarriage on the city. Miscarriage sets a trap to catch Andrea but his goons absent-mindedly forget about Anyce. Meanwhile, Replox is distracted in a failed attempt to stop the mayor from being abducted.

Replox uses Herb's tracking bugs to trace Andrea's location. After sneaking past several thugs, he begins experimenting with more powerful forms of his superhero "phasing." Due to his interference, Miscarriage fails to gain access to the most dangerous type of cubiyon known in either universe - the Silver Cubiyon! He succeeds, however, at transforming the mayor into a flame-spewing monster named Fuegbarian.

Replox uses the Silver Cubiyon to turn himself into a jet, and disposes of what remains of Miscarriage's plans. Upon Fuegbarian bringing about his own demise, Miscarriage himself ends up falling several stories to his death. Anyce and Andrea fear the worst for Kevin, whom they now refer to as "Kilo" while he is in snake form. They find him in his snake form, washed up on the beach and exhausted.

In a flash forward, Replox vows to continue to fight Enjerie's creations.

Trivia



 * Replox, was originally supposed to be the pilot to a whole series.


 * The story was written from September of 2001 until April of 2002.


 * The junior and senior high school students at St. Matthew Lutheran School in Holt, MI were required that year to write novels as their final project for American Literature class.
 * Wishing to do a comic book-style novella, the Dozerfleet founder took the initiative to begin writing his piece long before anyone else in class had their ideas ready.


 * Inspiration for this story was a Rubik's Snake puzzle that the founder had owned since 1996.
 * One of the humanoid shapes possible with the puzzle formed a facial pattern that reminded him of Kamen Rider Black RX, as seen in Saban's Masked Rider.
 * The shape also bore a slight resemblance in appearance to Spider-Man. Masked Rider, however, became the inspiration behind the later "phases" of Replox, with Phase #2 being modeled after Dex Stewart]'s Super Gold mode and Phase #3 being modeled after Super Blue mode.
 * Similarly, Dex Stewart's origin story would be a source of inspiration for that of Vinny Mason in Volkonir, with the Gwirdon Treaders even being inspired by the Maggot Troops from that show.


 * Replox is the first major Dozerfleet character to have the motif of needing a rich mentor / sponsor, being disadvantaged somehow, losing his family, needing to make new friends to assume his hero form again, having power-ups to his form, gaining a girlfriend / fiancee sidekick, and taking inspiration from Saban's Masked Rider at points. This shtick of his was later recycled heavily for Volkonir, seven years later.


 * Enjerié was inspired by a Wendy's Kid's Meal toy of a robot with a pinball machine built into its belly.


 * Miscarriage is a parody of the Stork Myth about baby delivery.
 * His name implies that he is an evil stork that prevents childbirth, rather than one that aids in healthy delivery.


 * Herbert Abstracadia is a tribute to Christopher Lloyd as Doc. Brown in Back to the Future. His hair was almost drawn similarly.


 * The idea of a male protagonist in a vehicle-related tragedy being separated from his girlfriend only to be promoted to a hero after being rebuilt in a lab, which was used in this story, was also used for Stationery Voyagers.
 * Just as Kevin Mend wakes up in a lab, so does Pextel.


 * Replox is the second Dozerfleet character to have been inspired by Marvel's Spider-Man. The third is Ciem.


 * Charlie Rigsbelt isn't the only Dozerfleet character to use the "Molarity" alias. It was later used by Yoichi Hoshijo in Experiments and Offspring.
 * Cupric is also inspired loosely by the original Molarity.


 * Khumar Hamilton in Classic Gerosha derives his surname from Anyce Hamilton.


 * Replox's personality nuances were loosely inspired by the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon that appeared originally on Fox Kids.


 * Ideas for a TV series were eventually abandoned, since it was decided that the series would be too complicated.
 * Interest in the series also waned while 90 Has No Secant was being written.
 * Additional characters that were going to appear in the Replox series included the Domeril natives, Repkata (a female version of Replox,) Sestix (A humanoid Rubik's Triamid,) Cubos (A sentient Rubik's Cube,) and more.