The Extraordinary Reformat

« Beast Wars Reborn #4
"The Extraordinary Reformat" 驚異のリフォーマット (Kyōi no Reformat)
Published in	Figure Ō No. 100
First published	May 24, 2006
Cover date	June 2006
Story	Hirofumi Ichikawa
Pencils	Hirofumi Ichikawa

On Animatron, both Optimus Primal and Megatron undergo a new change.

Synopsis

On Animatron, Optimus Primal explains to Backstop about his past: He and Megatron were eternal enemies during a war on their home planet. The final battle resulted in both their substances breaking down to their basic components to become one with the reborn world. Backstop is enamored with the tale, but asks... why are they both here on another world now? The details come easy—Soundblaster sought a successor and so tore their sparks out of Cybertron's own earth and brought them to this unknown area of space. The "why", however, is something Optimus would like to know himself...

The two reach an underground temple, the Rectangular Valley, one of various locations across the planet containing Transformer technology, where Optimus Primal thinks is a good location to access the information contained within the Golden Disk regarding Soundblaster's succession ceremony. Still holding the spirit of the explorer within, Primal is fascinated by the environment of Animatron, especially the psionic energy that wraps the planet like an aura—explained by the temple's priests as the result of the Cyber Planet Key that was brought to this world by Transformers eons ago on a spaceship. This information doesn't match Optimus Primal's own knowledge, so he figures that he's in a universe unknown to him and shifts his focus to deciphering the disk with the priests.

Two days later, Optimus Primal hasn't seen hide nor hair of Megatron. He wonders if Megatron has already gathered all he needs from his previous encounter with the Golden Disk during the trial at Soundblaster's temple while Primal himself was distracted by questions about his past. His guess proves correct, as Megatron, armed with confidential data from the disk, is well on his way to becoming Soundblaster's successor. On Animatron, Megatron has managed to defeat Scavage, the leader of a pack of dinosaur-like Transformers. Seeking to exploit the power of the Cyber Planet Key, Megatron decides to adapt to the current spacetime and does so by ripping off Scavage's own key port and installs it on his left arm. Once the port is connected to his neural net, the planet's psionic energy surges into Megatron's body and reconfigures the nanomachines that makes up the body, transforming the organic Beast Warrior into an Animatronian-type metamorphic Transmetal robot! He calls out to his nemesis that he is ready for the Zeonomicon now that he's acquired the "sacred crest"...

In the spiritual world, Vector Prime finally succeeds in cutting down Soundblaster's spirit. But this apparition is merely one of thousands of shards of Soundblaster's being. This fragment attempts to merge with his former comrade, giving Vector Prime glimpses of Logos's impending nonexistence, the need for a successor, and the "Beast of Time". The fusion is broken, and Vector laments the fate of his brother, but that last image he saw haunts him...

The next day, Megatron attacks the underground temple with his army of predator-type Transformers. Optimus Primal quizzes the Predacon about his new appearance, to which Megatron is more than happy to show off, activating his Cyber Key—an imitation of the Cyber Planet Key created by the planet's psionic energy—to create a missile launcher that he uses to destroy the temple. Both sides fight, with it being the first day that Cyber Keys are activated on the planet. Megatron reasons that the Zeonomicon must also have been a Cyber Key used by Soundblaster to power himself up and wonders just what Primal's been up to in the days leading to the battle. "Laying the groundwork", Optimus Primal just says with a shrug. Having already analyzed the Golden Disk, Primal knew that the Zenomicon would be granted in the final rite of succession when the Golden Disk was placed within an obelisk at the mouth of a volcano beyond the mountain range they were currently on.

Mocking his opponent's lack of a Cyber Key-compatible body, Megatron asks whether he like to hand over the Golden Disk before or after death, but the Maximal has already set plans in motion. Backstop shows up in the nick of time with a valuable treasure—Animatron's Cyber Planet Key! Having borrowed it from their amicable viceroy, Backstop tosses the key to Primal, who recognizes it as a fragment of Primus's essence and wishes not for its power, but the opportunity to break the chains of destiny on his very being! The key induces a reformatting of Primal's body, transforming it into an Antimatronian form, with a key receptor located on the end of his new hoverboard module. After returning the Cyber Planet Key to Backstop, Optimus Primal rushes to the obelisk, with Megatron swiftly following on a flying dragon steed.

After both disappear from sight of everyone else, neither are ever seen again, and the conclusion of their confrontation is forever a mystery. However, Backstop feels like the dawn of a new day answers the question well enough.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• This story is stated to take place before the events of the Grand Black Hole, as is evident by the fact that Megatron's summoning of the Cyber Key was noted as the first such instance on Animatron. Scourge has yet to become leader of Animatron, so the Cyber Planet Key is said to be in the possession of an unnamed viceroy instead.
• The "Beast of Time" noted here would later be revealed as the Hytherion in the story of Alternity, which would go in more detail about the creature.

Transformers references

• The new Animatronian bodies attained by Optimus Primal and Megatron in this story are based on their Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toys, specifically the Deluxe class ones compatible with the Cyber Key toys of the Cybertron toyline.
• When Megatron upgrades himself into his new body, the text describes his Animatronian form as a Transmetal.

External links

• Translation at Karyuudo Fansubs