Outlier (comic)

Grimlock heads to the EDC Space Center to wake up other Dinobots, and confronts Blackarachnia.

Synopsis

While on their way back to the future at the end of the Beast Wars, the Maximals travel through the "time zone" of the year 2005 and are then suddenly struck by an anomaly in transwarp space that destroys their vehicle. Its passengers are scattered across time and space.

In 2008, on the way back to the Autobot base after defeating Nemesis Prime, Grimlock has a sudden realization: the other Dinobots are still incapacitated! He soon demands to know why they haven't been restored yet, to which Perceptor explains that, while the Autobots in the proper timeline were able to cure the Dinobots of their Unleasher-induced rage by using Soundwave's telepathic abilities (in exchange for Decepticon prisoners) and a high-frequency pulse, they are unable to do so in the BT World as the whereabouts of Soundwave are unknown. But they were able to develop Binaltech technology to the point where they could reproduce Soundwave's abilities with the Psychedevice and cure the Dinobots. However, the Unleashers' imprint in Grimlock himself is continually growing and affecting the Dinobots, preventing their wakening. Luckily, the improved device that can cure Grimlock was recently completed, and Grimlock rushes to the Earth Defense Command Space Center with Carly.

But as they leave, Sideswipe and the Protector get word that Decepticons—Decepticharge and Blackarachnia—have shown up at the Space Center seeking the Matrix within Ultra Magnus! Also of concern is the alternium that's to be transported to the Space Center. Windcharger and Arcee go into battle, and Windcharger takes out Decepticharge, his evil counterpart.

Blackarachnia sees the explosive results of the duel elsewhere and, despite being mentally tortured to find and destroy the Matrix, breaks into the Space Center to use the Psychedevice so she can rid herself of Unicron's mental scarring. However, she quickly finds that it's human-sized and is knocked down by Grimlock. The Protector, recognizing his former comrade, tries to stop the fight, but Grimlock's aberrant mental waves are affecting Blackarachnia's beast DNA, so the two prove uncontrollable. Seeing no choice, Carly volunteers to use the Psychedevice despite the Protector's warnings that it's untested on humans. Carly evolves into a higher, telepathic being, and manages to cure both Grimlock and Blackarachnia.

Elsewhere, the Quintessons catch wind of this leap of human evolution via Binaltech and immediately order Earth's section of space to be quadrant locked.

In the Space Center, Blackarachnia asks the Protector why he remains, and the former Maximal explains that, as he helped maintain this offshoot timeline's existence, he feels responsible to bring Blackarachnia back to their friends, a sentiment that Blackarachnia coyly appreciates.

At Autobot City, Grimlock greets his newly awakened Dinobots, but they're suspicious of this "nice, weak, and small Autobot" that stands before them. After a sound beating, the Dinobots concede that Grimlock is their king, and... "Long live Binaltech!"

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• The story of how Grimlock became a Binaltech warrior and the other Dinobots were incapacitated by the Unleashers was first told back in Story of Binaltech Chapter 7.
• The Binaltech origins of Decepticharge, Blackarachnia, and Protector Optimus Primal were previously relayed through the Ask Vector Prime Facebook page, based in part from unused stories and material from the original Story of Binaltech plot development by Hirofumi Ichikawa that never saw release.
  • In essence, the storm in transwarp space seen in flashbacks from Beast Machines episode 8 would lead to the existence of two divergent copies of the shuttle's occupants. The first quantum copies went on to experience the events of Beast Machines. The second quantum copies of Megatron, Optimus Primal, and most of the crew would appear on a different Cybertron and go through their own version of the Spark War. This Optimus Primal eventually went on to become a spirit guide, agent of the Alternity, and finally, travel back in time to become the "Protector" from Story of Binaltech. Meanwhile, the second quantum copy of Blackarachnia had been snatched out of transwarp space by Unicron of the BT World. He corrupted her, using stolen Binaltech GT units for Windcharger to create a new body for her and his minion, Decepticharge.
• The "proper timeline" is a reference to how the BT World diverged from the OG World in Story of Binaltech Chapter 14, in order to preserve history and maintain the timeline that leads to the Alternity. Overdrive is seen consulting his Quantum Dial, a dimension scanning and hopping mechanism used by the Omnibot.
• BT Ultra Magnus assumed the Matrix in Chapter 14 as well, "lighting the darkest hour" inside Unicron in place of Hot Rod in this timeline. He is depicted here in the Masterpiece Ultra Magnus "White Optimus Prime" body, having cast off his outer armor in the same chapter.
• The Quintessons and their Quadrant Lock would be revisited in "Alternation", final chapter of the Story of Alternity.

References

• Scans of "Outlier" with translation by Creedence at Seibertron.com
• Lettered version of the translation by Jalaguy