Rodimus's team has followed Brainstorm back to Clampdown-era Rodion, and have spread out to search for the rogue scientist. While Rodimus watches for Orion Pax at the police station alongside Whirl, he checks in with the others: Rewind is surveying the city from his position on an airship; the bored Riptide is watching the waterways; a nervous Chromedome is riding the rails to avoid the risk of running into his past self; and Cyclonus and Tailgate look down on the city from a nearby cliff. Emotionally moved by the sight of the pristine planet, unblemished by war, to the point that he is struck dumb, Cyclonus doesn't respond to Rodimus, so Tailgate takes the communicator and quickly makes up a story about having set down for repairs. After a moment of silence, Cyclonus apologizes to Tailgate for physically abusing him in the past.

Rodimus then calls Perceptor, who expresses concern over the fact that Rewind's database is being overwritten, as it implies that Brainstorm's alteration to the timeline may have already happened, or is destined to. As such, if they cannot stop him, Perceptor must dismantle the time machine to undo the paradox, warning that many things could "go wrong". Reminded by those words that he had forgotten about Rung, Rodimus contacts the psychotherapist, who is staking out Maccadam's New Oil House. Unfortunately, Brainstorm is also watching the bar, and when he spots Rung building a model of the Lost Light, he realizes that he has been followed back in time and abandons his plans. Brainstorm's flight is spotted by Rewind, and Cyclonus gives chase, but just before he can land a missile-hit, Brainstorm's briefcase activates and he time-jumps away. At Perceptor's instruction, the team regroups at Maccadam's, and he sends them after their quarry.

Arriving one year further in the past, in 4th Cycle 499, the team are contacted by Perceptor and Ultra Magnus, who believe that Maccadam's is important, and that the deductions they made about Brainstorm's plans may have been hasty. Accordingly, the group splits in two: Chromedome, Rewind, and Whirl head for the police station while the rest remain at the bar. But Brainstorm has gone to neither, and is, in fact, at a wellbeing clinic several miles away, where he ambushes and knocks out the Rung of the past...

Later at the police station again, Chromedome and Rewind spend time stargazing, but Rewind is preoccupied with thoughts of the unknown fate of Dominus Ambus. He proposes using the time-case to finally discover what befell his former Conjunx Endura, but Chromedome worries that he will want to change history and save Dominus's life, which would mean that his and Rewind's relationship would never happen. Before they can discuss those unfortunate ramifications too deeply, Whirl alerts them to the arrival of his own past self at the station. This day being so important in his life, Whirl is able to recognize the 'nobody' he's bringing in as being Crossbar, and then realizes what specific day it is — the day Megatron is arrested.

Back at Maccadam's, the rest of the team watch the younger Megatron and Impactor sitting at a nearby table. When Rung goes to fetch a curly straw for Tailgate, however, he accidentally knocks over a jumped-up cadet's drink, and winds up being thrown into Megatron and Impactor's table when he refuses to clean up the mess. This instigates the famous bar-room brawl that leads to Megatron's arrest, and as the Lost Lighters make themselves scarce, Brainstorm, looking on from outside, grimaces at the realization his attempt to prevent it by incapacitating the past-Rung has failed.

A few hours later, at the police station, after Megatron has been arrested and subsequently released by Pax, the Senate's goon squad arrives for payback and kills officers Springarm and Wheelarch. Chromedome refuses to let Rewind intervene, regrettably understanding that history must be preserved, but is too slow to stop the deranged Whirl leaping into the fray when thr

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