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Greenville High School inNevada suddenly explodes. Luckily the building had already been evacuated following a phone call warning of a gas leak, and the incident is reported onNV4 News, as well as the fact that it's the fourth school in the area in the last week to explode.Miko is just annoyed thattheir school is still standing, butJack's concerned by the circumstances.Optimus Prime agrees this is odd, believing they should assume that theDecepticons are behind the explosions, and keep the three kids out of school, much to Miko's delight.

The Autobots split up to monitor schools around the area. Jack andArcee end up lurking in bushes outsideFranklin High School, though Jack's less than happy about sitting around for hours on end. His griping is interrupted by the sudden evacuation of the school, and moments later a number ofMECH cars pull up.Silas himself steps out of a car, telling his men that they're trying to flush out Jack so Silas can personally off the boy. Arcee contacts Prime, but he reports that they're tied up with MECH assaults on the other schools.

Clearly in the running for greatest TF comic panel ever.

While Arcee's occupied, Jack sneaks into the school alone. He quickly finds Silas in the gymnasium, but Silas also spots him thanks to the school's CCTV system. Silas immediately detonates bombs in the front of the building, intending to leave Jack trapped while he and his goons head up to the helicopter on the roof. Arcee crashes through the gym doors to rescue Jack and the MECH guys start shooting at her as they retreat. Arcee wants to get clear of the building before it explodes, but Jack insists on following MECH to the roof.

Moments later, as Silas orders his men to guard the door on the roof, Jack suddenly kicks him square in the nards. While Silas is clutching his reproductive organs, Jack points out he failed to guard the fire escape. The MECH guys are ready to start shooting Jack, only for Arcee to appear behind them wielding her blaster. In the confusion, Silas jumps on the ladder of the MECH helicopter which has just arrived and, waving to the pair on the roof, makes his escape. Jack is infuriated, but hops onto Arcee so she can get them off the roof of the burning building. Now safe, Jack apologises for sneaking off on his own, but Arcee says she's done worse.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Humans
Optimus Prime (6) Ratchet (7) Arcee (8)	Sterling Spoon (1) Bliss Meadow (2) Miko Nakadai (3) Raf Esquivel (4) Jack Darby (5) Silas (9)

Quotes

"Silas, you meat-headed psycho!"

—Jack

"I've never taken a human life... but there's a first time for everything - now drop 'em!"

—Arcee

Notes

Errors

Miko's tights are flesh-coloured.
Ratchet is coloured likeBulkhead in his only appearance.
MECH's cars are coloured yellow and black, instead of the green and black paintjob they sport in the TV series.
Jack refers back to the last time they encountered MECH in "Crisscross". That was the episode where MECH learned where Jack lived and thus wouldn't need to blow up schools to find him.
Silas's facial scars are missing.
Arcee states that she has never taken a human life before, but in the episode, "Convoy", she sends two cars rolling and blows up a third. Even if the guys in the two tumbling cars managed to live, it is doubtful that the guys in the exploding car survived.

Trivia

Sterling Spoon and Bliss Meadow may very well be callbacks toMarvel Comics charactersIrwin Spoon andJoy Meadows.
It may be a callback that raises questions, but mentioning "Crisscross" makes this the firstPrime issue to follow on from an episode of the show!
At least four MECH guys appear to get left on the school roof. Guess they didn't make it, huh?

Articles and features

Use Raf's codebreaker to crack the Cybertronian codes in this comic!
Arcee profile
Defuse the Bomb! -Starscream has planted a bomb somewhere in this city!
Save Jack! Maze - Help Arcee find Jack, but mind theVehicons.
Episode Guide: Volume 1:Darkness Rising, Part 5
Autobots poster
Starscream's Stumpers
A Walk on the Wicked Side - word find
Mega-Mouth:Megatron and Arcee answer your letters.
Competitions to win a Mechtech leader and deluxe figure.

Free Gift!

Missile launcher!

Mega-Mouth

Reader: "Just how is Megatron hosting the letters page after his head was ripped off at the end of the new film?!"
"I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE!!! End of conversation."

—Megatron doing the best he can to not confuse children.

"My, my, who is this perfectly crafted mechanical marvel?"

—Megatron regarding a drawing ofMegatron by a reader.

Notes

Errors

In Arcee's profile,Tailgate's name is misspelled "Tailgait".
The "Darkness Rising, Part 5" episode guide says the kids infiltrate Decepticon HQ, and describes thespace bridge as a "massive ground bridge". Technically the latter is true as theGroundBridge is just a scaled down space bridge, but...
In the word find,Nemesis is misspelled as "Nemisis".