The Time Bomb

## Paired With

###

The Nice Guy

## Synopsis

Wander enters Sylvia in the Galactic Conjunction 6000 but her competitive nature gets the better of her.

## Plot

The episode starts with Wander covering Sylvia's eyes for a surprise. He tells her that he is about to make one of her dreams come true, Sylvia excitedly asks if he is going to bury her in jellyfish pie and let her eat her way out, but instead Wander reveals that he has entered her in The Galactic Conjunction 6000 race, where once a year, the planets align to create the deadliest race course in the galaxy and "the insanest race in outer-space".

Sylvia is far from thrilled and says, "Oh Wander, you have no idea what you've done." Wander is still under the impression that she likes the surprise as he remembers Sylvia telling him that she used to race in The Galactic Conjunction 6000 and her dream was to win it. Sylvia panics and tries to back out from the race but Wander pushes her back to the starting line, positive that she will win it this time.

A blue fly-like creature pulling a furry yellow alien in a wheeled trash can pulls up alongside her at the starting line chanting "Tick tock, tick tock". Sylvia reveals that their names are Harvax and Stok. Harvax tells Sylvia that it's only a matter of time before she goes "boom." As the two take their places and the countdown begins, Wander enquires about the tick tock comments. Sylvia informs him that it's due to her racing nickname. Wander excitedly tries to guess her nickname correctly, As the timer counts down, Sylvia quickly becomes threatening and fierce, glaring down the competition. When the green light buzzes she explodes with a sudden burst of speed from the finish line and the title card "The Time Bomb" appears above her.

Roaring, Sylvia quickly overtakes most of the competition while Wander clings to her reins desperately. As she passes Harvax and Stok, Stok shouts "tick tock, tick tick, boom!" but Harvax tells him that Sylvia hasn't gone boom yet. "First her eyes will turn red, then her comb will stand up all pointy like, then the veins pop out on her neck and she starts foaming at the mouth, then when she's had enough, BOOM!". Sylvia reaches a muddy lake and easily jumps from lilypad to lilypad but along the way she misses her footing, slips and falls into the water. A lot of racers pass her during her slip up which further fuels her anger and she quickly catches up to them on the track, shoving them out of the way and dodging the incoming meteors.

After racing through a loop de loop, Wander attempts to get her attention and calm her down by "playing" some smooth sax using his hands as a pretend saxophone. It works and Sylvia instantly calms down and returns to normal, however a racer passes her with a "oh, uh, pardon me, Ma'am". Sylvia's competitive nature takes a hold of her again and proceeds to chase the racer around the track while the other racers pass them. As she lunges at the racer, Wander pulls hard on her reins causing her to fall to the ground, she turns on Wander, growling at him, but then realises what she is doing and comes to her senses. Sylvia then explains to Wander that competition changes her into the time bomb, she trips up a passing racer during her explanation. Wander encourages her to continue with the race, confident that with his help, Sylvia can overcome her anger.

The next obstacle on the course is a large twist of tunnels, Sylvia becomes increasingly worried as she enters the tunnels and all of the racers become cramped together. As she begins to get angry, Wander suggests for her to zone out into her happy place so Sylvia begins to imagine herself in Marshfalaffle Apple Meadow. Wander imitates some soothing sax and covers her eyes during the race, directing her through the tunnels as Sylvia floats happily through Marshfalaffle Apple Meadow in her mind, he then uncovers her eyes to reveal that they have made it through the tunnels and are in the lead. Sylvia is overjoyed until Harvax and Stok pull up alongside her chanting "tick tock tick tock". Wander encourages Sylvia to ignore them but Sylvia is unable to and ends up "exploding", she chases the two around the track as, once more, the other racers pass them. Sylvia snatches Stok out of the trash can and begins to stomp on him. As Wander tried to remind her of Marshfalaffle Apple Meadow, Sylvia bucks him off her back and punches Stok, but then realises that it is in fact a dummy and Stok is still with Harvax. The two race away with a "There she blows!" as Sylvia looks on in disbelief.

Snapped back to her senses, she worriedly hurries towards Wander. She apologies and tells him that she really wants to control her horrible temper and she knows that she can, but not alone. Wander is both eager and excited to help and Sylvia pulls him into a hug. Then two then race off again. The next part of the course is an open space between two stars, with a series of boost pads for the racers to jump on. Sylvia passes the other racers and comes up just behind Harvax and Stok who are in the lead. Stok notices her behind them and begins to chant "tick tick, tick tock, tick tock" in a panic. The two pairs of racers jump from the boost pads, overtaking each other. Harvax decides he needs to do something to stop Sylvia, so he uses his wings to catch up to Sylvia and knock her off her course. She falls back, landing on a boost pad,. Her rage begins to return but Wander is there to remind her to remain calm. She takes a deep breath to calm herself down and tells Wander that "she's got this."

She then resumes the race, calmly jumping from the boost pads, easily catching up to Harvax, while "Take it easy Sylvia" plays in the background. The two are neck and neck and reach the finish line, Harvax wins just by the tip of his long proboscis, taking first place. Sylvia tells Wander that she doesn't care that she didn't get first place in the race because she instead got first place in the race against herself. There is suddenly an announcement informing the crowd that Harvax has been disqualified for using a fake proboscis, pushing Sylvia up into first place. Sylvia rushes up to the podium, seizes the trophy and shoves Harvax and Stok off of the podium, holding the trophy up in victory. Wander shakes his head and says that they'll work on making Sylvia into a "sore winner" next. He then plays the saxophone using his hands again while Sylvia continues to bask in the spotlight.

## Characters

Wander

Sylvia

Harvax

Stok

## Gallery

The gallery for this episode may be viewed here.

## Credits

Story by

Matt Chapman , Lauren Faust , Ben Joseph , Craig McCracken , Tim McKeon & Johanna Stein.

Written by

Matt Chapman

Storyboard by

Eddie Trigueros

Directed by

Dave Thomas

With the voice talents of

Jack McBrayer as Wander

April Winchell as Sylvia

Jeff Bennet as Harvax & Announcer

Charlie Adler as Stok & Little Racer

## Ending Animatic

Sylvia holds her own little parade to celebrate her victory.