The Truth We Make
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| "The Truth We Make" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive) | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 9, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| By | Justin Severson | ||||||||||||
| Illustrations by | Paul Vroman | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Of Masters and Mayhem | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 17pp | ||||||||||||
The story of Punch...or is it the story of Counterpunch?
Synopsis
Punch used to be an actor, from Harmonex. He was one of the first from the city to sign up for the Autobots, and just before shipping out he and his friends celebrated one last time. Twenty-seven cycles later Harmonex was completely destroyed. In his need for vengeance, Punch would end up critically wounded, impaled on a girder he'd fallen onto. When he came to, a doctor offered him a chance to be more. Due to a unique design in his T-cog, Punch could assume a second robot mode. And High Command needed someone to infiltrate the 'Cons. How could Punch have said no?
A dazed Punch is woken from his sleep by Firecracker, a foul-tempered Autobot he doesn't get along with, who tells him the base's chief wants to see him. The 'bot, an obsessive sort called Suppressor, has bad news: twenty-four megacycles ago, the base on Athenia was razed, with every Autobot in it killed. Not good news, with the war going as badly as it is. Punch wonders how the Decepticons could've ever found it, but he can't supply any information. Then Suppressor brings up Counterpunch, who has managed to worm his way into a good position of authority among the 'cons. Punch, not liking the way the conversation is heading, balks at the suggestion he could've committed such an act of treachery. But the last transmission from Athenia shows another story, Counterpunch gunning down a guard before lowering the base's defenses. But that can't be. Punch wasn't on Athenia yesterday. He was speaking with Suppressor.
Except this is the first time the two have talked in four days.
In the brig, Punch wonders how this could've happened. But it doesn't add up. If he was compromised in some way, surely the Decepticons would've just killed him, right? At which point Counterpunch appears, telling his Autobot counterpart he's wrong, not just about being compromised, but about being an Autobot. Punch is a lie, someone Counterpunch made up. Which is why no-one remembers Harmonex. That was a story, made up so no-one would question his dedication, because who'd dare question something like that? But now the disguise has become too real. It's time for Punch to die.
A dazed Counterpunch comes to in a brig, as the sounds of violence come from outside. Five Decepticons—Wind Sheer, Crash Test, Skyfire, Rotorbolt, and Killswitch—enter through what had been one of the walls, and address their old friend. On hearing his name, everything snaps back into place, and he exchanges friendly barbs with them, including the newly renamed Killswitch, now going by the unfortunate name of Hexadeathimal. Once freed, Counterpunch helps them in finishing off the last of the base's personnel, musing on how this might be it, the last days of the war, as across the galaxy he and the rest of the Decepticon army finish off the Autobots for good. And once that's over, what's going to happen then, to mechs like him? Will it even have been worth it?
His musing is interrupted by an already severely wounded Firecracker, eager to get even with the "traitor" before he dies. He charges, but instead of responding Counterpunch just freezes up. He's saved by Crash Test's intervention, as she deals the finishing blow instead, leaving Counterpunch to catch his former foe in his arms. After a brief glance at the corpse, he stands up to rejoin the destruction...
Only Counterpunch is no longer the one at the wheel. Against his will, his body reconfigures, and someone else starts talking with his voice, declaring that they know who they are, and the Decepticons just killed all their friends. So one way or another, Punch is going to die as an Autobot. He shoots Crash Test, and in response her comrades let loose with all they've got. Punch falls, and as everything goes dark he thinks of Harmonex.
Except Punch wakes up on an operating table, as an unseen voice reassures him of how lucky he was, most of his damage was confined to one form. And then there were the complications, beyond the t-cog. It was like he was two beings crammed into one body. His friend will want to hear the news. As he's put into stasis sleep, however, the 'bot on the table becomes unsure who or what he is.
Later, Impactor, leader of the Wreckers, stands over Counterpunch's bedside, ranting about how he should've left him for dead where he'd found him. Counterpunch isn't sure what happened there, and in fact he still isn't sure who he is. But Impactor states he can't really be choosy, not after what Thunder Mayhem did. There's too little of either side left, so he can't even afford to kill a Decepticon spy anymore.
His words confuse the bot even further, as contradictory memories fight one another, being reconfigured to serve as an Autobot spy, helping bring down Athenia, and how good it felt... but he also remembers the rage of seeing his home at Gargoid destroyed. Utterly confused as to who's fact and who's fiction, he asks Impactor if he remembers Harmonex.
It stirs a memory in the Wrecker, who believes that he'd been there once... but lost in his own thoughts, Impactor muses how he'd never met another 'bot who'd been to Harmonex before.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
Notes
- Scorponok and Thunder Mayhem are mentioned but do not appear.
Errors
- Suppressor's name is misspelt "Supressor" throughout. This was corrected in a later revision.
- On page 10, in Counterpunch's line beginning "“First of all", "that’s doesn’t really" should be "that doesn't really". This was also corrected in a later revision.
Continuity notes
- Impactor was shown bringing Punch/Counterpunch to Paradron in "Insight". That story also identified the physician who treated Punch/Counterpunch, who is not named in this story, as Lifeline.
Transformers references
- The concept of Counterpunch having his own agenda and working against Punch was first introduced in his Universe profile in issue #71 of the Marvel comics; up until this story, the idea had never been expanded on in fiction.
- Punch claims to have originally lived in Harmonex and references Cybertronians being "constructed cold after the war broke out". Both concepts debuted in the 2005 IDW continuity.
- Three of Counterpunch's rescuers debut in this story as characters based on unmade toys: Crash Test is based on the "GTP Racer" Go-Bot, Rotorbolt is the Diaclone jet-helicopter Triple Changer that Fumes was based on, in the toy's blue colors; and Kill-hexa-switch-deathimal is an unused Decepticon deco for Quickswitch shown in Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging. The other two members of the team are G1-continuity imports Wind Sheer and Skyfire, originally from the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline.
- Killswitch/Hexadeathimal mentions the latter name being given to him by the Clan of Six.
External links
- "The Truth We Make" at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club
