Insight

« Of Masters and Mayhem, Part 2 »
"Insight"
Publisher	Fun Publications
Published in	Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #68
Writers	Jesse Wittenrich & Pete Sinclair
Pencils	Dan Khanna
Inks	Jake Isenberg
Colors	Evan Gauntt
Letters	Jesse Wittenrich
Managing editor	Pete Sinclair
Continuity	Of Masters and Mayhem
Chronology	Circa 2020

While Spike and the Pretenders try to evade detection, Impactor tries to help his wounded friend.

Synopsis

In Merida, Metalhawk's bullet wound begins to glow as his disguise is blown. Vroom and Crossblades instantly tackle the thug, disarming him before he can shoot anyone again. As they try to figure out what they're going to do with the man, now that he's shot both Spike and Metalhawk, the actual police show up to arrest them! At the police station, the investigators assigned to interrogate the thug - Mendez - talk to Spike and co. With Mendez not talking, they begin to ask the Pretenders what happened- and why there were reports of a gunshot, but no bullets found at the scene. As Vroom almost nearly blows their cover, Elizabeth quickly covers for the others. Satisfied with what they've heard so far, the investigators let them go.

Several galaxies from Earth, on the planet Paradron, Impactor walks the marketplace nearby a medical center. As he returns to check up on his friend, he briefly questions Lifeline on her dangerous-looking "medical tools" before asking on his friend's status. Lifeline reveals that one of his pal's dual robot configurations had sustained heavy damage, and she was capable of only saving one of his robot modes. Outraged, Impactor starts to leave, before having some second thoughts...

Back on Earth, Ramjet expresses contempt that this Earth only contains humans. That is, before saying it doesn't matter and begins to pontificate on how soon he will destroy everything.

In Merida, Spike, Elizabeth and the Pretenders exit the police station... Only to run into their mysterious stalker! Their stalker quickly states to them that he figured out that some of their number are Cybertronian. Despite Vroom trying to cover for them, the stalker explains he cares nothing about their charade, only that he has a message for them - specifically, a warning. That "he" will be here soon.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Humans	Others
Metalhawk (1) Crossblades (2) Vroom (4) Impactor (7) Lifeline (8) Punch/Counterpunch (9) Quickslinger (10)	Mendez (3) Spike Witwicky (5) Elizabeth (6)	Ramjet (11) Mysterious man (12)

Notes

• Lifeline is noticeably antsy when Impactor notes that her medical tools look a lot like weapons - a nod to her profile, and the fact that her medical tools are simply a redeco of Arcee's weapons!
• We can assume that Impactor's friend is Punch - now permanently stuck in his Counterpunch form.

Continuity notes

• As Metalhawk is leaving the police station, he overhears one of the investigators mention that her brother was a RAAT. As well as a RUNT Driver.

Transformers references

• Metalhawk notes that after being taken into custody, that his "Holo-Frame" is nearly repaired from being shot. This probably implies that he and his fellow Pretender's smaller size is a result of some sort of use of holomatter avatars, as opposed to their regular pretender shells.
• When Impactor is walking through the Paradron Marketplace, you can pick Sandstorm's back out from the crowd - in the original cartoon, Sandstorm as a native to Paradron.

Real-world references

• In the police station, there's a human with a Autobot logo on his shirt, with the text "I Still Believe" - probably a call-out to alien conspiracy shows and memorabilia.
• Two of the robots in the Paradron crowd-shot bear a resemblance to Peridot and Garnet from the television cartoon, Steven Universe.
• In that same shot, what appears to be Bender from Futurama is in the far back of the crowd.