The Toxic Transformer

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It is being brought.
It is being brought.
Oh, he's doin' somethin'...

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Of Masters and Mayhem

We're waiting on "Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxitron". Or a musical adaptation.
"The Toxic Transformer"
Publisher Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive)
First published May 20, 2016
By Luke Thompson
Pencils Dan Khanna
Inks Jake Isenberg
Colors by Thomas Deer and Jesse Wittenrich
Managing editor Pete Sinclair
Continuity Of Masters and Mayhem
Page count 14pp

The Decepticons have created a monster who burns everything he touches: Toxitron! But as it turns out, this monster is unwilling to be a slave...

Synopsis

On Cybertron, the Autobot/Decepticon war rages on, consuming everything in its path. A 500-strong Autobot platoon was sent to protect yet another city as part of yet another "holding action," and now, 17 days later, yet another Cybertronian city has been razed to the ground, with only a few dozen Autobots left. Autobot fuel-preparation specialist Spin-Out, the last remaining officer of the platoon, looks over the damage caused by the battle, melancholic over their Pyrrhic victory. One of his soldiers, Outback, tries to cheer him up, pointing out that without him, they wouldn't of had anyone else to lead them, but this only serves to upset Spin-Out more, as he only became leader because forty-eight other Autobots died. His frustration his interrupted when Powerflash calls him, informing the new "commander" that they've managed to capture a Decepticon. Heading on over, Spin-Out finds the remaining Autobots standing around the noxious-smelling prisoner, ready to use melee weapons at the first notice of trouble. Spin-Out interrogates the Decepticon, asking for his name; when he refuses to answer, Powerflash forces the prisoners head up, causing Spin-Out to realize that the Decepticon looks like a warped version of Optimus Prime! He doesn't have much time to think about this, however, as Powerflash begins screaming, his hand melting away from the orange slime that the Decepticon produces. The Decepticon slowly and deliberately rises up, his restraints melting away, and grabs Powerflash's head, reducing it to ooze. As the other Autobots attack him, only for the wounds that they do manage to inflict spraying orange slime all over them, the Decepticon slowly pontificates, explaining that he is an experiment, and like any experiment, he has a name...Toxitron. Spin-Out, now the only survivor of his platoon, is paralyzed with fear, as Toxitron turns his attention to him. Finding Spin-Out's red armor "too bright," Toxitron moves to melt the Autobot...when a electrical pop sounds off, freezing the Decepticon and causing him to fall backwards. Spin-Out stands silently for several seconds, before his knees give out, joining Toxitron in unconsciousness.

Inside a top-secret facility, Decepticon scientists Loudpedal and Oil Slick have retrieved Toxitron from his latest mission, along with Spin-Out, who has unfortunately become one of Loudpedal's "patients." Looking over the latest data, the two call up Knock Out to inform them of their latest success (with Loudpedal hoping to impress Knock Out enough to enter his fellowship). The two tense up, however, when their call is picked up on the other line, as Shockwave has elected to accompany Knock Out on the call, and coldly demands for their latest report. Regaining composure, Loudpedal and Oil Slick go over Toxitron's origins; he was part of an attempt at making a new combiner, and while he does seem capable of forming a torso component, the experiment upon him having changed his biology, turning his internal fluids into a "molecular solvent," toxic sludge constantly leaking from his body that has also imbued him with rapid regeneration abilities. This sludge is highly adhesive, unable to be removed until its potency is expired, and which emits caustic fumes that causes further damage to those around it. Knock Out is fascinated, and inquires into the "cognizant stasis" they've used to control him in-between missions. Loudpedal is all too happy to explain the process to his idol: using a form of mental conditioning created by Straxus, Toxitron is frozen, unable to move but fully aware of his surroundings, causing him to stew in his own negative emotions, building up until he is next unleashed upon the Autobots. Shockwave, apparently pleased, orders them to proceed to schedule, and ends the call.

Outside a top-secret Autobot facility, security director Red Alert keeps watch. Inside, engines are being built for the Autobot's last hope: the Ark Project, a spaceship that will allow them to search for energy elsewhere, as Cybertron's own energy grows dim. Lost in thought as he looks over the security log, his attention is brought to the sky when a shuttle comes flying overhead, following the complicated flight pattern Red Alert devised to identity those who are a friend and foe. Completing the maneuvers, the shuttle lands; Brawn exits the craft with a box of new components, and the shuttle transforms into Jetfire. Red Alert elects to escort the two in, having received reports from the front gate that Optimus Prime appears to be coming. Inside the factory, Jetfire takes the components from Brawn, heading off towards his laboratory. Red Alert and Brawn head for the security area, where a group of Autobots are watching the security footage. One of the officers informs Red Alert that the signal is from an Autobot transponder, and that the cybermetrics match Optimus Prime. However, "Prime" is traveling alone, and although he's maintained radio silence, the video feeds are unable to actually capture an image of the incoming Transformer, due to some sort of feedback emitting from him. Red Alert activates the Emergency Autobot Alert System, informing everyone of the situation, as the Transformer rams through the gates. Red Alert orders everyone to their battle stations, as he and the rest of the security force gather around the front doors, which begin melting away. As Toxitron emerges through the whole, the Autobots open fire...but when the smoke clears, the damage inflicted on Toxitron heals over rapidly. Toxitron mockingly asks them why they would treat a fellow Autobot like that, as he opens his chest, revealing the source of the transponder signal: the decapitated head of Spin-Out! Infuriated, Brawn rushes towards Toxitron, but the Decepticon pulls out his rifle, spraying the small Autobot with his toxic ooze. Unsheathing his sword, Toxitron blasts and cuts his way through the security forces, with what little damage the Autobots do manage to inflict on him simply damaging their comrades. However, Toxitron is blindsided when Jetfire punches him to the ground, his heat shielding slowing down the effects of Toxitron's sludge. Jetfire warns Red Alert to stay back, allowing Toxitron enough time to heal, as blasts Jetfire back with a stream of sludge, quickly standing up and pressing his hands against Jetfire's battlemask, quickly burning through it. Red Alert jumps at Toxitron, knocking him off of Jetfire, but before he can get back up, the Decepticon slices him at the waist with his blade, the two halves falling to the floor. The other Autobots fall in pain, connected to Red Alert from the emergency alert system; his link to Spin-Out causes him pain as well, and Toxitron rips the dead Autobot's head out of his chest, tearing it apart. Jetfire, recovered from Toxitron's attack, blasts the Decepticon with his pulse rifle, but unfortunately, it sends him flying into the incomplete engines, ruining any chance of success for the Ark. Jetfire orders everyone to escape the compromised facility, promising to buy them some time, as Toxitron melts his way out of the engines...

Later, Loudpedal and Oil Slick report once more to Shockwave and Knock Out. The two explain how they've given Toxitron weaponry using frequency-randomizing force fields, allowing him to hold them and channel his toxic sludge through it. Unfortunately, Oil Slick lets slip that they've been looking into the force field tech because they learned that his stasis-lock implant had been corroded away, which they found out after several missions, his mental conditioning apparently working irregardless. Loudpedal chimes in that they do have a back-up...but it takes a breem to charge. Realizing what Shockwave's getting at, Knock Out demands to know how often the two scientists are resupplied, and when they reveal that the ship comes every three months and is currently there, Knock Out chews them out for their incompetence, and signals for the supply ship to return. Shockwave coldly tells the two that if there's any survivors, he wishes for a report, and ends the transmission. Loudpedal and Oil Slick slowly realize that Toxitron has feigned his mental conditioning, and has been waiting for this moment...and as soon as this dawns on them, the base's klaxon begin to go off. Many years later, the frozen Toxitron reflects on his situation. He was able to get his revenge on his tormentors, but as he was headed for the hangars, the back-up stasis implant activated, freezing him. Now he spends his days counting the rivets in the doors...but on one day, he is given a brief respite, as the surface of the planet shakes, under the threat of some unstoppable force, and lets the sounds of destruction carry him back to sleep.

Sometime later, Impactor, Counterpunch, and Fractyl return to the ruins of Cybertron, following a potential lead from records that speak of a secret base abandoned by the Decepticon, with an experiment still alive inside. Fractyl finds the hidden bunker, and Counterpunch, who doubts they'll find anything, nearly falls over when he opens the hangar doors, finding the frozen form of Toxitron within. The three explain to the frozen Decepticon what has happened: Cybertron was rendered lifeless by the Mayhem Attack Squad, who have virtually wiped out the entire Transformer race. Impactor orders Fractyl to disable the stasis lock device, promising to let Toxitron do whatever he wants when he's free; Counterpunch briefly protests, believing Toxitron will just kill him, but Impactor is fine with that, because then Toxitron will have at least made a choice for himself. Fractyl disables the device, and Toxitron moves for the first time in many stellar cycles. Slowly gaining control over himself, Toxitron decides to listen to whatever Impactor has to say, and so the Autobot offers him a choice: to join them in gaining revenge on the monsters who destroyed Cybertron, no matter what it takes. Toxitron mocks him, pointedly asking him whether or not that he would go to the Mayhem Attack Squad if he was the one responsible for the destruction of Cybertron. Impactor candidly confirms that he would, promising that he'll drag them all down with them if he has to, and Toxitron, genuinely impressed, asks what he'll get in return. Impactor figures that the chance to kill is the best reward Toxitron can have; Toxitron muses over this, reflecting on how he was molded to be little more than a monster. For the first time in his life, he has a choice to be part of a team...a team of killers that need him to be a monster. Toxitron is silent for a second, and begins laughing, unnerving Fractyl and Counterpunch. Taking Toxitron's howling as a yes, Impactor welcomes Toxitron into the Wreckers, and heads off, promising him that, like every other Wrecker...

...he probably won't survive the experience.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons

Quotes

"You still stepped up when we needed it, and that’s what counts."
"Is that... supposed to make me feel better? I stepped up because the forty-eight Autobots ahead of me were already dead!"

—Outback isn't good at cheering up Spin-Out


"Your armor shines too bright."

—Toxitron


"Knock Out isn’t going to award the fellowship based on looks. [pause] What am I saying? Of course he will. He keeps an autographed picture of the Stunticons in his glovebox!"

—Oil Slick knows the score


"Then why would you want my help? Because I like to break things too? Do you think I’m different than them? How many more would I have killed, had I not been shut down and buried? Would you be approaching them to fight with you against me?"
"I’m not delusional. We’re all broken. Our time in this universe is done, and none of us are going to win regardless of whether we survive. So yeah. I would team with them to fight you. I want to pitch one walking genocide against another and make sure I drag them all down with me when I go."

—Toxitron and Impactor


"Tortured into existence, deprived of will, of simple connection to others. Molded to do nothing but kill... to be nothing but a monster. You give me a choice, offer me inclusion. I can belong—and there’s nothing left to belong to except a group of killers who need a better monster."

—Toxitron tells a funny joke

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Chronologically speaking, the majority of this story is the earliest point in the Of Masters and Mayhem timeline, set during the war on Cybertron; since the Ark is being built during this story, and Of Masters and Mayhem is mostly based upon the original Marvel The Transformers comic continuity, this places it slightly before four million years ago. The third to last section of the story take place during Thunder Mayhem's destructive rampage on Cybertron, while the final two sections take place after the last two prose stories ("The Truth We Make" and "Life Finds a Way"), in which Impactor was shown to be assembling a new team of Wreckers, including Counterpunch, Fractyl, and now Toxitron.

Transformers references

  • The flag on the cover (see "real-world references" below for more information) has red and blue stripes, with a white square containing an image of Cybertron; evidently, this is the flag of Cybertron.
  • According to the bombastic claims of the story's cover, Toxitron is the first Wrecker from the Rust Sea, a location on Cybertron first mentioned in the letters page of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic. See "real-world references" for more information below.
  • The "film rating" on the cover illustration reads "Under 17 requires accompanying Autobot or Decepticon. (Under 3 requires kids' meal purchase.)" The latter half is a reference to "Under-3", the designation given to the Maximal toy for toddlers that was part of the 1996 Beast Wars "Happy Meal" promotion from McDonald's. He's infamous for his rather strange, "clamshell"-style altenate mode: the head of a lion. See "real-world references" below for more information.
  • Spin-Out is based on the red Diaclone mecha whose mold became Generation 1 Sunstreaker, utilizing Sunstreaker's preliminary name.
  • Loudpedal is based on the Finnish Diaclone Black Tracks toy.
  • Oil Slick's design is an amalgamation of the Encore Ratchet Emergency Green toy (itself a color homage to live-action movie Ratchet) and Go! Hunter Ratchet.
  • Like his IDW Generation 1 counterpart, this story's Knock Out strongly homages Prime Knock Out, but also with elements of Generation 1 Micromaster Knockout.
  • There was a brief mention of the Stunticons, which may be a nod to the Animated version of Toxitron, who liked to hang around with the Stunticons.
  • The classic G1 Autobots have their colorations from the Marvel G1 comic.
  • They shot Brawn! Right in the shoulder!

Real world references

  • The story's title is a reference to the 1984 black comedy film, The Toxic Avenger, with the cover of the story recreating the film's theatrical poster (Toxitron holding his gun in front of a flag with Cybertron on it/the Toxic Avenger holding a mop in front of an American flag). All of the phrases on the poster are recreated ("He was 9.8 tons of solid scrap until he became..."/"He was 98 lb of solid nerd until he became..."; "The first Wrecker...from the Rust Sea!"/"The first Super-Hero...from New Jersey!"; "A Fun Publications Production"/"A Lloyd Kaufman/Michael Herz Production"). Also recreated are the film credits (replaced by the creative team of this story) and even the film rating (now "C" for Cybertron instead of "R", with the MPAA logo replaced by the Autobot and Decepticon insignias, and an accompanying Autobot or Decepticon instead of a parent) and copyright symbol (right where the Troma Entertainment copyright indicator was on the original film poster).

Errors

  • The word "hangar" is consistently misspelled as "hanger".

Other trivia

  • The original version of this story had Loudpedal as "Vivisector"; the reveal of the Loudpedal toy a day after prompted the writer to revise the story to use the toy's name. The original name does get a reference as Knock Out briefly congratulates Loudpedal for his promotion to vivisectionist.
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