IDW - Transformers #36

Title: Lord of Misrule: Enigmatic

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

At the Medical Center in Iacon, Provoke is using a database to catch up on what has been happening since she went missing, and asks Cyclonus to leave her alone, so she can do this herself. Cyclonus agrees, but the "ghosts" in his head comment on how something is off about the situation they've found themselves in...

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons at the edge of the Sea of Rust is in full swing, with Termagax's Spectrosynth Drones helping the Autobots take down the Decepticons.

Inside House, Termagax controls one of the drones to recover the Enigma from its hiding place inside the facility, with the intention of taking it out of reach of needed.

Unfortunately for Termagax, Skywarp has entered the battlefield, intending to claim the Enigma himself, so he can use it to prove his worth and to use it for leverage. Skywarp proceeds to teleport through House, until he finds the Enigma, and claims it for himself.

Eventually Skywarp warps to the top of House, declaring that he controls the Enigma, and they should all listen to him. Jumpstream arrives just in time, despite her injuries from his time travelling earlier, and Pyra asks her to reclaim the Enigma from Skywarp.

The two teleporters fight over the Enigma, but Skywarp proves to be the superior 'porter, but before he can escape, Sky Lynx crushes him in his maw, and scorches him at point-blank range, forcing him to drop the Enigma.

The ancient artifact lands next to Skytread, who intends to use it to retake his leadership role from Sixshot, but the larger Decepticon simply shoots him, sending him and the Enigma plummeting into the Rust Worms, devouring Skytread in the process.

Cybertron starts quaking again, with the bedrock around the Sea falling apart, freeing the worms, and forcing the two Rmies to escape, abandoning the Enigma in the process.

Termagax and Optimus comment that the Enigma has probably survived the Rust Worms, but it will be near impossible to recover it for now, but are now more worried about the Rust Worms being loose on the planet, potentially spelling out their doom...

Back at the Iacon Medical Center, Flatline is baffled that Ruckus, another practically-dead patient has awoken. Provoke suggests that it's not outside the realms of possibility for him to have been revived this way on his own, but Flatline refuses this, saying it is absolutely impossible.

"Provoke", now annoyed, drops the pretense and attacks Flatline, stating that Exarchon will have to be "Three once more"....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Ironhide - Van

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Jumpstream - Car

Sunstreaker - Car

Sureshot - Buggy

Arcee - Car

Groove - Motorcycle

Flareup - Motorcycle

Vibes

Pipes - Truck

Smokescreen - Car

Springer - Helicopter/Car

Pointblank - Car

Wheeljack - Race Car

Powertrain - Truck

Backstreet - Race Car

Big Daddy - Car

Wheel Blaze - Fire Truck

Brawn - Van

Javelin - Car

Subsea - Submarine

Other Autobot Fighters

Decepticon

Sixshot - Jet/Car/Tank/Gun/Winged Wolf

Skytread - Tank and Jet Eaten by Rust Worms

Nova Storm - Jet

Red Wing - Jet

Wingstun - Jet

Ion Storm - Jet

Hotlink - Jet

Battleslash - Helicopter

Weirdwolf - Wolf

Gutcruncher

Offroad - Van

Runamuck - Car

Runabout - Car

Crasher - Race Car

Flame Feather - Bird Monster

Other Decepticon Fighters

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Termagax - Armoured Van

Skywarp - Jet

Cyclonus - Jet

Provoke/Exarchon - Wheeled Vehicle

Ruckus/Exarchon - Buggy

Flatline - Van Attacked by Exarchon

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Kaskade Comatose

Codexa Immersant

"House"

Spectrosynth Drones

Paragon (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Grudge (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Primus (Mentioned)

Nexus Prime (Mentioned)

Citadel - Titan Ship (Mentioned) Dead

Old Cybertronian Senate (Mentioned)

Other

Rust Worms

Flyts

Termagax's Specimens (In Jars)

Notes

• It's shown here that Termagax manually controls her Spectrosynth Drones, but can leave them on a sort of auto-rin feature to allow her funer control on a single drone.
• An area that Skywarp warps into looks like it's a power source of some sort, but actually also resembles a spark chamber to an extent...is this more proof to my theory that House is a hidden Titan?
• It's mentioned that Nova Storm is potentially able to retrieve the Enigma from the Rust Sea, implying that she might have survived having her internal parts crushed by Windcharger last issue.
• My theory of Exarchon living on inside Provike's body is shown to be absolutely the case here! Yay for validation!