Aboard the Galactic Council vessel Retaliator, in orbit above Necroworld, ship's commander General Neech assesses the situation on the planet below. Following Megatron's recent actions in defense of organic life on Miliarium, the Council was forced to take action to save face. Conspiring with Getaway, they were provided with Megatron's location so they could dispatch their assassin, Overlord to slay him, only to find upon arrival that the Decepticon Justice Division had beaten them to the punch. Now, the infuriated Neech is prepared to renege on his promise to Getaway that the other Autobots will not be harmed, as he readies a geobomb for use...

Seconds before Tarn and Overlord open fire, Megatron activates Trailcutter's forcefield generator, which Ravage explains to the watching Autobots that he removed from Trailcutter's corpse months ago. The furious Tarn calls the rest of the DJD to his side, while instructing Deathsaurus to storm the fortress and wipe out the Autobots. Deathsaurus is then quite literally struck with an attack of conscience when Swerve and Rewind blast him with the same psychic weapon that originally drew them to the planet. As Deathsaurus is consumed by self-loathing and guilt for all the Decepticon lives lost on the mission, Nickel proposes they withdraw to prevent further deaths. Realizing now that Tarn's obsession with Megatron has always superseded his belief in the Decepticon cause, she calls for a full retreat, and the Decepticons all pull out—even Overlord, who believes the cowering and broken Megatron is no longer worthy of his attention. Left on their own, the remaining four DJD members pound on the field until it gives way and they are able to pass through it... and which point Megatron stands, his apparent defeat nothing but an act, and menacingly announces that trapping them inside the field with him has always been his plan.

Inside the fortress, Ravage tells a skeptical Brainstorm that Megatron has always been a master planner who covers all contingencies. Brainstorm scoffs and tries to prove that he's smarter by bringing up his time case—which Ravage reveals he stole the last piece of on Megatron's order. Unfortunately, the case cannot help solve the current crisis, as Megatron disposed of it months beforehand, having abandoned the idea of escaping his fate via time travel. A confused Whirl then interrupts the explanation with a strange discovery of his own: he has found his own severed arm in a nearby cupboard. Ravage excitedly realizes the significance of this bizarre find and explains another of Megatron's contingency plans. Using one of the interdimensional portals inside his body, he has successfully completed an old, failed plan from during the war and established a link to a black hole, in order to draw on antimatter for power. It was through this portal that Whirl's arm vanished when it was severed during his fight with Megatron a year ago, and over the last twelve months, Megatron has slowly reached out with his thoughts to draw the arm back, thereby completing the two-way link to the black hole. The presence of Whirl's recovered arm, Ravage realizes, means that Megatron has succeeded and can now draw upon antimatter... and that the forcefield is a means to protect the rest of the planet when it is unleashed.

Within the field, antimatter spills from Megatron's glaring eyes as he visits his rage upon the DJD. One by one, he slaughters them all, tearing their bodies apart with antimatter, stripping them of their aliases as he does so: first Vos—aka "Forestock"—then Helex—aka "Crucible"—then Tesarus—aka "Scissorsaw"—before finally turning on Tarn. At first begging for mercy only to realize he will be afforded none, Tarn snaps at Megatron to finish him, and Megatron is only too happy to oblige, snatching Tarn's Decepticon-sigil mask from his face and slapping it onto his own chest over his Autobot badge, so that they might both "die as Decepticons."

In the midst of the slaughter, th

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