The World & Everything in It
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| "The World & Everything in it" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 22, 2012 (1st printing) March 21, 2012 (2nd printing) | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | February 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Story by | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Andrew Griffith | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Josh Perez | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2012) | ||||||||||||
Starscream helps the Autobots to foil Ratbat's plans.
Synopsis
After witnessing Horri-Bull's death, Skywarp teleports back to the Decepticon HQ. Ratbat boasts to the Decepticons that it is thanks to him (with just a little help from Soundwave and Shockwave) that their inhibitor/deterrence chips actually no longer work, rendering them all free once again. He then warns the Decepticons about the consequences of disobeying his rule, at which point Starscream protests and leaves. Ratbat orders Long Haul to tail him. Starscream thinks to himself that he despises Ratbat more than anything, being the personification of the ancient Senate's privileged corruption that was everything the Decepticons initially stood against in the first place.
Bumblebee and Metalhawk discuss the planned memorial for the Lost Light and the Horri-Bull incident, with Metalhawk stating that he cannot endorse Bumblebee if he were to murder another Cybertronian, Decepticon or not. Sideswipe interrupts them, as he has just sighted Starscream. The latter is received at Autobot HQ by Bumblebee himself. Starscream seemingly wants to cut a deal with the Autobots, but a furious Bumblebee declares he is done trusting that faction and electro-shocks him with a specially modified weaponized cane. He and Prowl take Starscream away.
Starscream wakes up in a cell, and Prowl interrogates him. Surprising both of them, Starscream tells the truth: Ratbat wants to assassinate Bumblebee at the memorial, courtesy of an I/D-chip-free Skywarp, and then will blame the incident on a NAIL—after which time he'll launch a full-scale assault and make his coup.
Elsewhere, Skywarp and Needlenose beat up the NAIL that was responsible for Horri-Bull's death. Skywarp teleports away with him.
At the memorial, Long Haul confronts Starscream and demands to know his motives. He reveals that he knows of Starscream's stay at Autobot HQ but that he hasn't informed the others of this yet. Starscream appreciates this. As the memorial begins, Bumblebee makes a rallying speech, while Skywarp, hidden with Zetca in a nearby tower, aims for him with his rifle... only to be stopped by Prowl, who had logically identified that tower as the perfect spot for a sniper. After a quick fight, Skywarp is deactivated, and, on stage, Metalhawk pledges his devotion to the new Cybertron. Long Haul is disturbed by the fact that Bumblebee is not dead, but Starscream tells him to inform Ratbat that the assassination was successful.
Back at Decepticon HQ, Mixmaster tells Ratbat that Bumblebee died, and Ratbat tells the remaining Decepticons to prepare for his assault. Shockwave seems less than enthused, even by his own unemotional standards. Nonetheless, Ratbat retreats to prepare in his quarters, where he is attacked by Arcee, who easily kills him before joining Prowl at the tower. The two agree that Arcee tried to arrest Ratbat, but he was armed and aggressive, and Arcee was merely defending herself.
While Bumblebee continues his speech, Starscream interrupts him, declaring that, for the new era of unity to work, Starscream has to be part of the government.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | NAILs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Quotes
"Fantastic. I'll go back to Earth and strike up a conversation with a fortune cookie when I want nuggets like that."
- —Starscream whines. Again.
"They are not my people, Bumblebee. They are people. As are the Decepticons."
- —Metalhawk
"You... you tried to arrest him, right, Arcee?"
"Why would—"
"You tried to arrest him."
"Of course. He was armed and I had to kill him in self defence."
- —Prowl and Arcee get their stories straight
Notes
Continuity
- Both Ratbat and Starscream mention the former's manipulations in Megatron Origin, although not in the same tone.
- Skywarp is still bitter at Bumblebee after their last encounter.
Covers (4)
- Cover A: Shockwave, Bombshell, Soundwave, and Ratbat; art by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
- Cover B: Skywarp punching Prowl; art by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
- Cover RI: Sketch version of Cover A by Andrew Griffith
- Second printing: Starscream stalks the streets by Griffith and Perez, cropped from from page 4
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"I get another closeup: extremely logical!" -
Skywarp thinks he's Ironhide. -
Ratbat sucked out the colors. -
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