Forever Is a Long Time Coming (issue)
| |||||||||||||
| "Forever Is a Long Time Coming" | |||||||||||||
| 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) | ||||||||||||
| Price | Free (Windows 8 Madefire app, initial) ??? (Other digital platforms) | ||||||||||||
Optimus Prime has finally fingered the culprit...
Synopsis
Slug, still fuming after his confrontation with Optimus Pime, takes the Dinobots to the Optimus Prime statue, which he summarily decapitates. Slug threatens to kill Optimus and drags the other Dinobots into following him, just as an explosion goes off and sends the four flying. In reality, exposing the Dinobots' old war crimes was a feint by Optimus; the unknowing Dinobots fall through a trap door with Barricade's help and are caught in mid-air by Windblade and Starscream.
All of this was to draw out the killer—Sandstorm, who Optimus confronts. Gone off the deep end, Sandstorm shoots Prime with an infernus bullet, only to show regret afterwards. Optimus rips the bullet out of his body and places Sandstorm under arrest. Sandstorm tells his side: he had seen too much, too terrible, to allow others to go unpunished for their crimes during the war. All of the Cybertronians he had killed or attempted to kill had all committed unspeakable acts and had to be killed in the name of justice; he only pretended to befriend those in Gutcruncher's bar to make it easier to kill them all. After asking whether Optimus knew of the Autobot atrocities and how he could manage knowing them, Sandstorm tries to flee, but Optimus simply knocks him out and answers that he tries to stay "grounded".
The murders solved, Optimus goes on his personal errand: bringing the remaining half of the Matrix of Leadership to the site where he received it all those years ago. It is the anniversary of when he became Prime. Optimus shares with Windblade that he was honest about his calling out of the Dinobots, believing that bots like them who refuse to change are the greatest threat to the future; but still, he has faith that the future can be a peaceful one.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
|
