Fight or Flee (issue)
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| "Fight or Flee" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Story by | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Livio Ramondelli | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Tom B. Long | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2014) | ||||||||||||
A Decepticon riot leads to three more deaths.
Synopsis
Starscream and Optimus Prime take to the air to escape the Decepticon mob, who continue trying to shoot at Optimus. But among the horde, Optimus notices Heavy Barrel trying to sneak away with a curious package, and the Autobot returns to the ground to investigate.
Heavy Barrel flees to meet up with his partners-in-crime in an alley, only to find Ransack and Stratotronic dead. Wondering who would want bootleggers dead, Heavy Barrel transforms into alternate mode and flies off, only to have Optimus shoot him down. Heavy Barrel crashes into a building, but Optimus is too late before he gets to him as the Decepticon killer blasts a hole through Heavy Barrel's head and chest before disappearing. After calming down the riot, Starscream gets back to Optimus and the two mull over the dead Decepticon.
The Decepticon crowd assembles again to blame Optimus for the three Decepticon murders, but the Autobot explains that Heavy Barrel and his partners were using the cover of the riot to steal an engex distiller, a minor crime undeserving of death. Barricade looks over Stratotronic's body and notes to Windblade that the deceased was a friend of Gutcruncher and helped him open his bar. Windblade and Optimus follow this lead, with Optimus noting the obvious connection between the bar and the engex distiller.
At the bar, Optimus and Windblade meet an antagonistic Gutcruncher and a dissatisfied Sandstorm who rebukes any affection from Optimus, and makes it clear that he is done with the Autobots after his experiences behind enemy lines. Optimus informs Gutcruncher of his friend's death and the furious Decepticon asks Optimus to leave the matter up to them, a request which Optimus refuses. While Gutcruncher is wary of Optimus's convictions if the killer turns out to be an Autobot, Sandstorm believes in Optimus's honest nature and joins the investigation.
Optimus tries to have a talk with his old friend at one of the murder scenes, but Sandstorm won't have it and finds a curious shell that he recognizes. But their conversation is cut short as Windblade calls in to inform the two of some bad news... a blaze is consuming Gutcruncher's bar!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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