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Giant robot insects! Translucent dialog bubbles! Hot Robot/human passion! Human zombie SLAVES!!!

Writer: James "Brad Mick" McDonough, Adam Patyk
Pencils: Don Figueroa
Inks: Elaine To
Colors: Espen Grundetjern
Letters: Ben Lee

• Characters (in order of appearance): Dorry & Cruz, Marissa Faireborn, Jazz, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bombshell, Shockwave, Bumper, Kickback, Shrapnel, Grimlock, Bumblebee, Spike Witwicky
• Original release date: September 29, 2004
• Chronology: Ascension

Synopsis[]

Surrounded by squishy clones of the Insecticons, Jazz and the humans from the EDC struggle to avoid being overwhelmed. Jazz orders a formation for the soldiers to work their way out, but the shape is compromised when Dorry and Cruz are abducted. With no options left, Jazz picks up Marissa and the two ram their way out of trouble in Jazz's car mode.

Beneath the theater, Sideswipe and a verbally minimalist Sunstreaker stumble through caverns to find a large spooky cache of strange glowing green eggs.

Deeper, it's revealed that the events of the town are the manipulations of Bombshell, under the command of the all-plotting Shockwave, who has survived his fall into a pit on Cybertron. While toying with the deactivated body of Bumper, Bombshell hangs up on Shockwave's nagging and greets the freshly hatched Kickback and Shrapnel.

In Cleveland, Spike is disappointed to see his best friend, Bumblebee, down his driveway. Bumblebee, with nowhere else to go, admits to Spike that he's decided to quit the Autobots.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe investigate the green eggs they've found. The Insecticons get the drop on the two, who are exposed to bright lights—which mixes with their night-vision and forces the two to be stuck fighting blind. Sunstreaker doesn't have as much difficulty with the light, but Shrapnel deactivates the two with a heavy burst of electricity.

Jazz and Marissa continue to speed away from the horde that attacked them, and they take cover inside of a parking garage. Inside, the two find several mutilated copy bodies, and realizing how bizarre the situation is, they come clean to each other. Jazz reveals that the Dinobots arrived on Earth millions of years prior to the awakening of the Autobots and Decepticons on the Ark to fight the Insecticons—assumed to have been left for dead. Before more details can be exchanged, the couple is forced to continue their retreat. Finding a cache of glowing green eggs, Jazz chooses to ask questions later and uses his flamethrower to burn all the eggs he can.

Held in bondage, a captive Sunstreaker and Sideswipe overhear Kickback reminding Shrapnel that it was Shrapnel, not Bombshell, who used to lead the Insecticons. The Insecticons leave to locate Jazz, who escaped from captivity. Ironically, as soon as the Decepticons leave, Bumper arrives to free his comrades.

Jazz comes under fire from the Insecticons and insists that Marissa escape. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker arrive to assist Jazz, and all the combat ruins the Insecticons' long-laid machinations. Shrapnel, in rage, blasts a hole from the cavern direct to the surface.

In another part of town, Bumper finds the two missing soldiers who were last seen inside of the theater before the ambush last issue. The soldiers direct Bumper to where they saw Bombshell headed, and after the soldiers mention that Bombshell might have acquired a taste for humans—Bumper looks at the humans with hungry eyes.

The rest of the Autobots continue their firefight against the Insecticon forces. Sunstreaker takes out Kickback with a well-placed pair of rockets. Sideswipe takes out Shrapnel with a well placed falling building. With only an army of drones left, the Autobots get ready to make a final stand, but the army of drones is replaced—by an army of Human Zombie Slaves!

From above, Bombshell commands the movements of his obedient fleshy underlings. Yet it's Bumper who saves the day by sneaking up on Bombshell and placing a Cerebro-shell on the back of Bombshell's neck, causing a strange feedback loop that locks Bombshell into stasis. With all three Insecticons disabled, and nobody left controlling the drones or humans zombie slaves, the day is saved.

Quotes[]

"Why Jazz... if we weren't living a horror movie, I'd blush!"

—Marissa

Items of note[]

• What's up with a couple of Marissa's captions being translucent? I don't know!
• The narrative captions call it a theater, but the sign on the outside of the building in the previous issue calls it a theater.
• The Dinobots battling Shockwave (or in this case, his underlings) on Earth millions of years prior to the rest of the Autobots awakening on the Ark is a somewhat similar explanation to the Dinobots' origin in the original Marvel Comics and the later-written Spotlight: Shockwave. However, this still doesn't explain how Megatron captured all the Dinobots except Grimlock.
• The army of Human Zombie Slaves apparently includes Michael Jordan, Waldo, and perhaps a suspiciously toned Asian.
• Dorry and Cruz are totally dead.
• On the "Prime Transmissions" page, reader mail is answered by Copy Editor Matt Hansen. There's also a fan art of Blaster submitted by Jarri & Zaki Hasnian.
• The "Wavelengths" column has an article from the desk of E-Rock.

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