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Dungeons & Dinobots - Transformers Wiki

Following the Ark's destruction, the new Dinobots are unleashed! But what ancient horror is behind Grimlock's miraculous transformation?

Synopsis

Events from the prologue are in italics

At the recently discovered Arch-Ayr fuel dump in Kaon, the Decepticons defend the station from the Autobots, who are attempting to steal the fuel so they can make the Ark space-worthy once more. Megatron is wounded, and Starscream rushes to his downed leader with a medi-pack, as Optimus Prime pushes his foot forward. Megatron asks his second in command for a status report; Huffer is hardly a concern, and Hound's hallucinations have been negated. Prime is staying back, but Rodimus and Arcee are attempting to flank towards Sideswipe and Gutcruncher's position. Their conversation is interrupted when the Decepticon's newest recruit, a Cliffjumper who claims to be from a mirror universe where Autobots are good and Decepticons are evil, begins firing across the battlefield at Prime. Megatron orders his second-in-command to help Cliffjumper, while he repairs himself, vowing to not allow the fuel depot to fall into Prime's hands. Starscream reluctantly suggests destroying the depot, but Soundwave's voice cuts in on the Decepticon radio, telling the others that he's called in reinforcements. An exasperated Megatron realizes the one squad he's called in: the over-enthusiastic Mayhem Suppression Squad. Suddenly, Crasher races across the battlefield, transforming and pounding her hands into the ground, her energized strike sending Huffer and Hound flying. Crasher greets her commander and sends Dirge and Thundercracker to deal with Rodimus and Arcee. Dirge's laughter-inducing engines take Rodimus out of the battle, and mentally unstable Arcee is downed by Thundercracker's bubbles of silence and Gutcruncher concussion cannon. Prime is furious with his troop's weakness, but is attacked by Bludgeon and Carnivac, who work together to keep Prime disoriented. Eventually, the Autobots retreat to cover, and the Decepticons try to figure out how to flush the Autobots out. Suddenly, rumble shakes the battlefield. Cliffjumper spots massive mechanical beasts, crushing everything in their way. Sideswipe assumes its one of Hound's illusions, but Thundercracker points out that he's offline, and that the dampener is still running. Cliffjumper notices Grimlock in the lead, and realizes they're newly created Dinobots. The herd stops, and atop the largest one, Wheeljack greets Prime, the mad scientist having escaped from his exile in Gygax to enact his revenge with his newest creations. Prime, seeing his disadvantage, forgives the scientist for all his sins...provided his creations work. Not the reaction Wheeljack expected, he nevertheless orders his creations to destroy the Decepticons. The heard roars...and begins to tear into each other. Wheeljack fails to control his creations and is knocked straight to the ground.

At Autobot headquarters in Iacon, Prime furiously berates two of his soldiers, Blurr and Side Burn. Optimus blames the loss of the depot on Blurr, the cousin of Crasher. His subordinate attempts to defend himself, but the younger Side Burn cuts in, pointing out that he had suggested reforming the Wreckers, and that if the Decepticons had been defeated, Wheeljack would have attacked Prime with his Dinobots. Angered, Prime nevertheless considers the recovery of the Dinobots more important than "stress relief" or the recovery of a minor fuel depot. Grimlock is a priority, Prime not wanting him to fall back into his Decepticon creator's hands. All Autobots who are not involved in Ark repair are to search for the Dinobots. Prime intends on sending Wheeljack back into exile, but Side Burn, recognizing Wheeljack's potential, comes up with an alternative punishment: forcing Wheeljack to repair the computers for the Ark, a lowly task for the scientist, and to have him be part of the Earthbound crew in case of sabotage. Delighted by Side Burn's deviancy, Prime has him reporting to Ark duty, where Wheeljack will join him after getting an Earth-mode from the Autobot "medic" Ratchet, while Blurr will search for the Dinobots. Leaving the chamber, Blurr pushes Side Burn into the wall; suspicious of the younger Autobot, Blurr tells him to stay out of his way, lest an "accident" happens. Side Burn simply smiles as the elder Autobot drives off.

At the fuel depot, reinforcements from Darkmount load up supplies and energon rods into Astrotrain. Dirge advocates capturing a few of the Dinobots to make Dinocons, but Cliffjumper is unsure, remembering the troublesome Dinobots of his home dimension. Starscream, however, sees merit in Dirge's idea, hoping to recover his old A.I. matrix. Megatron agrees, sending Astrotrain back to Darkmount with the supplies for "Project Doubletake", and has Starscream gather a dozen of their best soldiers for this "Dinobot Hunt".

The ever-optimistic Huffer follows Grimlock into the abandoned levels of Cybertron. Smiling to himself, he launches his tow-cable around Grimlock. Noticing this, Grimlock begins to thrash about, throwing Huffer into a wall and causing him to drop the positronic deregulator made by Wheeljack to tame the Dinobots. Grimlock rushes forth to his attacker, but when he sees the Autobot symbol on Huffer's tow-cannon, the hardwired directives installed in him by Optimus Prime begin to cause him pain. Huffer tries to placate the Dinobot, but Grimlock tells him to shut up, hearing a voice that Huffer can't. As the smaller Autobot begins to slowly aim his cannon, Grimlock, following the unseen voices instructions, leans forth and grabs Huffer's gun, destroying it and the Autobot symbol that caused him pain. Huffer, not one to push his chances, transforms and flees. Grimlock wants to chase Huffer, but his unseen instructor beckons him to come forth, as the Dinobot heads further into Cybertron...

Near the Rust Sea, Cliffjumper and Sideswipe spy in their makeshift hunting blind as one Dinobot, a small red and grey one named Slugfest feeds on the energon crystalline growths. Sideswipe isn't sure how to proceed, but Cliffjumper jumps forth, tackling Slugfest to the ground. Slugfest yelps, telling Cliffjumper that he has big friends, but the extradimensional Autobot ignores his claims, fixing a restraining bolt to Slugfest. Suddenly, Sideswipe warns him to look out, as a large Dinobot bursts through the crystal "trees", declaring "Me gore you!" The Dinobot lunges at Grimlock, but when he notices Cliffjumper's symbol, the Dinobot is confused; it looks the purple face he's not supposed to hurt but is colored like the red face he's allowed to. Sideswipe attracts the Dinobot's attention, transforming into vehicle mode as the beast gives chase, with Cliffjumper hanging on to his tail. Climbing up with a restraining bolt in his teeth, Cliffjumper accidentally loses it when he shouts to Sideswipe, with his comrade attempting to avoid the Dinobot's ice-breath all the while. Elsewhere, Jazz and Goldbug have managed to find a Dinobot of their own; a flying one named Swoop, who is currently nesting on an old communications tower. Jazz wants to kill the beast, but Goldbug insists on keeping it alive, telling Jazz to climb the tower. The two continue to argue until Blurr and Rodimus arrive. The two Seekers agree with their commander on sending Jazz up, but Prime's bodyguard flips down his missile racks, still refusing to go up. When all the other's weapons are leveled at him, however, Jazz asks for a cable. Back near the Rust Sea, Sideswipe swerves on part of the ground frozen in ice, sending him straight into a patch of crystals, pinning him. The Dinobot celebrates his victory and turns his attention to Cliffjumper. Unable to grab him with his tiny arms, Cliffjumper goads the Dinobot and leaps off the beast's head with his jetpack when the Dinobot rams his head into the ground in an attempt to smash him. With the Dinobot knocked out, Cliffjumper heads over to Sideswipe, helping him up, who fixes a spare restraining bolt to the Dinobot. Sideswipe contacts Soundwave, telling him to send Astrotrain to pick up Slugfest and "Goryu" (having mistaken the latter's statement of intent for a name), while Cliffjumper spots the fleeing Huffer in the distance. Sneaking up on the Autobot, the two demand to know which Dinobot he ran into. Huffer is reluctant at first, but when Sideswipe mentions that Cliffjumper believes in Primus, the unnerved Autobot tells them that he saw Grimlock heading towards sector Alpha-Seven, although he manages to extort an energon rod out of them. Huffer flees while the two Decepticons discuss what to do, and as they head after their more important target, Huffer smiles to himself, figuring it will all turn out okay in the end. Meanwhile, Jazz screams for help as he holds on to the flying Swoop, who declares the Autobot to be his new friend, looping around in circles. Goldbug, pragmatic as ever, gets his comrade down by shooting Swoop's wing, and the two fall to the ground, with Jazz stuck right underneath the Dinobot. Rodimus laughs, while Blurr questions why he just didn't shoot Swoop in the first place, to which Goldbug casually replies that it would have taken more effort to get him off his tower-nest if he had. While Goldbug attaches a restraining bolt to Swoop, Blurr and Rodimus take their leave, the former having received an alert from Huffer on Grimlock's location.

Sideswipe and Cliffjumper follow Grimlock's trail, straight into the Rad Zone, travelling through the perilous path formed both by nature and by Grimlock's passage. Finding an entryway to an ancient bunker, Sideswipe deduces that Grimlock went in, pointing out the fresh claw marks to his companion. Cliffjumper, however, notices that Sideswipe has been on edge, and demands to know what's up. Sideswipe reluctantly tells Cliffjumper that this is where the ambush Prime set up for him went down, and where Cliffjumper, or rather, Sideswipe's Cliffjumper, was accidentally killed. Sideswipe feels guilty, blaming himself for his former comrade's death, but Cliffjumper simply sighs, figuring that this universe's version of himself was an evil monster who deserved to die, and seeing his own corpse isn't likely to be the weirdest experience in this dimension. Heading on in, they eventually find what appears to be an access tunnel leading even further underground. The two walk in silence until Sideswipe spots pictographs; the former Autobot realizes that they aren't in an access tunnel, but a tomb. The images depict what appears to be a funeral, followed by interment, disassembly, and then the process in reverse. Sideswipe can only understand some of the writing accompanying it, an ancient Decepticon dialect which indicates a warning. Suddenly, a low voice rumbles throughout the cavern, telling them to get out. The two decide to flee, but when they head back in the direction they came from, they find a solid wall blocking their path. Meanwhile, Blurr and Rodimus have followed Grimlock to the bunker in the Rad Zone as well, Blurr telling Rodimus to keep his wits about him, knowing the danger inherent to the area.

Travelling further down the tomb, Cliffjumper accidentally steps on a booby trap, activating a wall that juts out spears at every angle, with a wall closing behind them. Cliffjumper sprays some glass gas mist, sending it throughout the corridor, and has Sideswipe bash the spears with his clubs. Following the pattern, the two head forth through the corridor. Two-thirds of the way in, however, an out-of-synch spear stabs straight above Cliffjumper's knee, with its speed causing it to penetrate even with the glass gases' effects. Sideswipe helps his comrade stay mobile, and the two hurry out of the tunnel. The spear tip, embedded in his leg, returns to normal, and Cliffjumper manages to limp along, telling Sideswipe he hates this place. Elsewhere, Rodimus and Blurr happen upon some energon rods. The greedy Rodimus rushes forward against Blurr's warnings and finds his arm trapped in some sort of energy field. Unable to pull out of it, Rodimus begins to notice wisps coming off his arm as it pulls him forward; Blurr surmises that it's some sort of custodial equipment, designed to eat metallic matter. Rodimus begs Blurr to help him, but laser blasts prove ineffective, the field simply refracting the light. Rodimus is goaded by Blurr into shooting him; the bolts strike Blurr straight into the chest, and he absorbs their speed. Transforming to vehicle mode, Blurr pushes Rodimus straight through the barrier, his speed preventing him from being caught in the field himself, landing on the other side. Getting up, Blurr suddenly finds himself accosted by Sideswipe and Cliffjumper; Sideswipe threatens his former comrade, while Cliffjumper advocates getting out before anything worse happens. Cliffjumper goes to pick up Rodimus, but the Autobot, already recovered, jumps him, sending him crashing into a wall. Blurr attempts to warn him until deciding against it, watching as the activate a trapdoor that sends the two down a passageway. Blurr smiles to himself for a second and then is punched by Sideswipe straight into the ground.

Landing on his back, Cliffjumper gets up, ready to fight Rodimus. The Seeker, however, advocates for a truce, knowing they're trapped together. Unfortunately, Cliffjumper's Wave Crusher is ruined, the flight pack having broken his fall. Unable to reach the vent or access their comms, the two examine the stone walls; Rodimus blasts prove ineffective, and they activate yet another trap, causing it and the other walls to close in on each other. Back above ground, Sideswipe demands that Blurr help him find Cliffjumper. Suddenly, a howl rings out of another corridor. Bringing up their weapons, Sideswipe continues to insist on finding the others, but Blurr, realizing just what the tomb is, feels that the stakes are too important to waste time on their companions. Suddenly, a large, warped mechanical being comes forth, the two recognizing it as a Mutant. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper and Rodimus attempt to stop the compactor. Rodimus, having seen similar traps before, shouts to look for an auto-reset. Cliffjumper finds a half-meter long protrusion, matching up to a hole on the opposite side. Their hands too big to fit in the hole, Rodimus grabs the spear shaft in Cliffjumper's leg, pushing it in and shooting it forward. The trap stops, ejecting the two into a debris-filled room. Rodimus realizes where they are: the chamber of Omega Terminus. Rodimus explains that the Omega Terminus is a supercomputer and creator of life on Cybertron, only able to be controlled by the long-lost Terminus Blade and that no one knows where the computer is because the Omega Terminus makes them forget. Rodimus tries to convince Cliffjumper to team up with him to build an army of their own, and when the Autobot rejects his offer, find himself a bottle of scraplets. Rodimus offers it to Cliffjumper, but the horrified Autobot tells him to stay away; Rodimus simply shrugs, ingesting some of them. Cliffjumper watches as Rodimus' wounds heal; scraplets in this universe, as it turns out, only eat dead metal, turning it into living metal. Rare due to the presence of water vapor on Cybertron, Rodimus is happy with his luck, while an exasperated Cliffjumper asks for some as well.

Sideswipe and Blurr are chased by the mutants until the two reach a chamber that frightens off the creatures. The chamber contains a chasm, where an island in the center holds a crystalline object surrounded by dead Cybertronians; Omega Terminus. Sideswipe and Blurr are soon joined by Cliffjumper and Rodimus when bridges suddenly extend from the island to the ledges they stand on. Unable to think of anything else to do, the quartet crosses them. Blurr believes Optimus Prime will reward them well, but Rodimus proposes not telling Prime at all. Showing his true intelligence and ambition, he proposes that the four of them use Omega Terminus to create a faction of their own; after all, no one can stop them. At that moment, Grimlock chooses to reveal himself, rising from one of the junk piles. He tells them that he came here at the insistence of a voice, a voice that doesn’t want them to be there. Omega Terminus begins to spin, and a bolt of energy hits Grimlock, endowing the Dinobot with an ember. The Dinobot begins to transform and turns from a monstrous beast to a super-intelligent robot!

Rodimus attempts to greet Grimlock, but the Dinobot remembers the way the Seeker used to treat him, and quickly converts back to his Tyrannosaurus mode, ripping off Rodimus's left hand. Transforming back to robot mode, Grimlock tells the four that something bigger is happening, beyond that of the war, and that they in the Omega Terminus' way. Cliffjumper angrily shouts that they outnumber Grimlock...to which the Omega Terminus begins to spin again, shooting more bolts into the corpses surrounding it. Four dead bodies rise from the grave, one of whom is Sideswipe's former commander, Drench, and another the native Cliffjumper! Grimlock begins to monologue, explaining that the Mutants gather raw materials in the Rad Zone, which the Omega Terminus breaks down to make new Cybertronians. His monologue is interrupted by Rodimus, and Grimlock is angered enough to be forced back to his unintelligent beast mode. The zombies rush forth, focusing on Blurr and Sideswipe, while Cliffjumper and Rodimus engage Grimlock. Sideswipe attempts to reason with Drench, reminding him of their friendship, but the living dead bot ignores him, savagely attacking him along with an endoskeletal zombie. Blurr, meanwhile, fights with Cliffjumper and a zombie holding his own head. The decapitated corpse throws his head onto Blurr’s shoulder, but Blurr manages to work through the pain and sends the zombie off-balance, causing the headless horror to fall into the chasm below. Rodimus and Cliffjumper manage to briefly blind Grimlock, and the two turn their attention to the zombies, their combined laser fire barely affecting the bots. Rodimus wonders how your supposed to kill something that’s not even alive, and Cliffjumper, realizing how to defeat them, has Rodimus give him the Scraplets. Throwing the bottle onto his doppelganger, Cliffjumper watches as the panicking zombie attempts to get the Scraplets off him, lunging forward, only for his positive-universe counterpart to rip his arm off and for Rodimus to ram him into the endoskeleton. Cliffjumper throws the arm at Drench, and Sideswipe watches sadly as his old friend and the other corpses disintegrate into nothingness. Grimlock, however, is soon back to fight and knocks the assembled Decepticons and Autobots onto the ledge. Transforming back into robot mode, Grimlock gloats over the bots at his mercy. Blurr, however, begins to insult the Dinobot. Grimlock nearly turns back into dinosaur mode again, but manages to calm himself, knowing now that his anger can be used against him. Blurr, however, was merely distracting Grimlock, allowing for Sideswipe to get Cliffjumper back on the platform. Grimlock quickly turns around, but Blurr saps his speed. Cliffjumper knocks him off the platform, sending the helpless Grimlock tumbling into the depths below. The four get back on the platform, and Omega Terminus, still with plenty of corpses around, demands that they get out, opening passages surface.

Back at Autobot headquarters, Rodimus wakes up on Ratchet’s surgical table, panicking as the mad doctor offers various “enhancements” to him. Optimus Prime’s entrance silences the two, and Prime tells Rodimus he should consider himself lucky; he was going to place him on the wall, but his advisors still think the former Wrecker has potential. Angered, Rodimus notices that his missing hand has been replaced with a buzzsaw, punishment for failing to capture Grimlock. Prime leaves the room, leaving an enraged Rodimus to stew. Soon, Blurr reports to his leader on the Autobot success; they now have eight new Dinobots at their disposal. When Blurr reports that Grimlock was destroyed (the Seeker’s memories altered by Omega Terminus), Prime lashes out at his subordinate, grabbing him by the neck. Suddenly, Grimlock enters the room in Tyrannosaurus mode, having survived his fall. Prime beckons him to come forth, but Grimlock refuses, transforming into robot mode. Prime is furious, his greatest weapon having gained sentience. Grimlock, however, ignores his threats, telling him that he is simply bored and requires stimulation. Strolling over the ‘’Ark’’ schematics, Grimlock points out a fatal flaw in the fuel system. Prime has Blurr confirm it and, convinced of Grimlock’s intentions, gives Grimlock a probationary welcome back into the Autobot ranks.

Later, at the new Dinocon corral, Slugfest is unable to sleep. He likes his new friends, especially Starscream, but misses the noises of Gygax. Suddenly, the door to the corral opens, terrifying Slugfest, until he sees a familiar face. Grimlock tells Slugfest to gather the others so he can take them to a secret place…

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Decepticons Autobots Others

Quotes

"Fear not, Mega-Dude! This is Soundwave, rockin' the radio from Darkmount, and I bring you joyous tidings! For I have totally called in the cavalry!"

—Soundwave is the righteous bearer of good news.


"Shoot it! I can't keep this up forever!"
"I can't, the glass gas'll blow back in my face!"
"That's a terrible weapon!"
"Why don't you just beat it to death with a missile if you're so smart!"

—Sideswipe and Cliffjumper discuss tactics.


"Yes, it seems we could use a hand."
"Heh, good thing I gots two, eh?"

—Goldbug and Rodimus. Oh, the irony.


"Listen Huffer, you'd better talk. My partner here isn't quite what you'd call sane. He believes in Primus."

—Sideswipe gives the Shattered Glass perception of Transformer religious views.


"Me... me... m... m... my... I... iii... I... Griiimm... lock... waaaaannnt... to talk a little bit about the truly fascinating ramifications of directly applied neutronic rearrangement when applied to instantaneous mechanical re-engineering! It is a fascinating subject, particularly in terms of practical application, wot?"

—Grimlock goes from stupidly incomprehensible to intelligently incomprehensible.


"LEAVE WITH YOUR LIVES. NEVER RETURN."
"And if we don't?"
"YOU ARE OUT OF SCRAPLETS."

—Omega Terminus makes a rather persuasive argument to Sideswipe.

Notes

Continuity notes

  • This story takes place after the original "Shattered Glass" comic. Various events and ideas from that story, including the foiling of the launch of the Ark, the Decepticons being joined by the positive universe Cliffjumper, and the idea that mirror universe sparks are called "embers", are mentioned near the beginning of the story.
  • Crasher was originally mentioned in Blurr's BotCon 2008 biocard as his cousin; her role is greatly expanded on in this story.
  • Grimlock was noted to be a creation of Starscream's in his BotCon 2008 biocard.
  • Blurr attempts to defend himself by pointing out that Prime didn't have Sunstreaker kill Sideswipe, his brother; Sunstreaker showed up in the original "Shattered Glass" comic, shown to be one of Prime's earliest recruits.
  • The Wreckers were originally mentioned as a mercenary group in Rodimus' BotCon 2008 biocard; Rodimus was the sole survivor of the group.
  • Side Burn is treated as something of an enigma, not really belonging with the Autobots. Later stories would make exactly why this is explicit.
  • Cliffjumper notes that his Dinobots often ran off on their own, and would occasionally attempt to take over the Autobots; the former calls back to Marvel The Transformers issues #19 and #70, while the later likely refers to issue #27, where Grimlock vied for and obtained leadership of the Autobots.
  • Goldbug notes that Jazz retreated during the Decepticon's bomb run on the Ark in the original "Shattered Glass" comic.
  • It was noted in the original "Shattered Glass" comic that the mirror-universe Cybertronians had never heard of Primus, the Decepticons only learning of him when Cliffjumper explained who he was after exclaiming his name. Evidently, the Autobots have learned of this belief as well: Rodimus derisively refers to him as "Mr. 'The Planet is a God'".
  • The ambush on Sideswipe and Shattered Glass Cliffjumper's death were recounted in the original "Shattered Glass" comic. Drench's death, meanwhile, was noted in Sideswipe's BotCon 2008 bio to be the cause of Sideswipe's questioning of his allegiance and his eventual defection to the Decepticons.
  • A drawing of a robot with an "ornate sword" in the Omega Terminus chamber and the mention of the "Old One", the only Cybertronian who knows of Omega Terminus' location (having been previously referred to in the original "Shattered Glass" comic) implies that Omega Terminus has a connection to Alpha Trion, homaging the connection his positive-universe counterpart has a connection to Vector Sigma. Alpha Trion was seen escaping from Axiom Nexus in the last chapter of the "Transcendent" storyline, published a month before the release of this prose story.

Transformers references

  • Slightly hidden on the cover are two statues, one of a robot with the face of the Autobot insignia, and another of the Fallen, as he appeared in Dreamwave Productions' The Dark Ages.
  • Like a few characters in the original Shattered Glass comic, many of the characters introduced in this story are either repurposed from existing toys, or "virtual" redecos of existing toys. (Although some, such as characters simply namedropped, as well as Hound, are not sufficiently described in this story to know what they are repurposed/"redecoed" from.) Additionally, while the original "Shattered Glass" story depicted most of its characters as being near identical to their positive-universe counterparts but with their moralities inverted, this story depicts the characters having opposite versions of their positive-universe counterpart's tics and abilities.
    • Huffer, repurposed from the Target-exclusive live-action movie Armorhide toy. Many of these Scout class figures would be repurposed as various Shattered Glass characters. Unlike positive-universe Huffer's whiny, complaining nature, Huffer takes everything in stride, considering even damage to himself a reason to smile.
    • Hound, who is noted to have an "hallucination signal"; later stories would make it clear that this is an inversion of the positive-universe Hound's holograms.
    • Arcee, repurposed from the Target-exclusive live-action movie Elita-One toy. Arcee is depicted having severe mental turmoil amidst violence, perhaps owning to the original depiction of her positive-universe counterpart in the IDW 2005 comics.
    • Gutcruncher, repurposed from the Target-exclusive live-action movie Signal Flare toy.
    • Soundwave (having previously appeared in a non-speaking role in the original "Shattered Glass" comic) is depicted as one righteous dude, compared to rather emotionless depiction of Soundwave in the original The Transformers cartoon.
    • Crasher, who is either repurposed from or shares her GoBots counterpart's white color scheme from her initial release in the GoBots toyline, as opposed to the more famous black color scheme used by the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon. Crasher is noted to make an odd whirring noise when she transforms; the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon depicted the Guardian and Renegade's conversion noise as a mechanical-sounding whir, more similar to the Beast Wars conversion noise than the concurrent Transformers one. Additionally, Shattered Glass Crasher releases shock waves into the ground with her arms, as opposed to GoBots Crasher using her feet to produce them.
    • Dirge, a virtual redeco of Timelines Dirge in the colors of Beast Wars II Thrust. Dirge is depicted as a lively bot who looks on the bright side and cracks jokes, as compared to positive-universe Dirge's grim, depressive personality. Shattered Glass Dirge has laughter inducing engines, while Generation 1 Dirge had fear-inducing engines.
    • Thundercracker, a virtual redeco of Classics Starscream in his positive-universe counterpart's Action Master color scheme. Thundercracker can create areas of pure silence, mirroring his positive-universe counterpart's ability to create a sonic boom.
    • Bludgeon, repurposed from his Robots in Disguise counterpart's toy. Bludgeon is depicted as having been influenced by transmissions from Earth to model himself after a cowboy, pistols and hip holsters included, as opposed to his positive-universe samurai counterpart.
    • Carnivac, a virtual redeco of his positive-universe counterpart's toy in either red-and-blue or gold (the story doesn't say whether Carnivac is a Pretender or not; its likely that one of the color schemes is in error). Carnivac is depicted as something of a knight, similar to Beast Wars Silverbolt.
    • Wheeljack, a virtual redeco of Energon Downshift in European-exclusive Generation 1 Slicer colors, who was himself a Decepticon redeco of Generation 1 Wheeljack's Action Master toy. This would later become a real toy at BotCon 2010 as "Decepticon Slice", which could be repurposed as Wheeljack. Unlike most, Wheeljack is still a mad scientist in this story, although with more emphasis on the "mad" part. Like his positive-universe counterpart, his "ears" glow when he talks, in a sickly yellow-green instead of blue.
    • Goryu, a virtual redeco of Masterpiece Grimlock in a color scheme inspired by Goryu's positive-universe counterpart's shell, along with the distinctive spikes of said shell added to his dinosaur mode.
    • Slugfest, a virtual redeco of his positive-universe counterpart's toy in the color of fellow cassete Grand Slam. Slugfest believes himself to be "the coolest" and that everyone loves him; positive universe Slugfest, meanwhile, is paranoid about what everyone thinks of him.
    • Kakuryu (who only shows up in illustration, along with Doryu), based on Generation 1 Slag in a color scheme inspired by Kakuryu's positive-universe counterpart's shell colors; Kakuryu's dinosaur alt-mode has been changed from a Triceratops to a Styracosaurus.
    • Doryu, based on Generation 1 Snarl in a color scheme inspired by Doryu's positive-universe counterpart's shell colors.
    • Sludge, a virtual redeco of his Generation 1 Sludge in Constructicon colors.
    • Side Burn, repurposed from his positive-universe counterpart's Universe toy. Side Burn believes that "undue attention to females" is a waste of resources, while the positive-universe Side Burn was a womanizing mech who was more often occupied with chasing them instead of his missions.
    • Astrotrain, repurposed from his Cybertron counterpart's toy. His Micromaster partners would later be named in "Do Over".
    • Swoop, a virtual redeco of Cybertron Brimstone in the color of Armada Ravenus' mutated form (Ravenus normal form resembles Swoop's positive-universe counterpart). His positive-universe counterpart's position as the "friendliest Dinobot" is amped to 11 here.
    • Drench, repurposed from his positive-universe counterpart's toy with red eyes.
    • Cliffjumper, a virtual redeco of Classics Cliffjumper in navy and grey. Sideswipe notes that he was trusting and forgiving, unlike the always-suspicious positive-universe Cliffjumper.
    • Ratchet, a virtual retool of Energon Roadblock in white and green scrubs, with a new head inspired by Ratchet's positive-universe counterpart.
  • Additionally, a few Shattered Glass characters are mentioned who do not appear in the story. Most of these characters would eventually appear in the other prose stories, comics, or some other source. These characters include:
    • Blaster, who's noted to have a cassette/"memory cartridge" holding form.
    • Geronimo, who died early in the war; his positive-universe counterpart also died early in the war, as mentioned in Dreamwave Productions' The Age of Wrath comic.
    • Slag, whom Goryu thinks is ugly.
    • Bombshell, who's noted to be a therapist, as opposed to his postive-universe counterpart's function of psychological warfare.
    • Ultra Magnus, noted to be a traitor who Blurr briefly sided with.
    • Beachcomber, an insane Autobot, unlike his pacifistic positive-universe counterpart.
    • Fixit, who's noted to have a price for his repairs.
    • Hoist, a lazy mechanic who does jury-rigged patch jobs.
    • Chromedome, who Prime threatens to put Blurr next to on the "shelf".
  • At the beginning of the story, Starscream yells "Megatron has fallen!" when his commander is wounded, the orders the others to stick to the plan; this inverts the rather common event of the positive-universe Starscream declaring himself leader after even the slightest damage caused to Megatron in the original The Transformers cartoon ("Megatron has fallen! I, Starscream, am now your leader!").
  • Soundwave radios in from Darkmount, the Decepticon fortress introduced in the original Marvel The Transformers comic.
  • The Mayhem Suppression Squad originally appeared in the "Shattered Expectations" April Fool's comics, set outside the main Shattered Glass timeline. Dirge, Thundercracker, and Astrotrain make the jump into main Shattered Glass continuity here.
  • Carnivac shouts "The Mayhem Suppression Squad has shown you its valor, can you not do more?" inverting the Furmanism of "I can do no less."
  • Wheeljack is the creator of the Dinobots, much like his positive-universe counterpart was their co-creator in the original The Transformers cartoon. Huffer notes in the prologue that Wheeljack and Ratchet (whose positive-universe counterpart was the other creator of the Dinobots) could always make more if the escapees are permanently offlined.
  • Gygax was originally mentioned in Classics story "The New World", also written by Sepelak and Troop.
  • Side Burn notes that the Wreckers would have been the Autobot's best bet against the Mayhem Suppression Squad; the Wreckers and the Mayhem Attack Squad often fought one another in the Marvel UK The Transformers comics.
  • Energon is stored in yellow rods, rather than in pink cubes, as in most positive universes; Cliffjumper thinks it has a weird aftertaste.
  • With the Dinobots crazed and scattered, and with both teams trying to gather them up, this story calls back to the Marvel UK The Transformers story "Dinobot Hunt!", and Megatron names their mission a "Dinobot Hunt" accordingly.
  • The Rust Sea was originally mentioned in the Marvel UK The Transformers letters page.
  • Written on Goryu's hip is Cybertronix reading "D-322"; D-322 was the Japanese ID number of his positive-universe counterpart's toy.
  • Goryu possesses ice-breath, rather than flame-breath like most positive-universe Dinobots.
  • Words in the ancient Decepticon dialect include: "cho'rk", meaning "sacred"; "zansh-kor-re", the first part of which means "depart", while the "re" is an inflection indicating a warning.
  • Blurr's superspeed transformation leaves afterimages, much like his postive-universe counterpart normally does.
  • The Mutants are negative-universe version of the Mutants introduced in the Marvel UK The Transformers comics.
  • Blurr notes that aside from the Seekers, Sideswipe use to be a member of the Firestormers; the positive-universe Sideswipe was a member of the Firestormers in the Marvel Generation 2 comics.
  • Omega Terminus is the mirror-universe version of Vector Sigma, the supercomputer from the The Transformers cartoon that granted life to all Cybertronians. It is noted to be controlled by the Terminus Blade, the counterpart of the Key to Vector Sigma.
  • The positive-universe version of Scraplets originally appeared in the Marvel The Transformers comics; there, they were a parasitic race that ate living metal. Water vapor is noted to be the mirror-universe Scraplets weakness; water was the only cure to the positive-universe Scraplets.
  • Grimlock's intelligence boost likely owes some inspiration to his positive-universe counterpart going through a similar process in the The Transformers episode "Grimlock's New Brain".
  • Rodimus' saw blade is present on his toy as a fold-out feature; the original version of the toy (as Classics Rodimus) had it as a homage to the scenes in The Transformers: The Movie, where Hot Rod used it several times.
  • The Autobots have gained 8 new Dinobots; aside from Swoop, these are likely the aforementioned Slag, Sludge, a Shattered Glass version of Snarl, and Shattered Glass versions of the W Cassettebots.

Real-world references

  • A mechanimal known as a dieselle is mentioned in the prologue, presumably the Cybertronian equivalent to a gazelle.
  • The Arch-Ayr fuel dump is named for the former high-ranking Hasbro employee, Aaron Archer.
  • Several characters take influence from real-life celebrities/fictional characters, including:
    • Optimus Prime's voice is meant to sound like the 1980s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon villain, Venger, who was also voiced by Peter Cullen.
    • Rodimus, whose dialogue in this story is modeled on John Travolta's character, Vinnie Barbarino, from the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. ("Ey, up your pipe with a windshield-wipe.")
    • Soundwave, who, according to author Greg Sepelak, is modeled on "Bill S. Preston Esq. and "Ted" Theodore Logan, with a big heaping helping of Val Halen [sic]. " (The former from the Bill & Ted films, and the latter from The Justice Friends segments of Dexter's Laboratory.)
    • Bludgeon's personality, while not influenced by any specific person, seems to be inspired by the adaption of several samurai films into westerns, such as with Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven.
    • Jazz's speech patterns, as in other stories, is based off of Mr. T, with it really becoming evident in this story. (In particular, his line, "I pity the tool that thinks he can force me to climb a tower," riffs on Mr. T's character Clubber Lang, from Rocky III.)
  • Gygax, the location on Cybertron to which Wheeljack was exiled, is named after Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. The name of the text story and several of its settings, themes, and objects are an overt homage to Dungeons & Dragons.
  • Cliffjumper presumably picked up the exclamation "Geronimo" on Earth, where it derives from the famous Native American leader.
  • Cliffjumper isn't very good at remembering dinosaur names; he calls Slugfest a "Stagnosaurus" and Goryu a "Tyrantosmarmus".
  • Cliffjumper thinks the pictographs look Egyptian. Among the things he knows about Egyptians is that they walked funny, referring the to song "Walk Like an Egyptian" most famously sung by The Bangles.
  • Grimlock's shift to an intelligent robot closely follows a similar such scene in Gremlins 2, when a Gremlin injected with an intelligence serum immediately declares that "iiiii wwwaaaaaaannnnn....ttto talk about this fascinating phenomenon taking place at this moment."
  • A few symbols and images appear on Ratchet's computer displays, including:
    • The symbol of Atomsk, the pirate king from the FLCL anime series.
    • A few helmets from the Mega Man video game series.
    • A fanmade design for Optimus Prime by artist Evan Gauntt.
  • Aside from being inversions of CR chambers, the Agonizing Rehabilitation Chambers are likely a reference to the agony booths from the mirror-universe Star Trek stories.

Errors

  • On page 1, "Kaon" is misspelled as "Khon".
  • On page 7, Cliffjumper remarks on the noticeable memory cartridge kibble on Slugfest, indicating his alternate mode. However, Dinobots and Dinocons don't HAVE alt modes at this point in the story. They were unable to transform until the Omega Terminus altered them between this story and Do Over.
  • On page 20, "air" is misspelled as "hair".
  • On page 27, "Blurr" is misspelled as "Burr".
  • On page 28, "last remnants of his one-time friend was" should be "last remnants of his one-time friend were".
  • On page 30, Blurr claims that since the Autobots have captured eight Dinobots, they have an eight hundred percent increase. Before the hunt, they had zero Dinobots. Eight hundred percent of zero is still zero, and if by some chance Grimlock could count as one Dinobot because he was shortly on their side some time ago, then the increase would be seven hundred percent to get up to eight Dinobots.

External links