Transformers: Spotlight #4 - "Sixshot"

Credits

Writer - Simon Furman / Art - Rob Ruffolo / Letters - Robbie Robbins / Colors - Rob Ruffolo

Story

Caught in deep ennui between missions, the socially isolated Decepticon known as Sixshot looks for the Terrorcons, the closest associates he knows. A frightened Squawkbox tells him the Terrorcons were last dispatched to the planet Mumu-Obscura and have not been heard from since; speculation is that the planet has fallen to the Reapers, a legendary group of world-destroyers.

The Reapers

Sixshot flies to Mumu-Obscura, where he handily evades and destroys the world's formidable defenses. Reaching the surface, he is awed by the destruction of the planet, both for its thoroughness and its pointlessness. After landing, he is soon greeted by the Reapers, a team of six alien beings. After a few terse words, the leader -- Deathbringer -- tells Sixshot that the Terrorcons will be returned to him if he can defeat the Reapers. Sixshot attacks without hesitation; but while he manages to hold his own, he is still outnumbered, and soon falls back.

Signaling the end of the battle, the Reapers produce the Terrorcons, dazed but otherwise unharmed. Deathbringer explains that what the Reapers were after was Sixshot; like him, the Reapers are driven by warfare and destruction, but ultimately find it induces solitude and madness. The Reapers want him to join their cause -- to destroy worlds locked in war and prematurely ending further bloodshed -- and asks Sixshot to signify his acceptance by killing the Terrorcons.

After a long and thoughtful pause, Sixshot wordlessly opens fire on the Terrorcons with a barrage of weapons fire -- yet when the smoke clears, they remain standing, spared by his pinpoint marksmanship.

The Reapers leave, and Deathbringer pledges to return for Sixshot when he tires of the Decepticons. As he watches them go, Sixshot finds himself empathizing with them, and wonders just how much longer his loyalties to the Decepticons will last.

Notes and Comments

• The Reaper's leader is identified as a "Deathbringer". This is a reference to Deathbringer, a character created by writer Simon Furman who first appeared in the Marvel UK Transformers comic book series, and who was last seen in Marvel's Transformers #65.