Metrowars: Spy
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| "Metrowars: Spy" メトロ大戦 —密偵—
(Metoro Taisen —Mittei—) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Hero-X | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Transformers Generations 2025 | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 19, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Story & art by | Yuki Ohshima | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 1980s | ||||||||||||
To protect the secrets of Scramble City, Arcee and Deerstalker must root out a spy.
Synopsis
[edit]Some time in the 1980s after awakening on Earth, Optimus Prime and his Autobots developed the Scramble Warriors. To help them attain their maximum potential, the Scramble City Project was initiated, the fulcrum of which is the Metro Mobile City System. But although he flourished on Cybertron, the city known as Metrobase disappeared without a trace, leaving only secret blueprints. The caretaker of said blueprints is now Ultra Magnus, who has been dispatched from Cybertron to act as City Commander on Earth. However, the Decepticons have shown unexpected awareness of the Project's details; suspecting an informant in their ranks, Ultra Magnus assembles a team to investigate and root out this mole.
While Arcee mulls over her place as a lone survivor rising above those who demeaned and mocked her, Ultra Magnus approaches her to join the investigative team. Arcee initially turns down the offer, as such work is unsuitable for her, but Magnus reassures her that her skills are exactly just what he needs. He introduces her to the other member of the team, the eccentric detective Deerstalker. The "drone" impresses Arcee with his keen analysis of her from just observing her appearance and behavior, but he proves unable to stand the touch of a woman without short-circuiting.
Aboard a freighter taking staff and material to Earth for the Scramble City Project, Hubcap grumbles that he's not among the "elite" and stuck with migrant workers, women, and a drone. The migrant workers take offense at the Minibot's words while Deerstalker keeps a keen eye on all of their behavior and words. Arcee gets a bit annoyed with Deerstalker's brusque way of telling her to pay attention to details and deduce conclusions from them. While the detective has a bit too much energon wine, the alarm goes off and the two rush to the bridge to see the blueprints stolen and worker Yellow Face cut on his right arm. The victim states he was attacked from behind, and Arcee concludes the injury was caused by an energon sword. As Blanched Soldier previously bragged about her swordmanship, she's immediately the suspect and restrained just in case, but Deerstalker makes her a deal...
After arriving on Earth, Arcee wonders where the blueprints are, but Deerstalker explains that they're under file protection, and a passkey must be obtained from Teletraan I to unseal them. When Arcee notes that Yellow Face only suffered a superficial injury, Deerstalker has an eureka moment and tells Arcee to rush to Teletraan I. On the way, Deerstalker explains that Blanched Solder, being left-handed, couldn't make an injury on Yellow Face's right arm if she was attacking from behind. He had her restrained to throw the true spy off guard.
Elsewhere, Galvatron II praises his spy for delivering the blueprints, only to get angry when he finds out they're passkey protected. He demands the spy procure the key. Arriving at the Ark, Deerstalker alerts Cliffjumper and Huffer that their latest visitor is a spy. Rushing in, they discover that Yellow Face is actually a Decepticon Mini-spy. Waiting for the fleeing spy, Arcee manages to stop Yellow Face in his tracks. With the culprit bound, Deerstalker explains to him that he knew Blanched Soldier was innocent all along and that Yellow Face, having used his left hand to point to Hubcap in their confrontation earlier, showed his dominant hand that he later used to superficially cut himself on his right arm. What sealed the deal was his attempt to pilfer a passkey from Teletraan I. But Yellow Face is smug, revealing that he already turned over the blueprints to the new Decepticon staff officer and that he wasn't the only spy. To silence the talkative mole, Galvatron II shoots him from a distance, disintegrating his target and causing a deep collapse in the ground. Deerstalker holds on to Arcee despite his condition and manages to swing her to safety before falling into the abyss, thinking about how he wanted to understand and know Arcee more because of their differences.
Later, as Scramble City nears completion, Deerstalker is awoken by the newly refurbished Arcee and finds out that the Autobots could only recover his head. He doesn't mind too much, though—he just needs a head to think.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
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Notes
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]- Metrobase was established as the Autobot Micromasters' base in Micromaster, set on Earth in the 1980s prior to the Transformers in the Ark awakening. Where he went after that story was left unexplained, and this story extends that mystery to within the fiction itself. Metrobase existing as an older sibling "Metrotype"—here referred to as the "Metro Mobile City System" (メトロ移動都市システム)—to Metroplex was established in "LG-EX Metroplex".
- As per previous fiction in this continuity, Galvatron II exists in the 1980s; his involvement with the Scramble City blueprints is likely meant to lead to the creation of Trypticon and Galvatron's role as the Dinobase's City Commander.
Transformers references
[edit]- The Autobot shuttle's grey coloration is taken from the promotional trailer of The Transformers: The Movie
- Hubcap's grousing in this story is a reference to the fact that he was the one Minibot who never made an appearance in the original cartoon.
- The stolen blueprints are stored on a giant floppy disk identical to one used in "The Master Sword Is in Danger!!".
- Yellow Face's reveal as a Decepticon Mini-spy is a direct imitation of the Mini-spies commercial.
- The panel of Scramble City deployed on top of a mountain is a callback to his debut in the Scramble City: Mobilization OVA.
Real-world references
[edit]- In keeping with Deerstalker being named after Sherlock Holmes's hat, the Mini-spies are all named after color-appropriate Holmes short stories: "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier", "The Adventure of Silver Blaze", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", and... unfortunately, "The Adventure of the Yellow Face".
