Pyra Magna thinks back to when Optimus Prime first came to Caminus and how, due to their past encounter with another Prime—Onyx Prime—she and the other Torchbearers did not share the Mistress of Flame's unquestioning acceptance of him. Consequently, the Torchbearers left her service and traveled to Cybertron, where an encounter with the Enigma of Combination turned them into a combiner. It is in their merged form, Victorion, that the Torchbearers now fight against Devastator, who seems strangely resistant to their gravity-manipulating powers...

In the ruins of Crystal City, Shockwave explains to Jetfire and Aileron the task he needs assistance with: rescuing Optimus Prime from within the miniature singularity he threw him into only a short time ago! Prime's body has been destroyed by the singularity, compressed into "pure information," and it is that information they must extract. Fortunately, Prime himself is working toward a solution; within the singularity, he uses the power of the Matrix of Leadership to try and free himself and Bumblebee. The Matrix's light is able to penetrate the singularity and emerges from its darkness to be seen by the others outside, but as it does so, the Matrix itself disintegrates in Prime's hands, as the "information" that comprises it in this realm without physical matter ceases to be, "transmitted" away as light.

Nearby, Arcee has been taken prisoner by Liege Maximo and his Maximals. Maximo remotely activates a crystal of Ore-4 embedded in the Nemesis hovering above, the gravity-controlling attributes of which begin levitating the Maximals and their captive up to the ship. Exploiting the weightless environment, Arcee jerks the chains binding her and whips the Maximals holding the other ends through the air. They collide with Maximo, who drops Arcee's sword, which she quickly recovers and hurls upwards at the Ore-4. The crystal shatters and the gravity field cuts out, sending Arcee and the Maximals all plummeting back toward the surface of the planet at a fatal velocity. Liege Maximo lands first, hitting the crane arm on Devastator's shoulder and dying on impact, his body ruptured in a grisly display. As the rest of the Maximals come raining down to meet similarly messy fates, Arcee is saved by Aileron, who uses her flying alternate mode to catch her and carry her safely down to the ground. With the destruction of the Ore-4, Victorion realizes that it wasn't Devastator's persistence that was allowing him to overcome her gravity powers; rather, the ore was generating a second gravity field that was counteracting hers. With its removal, Victorion shows no mercy; Devastator barely has time to process what's happening before he is ripped to shreds by Victorion's powers. Aileron and Arcee watch as the combiner dies, and celebrate in a most unexpected way: Arcee grabs Aileron, pulls her close, and kisses her deeply as thanks for saving her life!

Elsewhere, as Starscream continues to address the Decepticons, an enraged Soundwave silently takes aim at the ex-ruler of Cybertron, knowing that, with Starscream as their leader, the Decepticon ideology of equality will be lost forever and they will simply become tools to fuel his ambition. Needlenose steps in to shove him, accusing him of being just as bad as Starscream, his first instinct being to take life to ensure he gets his way. Soundwave falters...

Spotting Jetfire down in Crystal City, Pyra leads the Torchbearers to him, where they find him with Shockwave. Learning that Shockwave and Onyx Prime are one and the same, Pyra lunges at him, determined to gain revenge for the lives he took in the past, but Shockwave brushes off her attacks and, holding her at gunpoint, "invites" her to join in the effort to rescue Optimus. It is Pyra, Shockwave reveals, that he really wants; the "help" he needed for Jetfire was simply to serve and bait to lure her in—for it is she that the Decepticon intends to serve as a host for Optimus's now-bodiless mind! Cracking

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