The Coming Storm: Part 6

End of the line for the Elite Guard.

Synopsis

Metalhawk and his troops rush to the battle against the monstrous Bruticus, made of their former allies the Combaticons. Suddenly, an object erupts through the wall behind Ironfist and Over-Run, landing in front of Dion; the broken corpse of Crosscut, horrifying the young Autobot. Meanwhile, the Elite Guardsmen make their stand against Bruticus, who has already killed many of them; the giant vaporizes Roadfire, Delta Seeker, and Powerflash with one blast, with Ranger narrowly avoiding the blast. The Autobot is hardly lucky, however; when he attempts to fall back, Bruticus picks up Ranger, and rips him in two. As Metalhawk's group arrives, Ironfist turns into vehicle mode, rushing in despite Metalhawk's protests. Enraged by the deaths of his friends, Ironfist uses a broken section of road as a ramp, and barrels into the combiner. Surprisingly, Ironfist actually manages to topple Bruticus, but this simply makes it easier for the giant to grab Ironfist. Over-Run manages to stop the combiner before he can grab his friend with his Attack Copter, and tells Ironfist to flee. The obstinate Autobot refuses, setting up his massive cannon, and while Over-Run is distracted, Bruticus grabs his drone copter, throwing it back at its operator, killing him instantly. Ironfist tells Bruticus that he'll pay, but the combiner silences him with a massive laser blast, seemingly vaporizing him. A sullen Metalhawk tells Dion they have to fall back, but the young Autobot refuses. Transforming to vehicle mode, he uses his rocket boosters to send him towards Bruticus' back cannons, transforming back to robot mode and holding on. As Bruticus turns his head, Dion tells him that no matter who he used to be, he's nothing to Dion now, and proceeds to blind Bruticus with his cannons. The blinded giant throws Dion into a nearby building, and separates into his components, who proceed to advance on Dion's position. Metalhawk, however, stops them, telling the five that if they want Dion, they'll have to go through him. Onslaught shoots his former friend point blank in the chest, the last vestiges of the Autobot he was falling away. Vortex figures Dion is most likely dead, and the five return to Deathsaurus for repairs, vowing to destroy the council. Dion, meanwhile, has survived, emerging from the wreckage of the building he was thrown into. Hours later, Thunder Clash and his crew, having returned from their mission, are unable to get a landing signal, and are horrified to find what has happened to their comrades...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

""Fall back!" HA! Yes, run! More sport for Bruticus! You, though, didn't run fast enough!"

—Bruticus pulling a "No, I want two!" on Ranger.

"I don't care who you used to be, you're not them any more. You're not anything. And while your boots may thunder, brute, I have the lightning!"

—Dion goes up against Bruticus.

"I won't let you. If you want to kill him, you'll have to go through me."

—Metalhawk has some famous last words.

Notes

• Characters mentioned who do not appear include: Deathsaurus and Magnum.

Continuity notes

• Over-Run swears by "the maker's five faces", obviously referring to the Quintessons.
• Thunderclash and his crew were sent on their mission in "The Coming Storm: Part 2".