Bit of a shorter issue, but I wanted to mix it up with a different format. Let's take a second to process and grieve.
The flowers on the cover are mallow (Mallowstar), cypress (Cypressfoot), and asphodels (Rainhaze).
As a reminder, I've begun offering early previews of the next issue on my Patreon, under the $5+ tiers. Issue 41 will be posting there early next week.
lmao. what if when tim was a little kid, janet sucked at cooking but tim would volunteer to be her guinea pig. what if he willingly ate cissies fresh crabcake hors d'oeuvres because testing out recipes used to be their activity that they did together. and. it was the anniversary of his mommys funeral. he missed her.
greetings fellow zadwhatever-the-fuck-they-are enjoyer. love how these two are literally ādo you think weāre enemies in every universe?ā but canon. incredible no notes 10/10 these two have been plaguing my brain. so hard.
THEY AREEEEE.
So true recap kid. Theyāre so freaking silly. Iām insane everyone go read the comics if you havenāt already
More Than Meets the Eye #40 ā Ratchet Runs Off After a Man
This is the issue where Ratchet gets Kaiju-ed and everyone has to adjust to their new normal of living with a giant doctor. Very touching story, love the part where he reenacts the King Kong Empire State scene with Cyclonus.
Also, I very much hope you all know that this is clearly a lie Iām telling, because lying is funny.
We get a quick montage of Ratchetās life, as he had what was the last moment together with a few people who were very important to him, or at least as he knew them. Roller had come to his clinic before he and Orion Pax and the college kids left Rodion, to ask him to join them. Ratchet couldnāt, due to all the patients in the Dead End who depended on him. He looks as if he wants to say something, but instead just thanks Roller for dropping by. This would be the last time he saw Roller, as Roller disappeared during the events of that hot spot incident we saw during the āElegant Chaosā arc.
Later, he informed Pharma that he was leaving for Earth later that day, which Iāll go ahead and say, was a bit of a dick move to not say something sooner. Ratchet leaves in the middle of the conversation, not catching Pharma asking if he should take the assignment to Delphi that Prowl offered him. We, of course, know how that turned out for Pharma.
Later still, Ratchet drops off Hunter OāNion off at his home, then quickly leaves, saying that he doesnāt want to keep him from settling in. Hunter is disappointed by the suddenness of his departure, but at least nothing bad will ever happen to this young man again.
Yep. Nothing bad happened to Hunter OāNion.
Heās perfectly fine, and also alive.
Anyway, each of these scenes are labeled as being unsuccessful, though in what exactly we donāt know yet. In the present, we see the Lost Light parked on the planet of Scarvix, still recharging its quantum engines from that whole thing with Brainstormās time adventure. Inside, Tailgate is being a menace, having apparently stolen the Back to the Future hoverboard and riding it down the halls while also wielding a fishing pole. Swerve is busy inside Swerveās, making a drinking glass tower while he abuses his employee. Ratchet watches this injustice happen and doesnāt say a goddamned thing.
Tailgate whips into the bar and hits the less obvious of the two targets in the room.
Ratchet was the only patron of the bar today, and itās not just because of there being shore leave, or it being No-Fun-Allowed week. See, Swerve never planned for there to be any real competition to his bar, and now Mirage, who is likely much cooler and well-liked than Swerve, has opened his own establishment, and everybody loves it, especially after the whole āBrainstorm poisoned everyoneā thing.
Swerve is extra touchy as a result, and threatens to ban Tailgate from the bar forever for the grave sin of thinking that Mirageās āVisagesā might be a good time. Tailgate ignores this, asking for a six-pack of space beer for his fishing date with Getaway. Tailgate then explains the game theyāre going to be playing, which involves some inconsiderate handling of Legislator corpses, right in front of Ten.
Ten is banished to work the front door, for the grave sin of having sat down for a second. Walking to his post reveals that someone has graffitied his back.
Love how Tailgate still refuses to use Whirlās name. And I donāt think pointing out how Dominus Ambus could have done more for Cybertronian society to make up for being such a nasty little creep to his own subordinates is a bad thing, Swerve.
Apparently Swerve isnāt the only bitch on this ship in a foul mood, as Ultra Magnus has apparently been interrogating folks about a missing datapad and demanding that Swerve treat Ten with basic decency. I would personally like for Union Magnus to put Swerve in the brig for his shitty boss crimes, but we donāt have time for that right now, because Ratchet just realized heās late for something.
Itās the goddamned court case for Brainstormās time crimes.
Yes, for once weāre actually using due process, as the āLost Light Internal Legal Affairs Committeeāā L.L.I.L.A.C., like the roomās paint jobā consists of Xaaron, who Iām sure is thrilled to finally be able to do something, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, and Megatron, who has apparently decided heās not going to attend. What he could possibly be doing instead is beyond me, itās not like heās got any sort of social life on this fucking ship. Thereās also a public gallery, made up of folks who were involved in some way in the events of the time travel nonsense. Chromedome is acting as Brainstormās defense, I guess because no one else wanted to.
Brainstorm immediately makes things difficult for himself, asking why Rewind wasnāt also put in prison to await trial, seeing as heās the one who actually shot Babytron. Ultra Magnus reminds him that Rewind had a whole thing with the DJD the day before all the time travel, and that the little man was traumatized to the point where they could excuse him shooting an infant, especially since Whirl fixed that oopsie pretty quick.
Rodimus cuts in here, bringing up Brainstormās face plateā thatās right, the manās basically naked for his trialā and after a little futzing around, manages to get it to show off the hidden Decepticon badge on the inside. Brainstorm is pretty cavalier about it, which seems to piss Nautica the hell off, as she storms out, leaving the wrench she squeezed out of shape behind. Iām not sure why exactly sheās so upset about this, seeing as she wasnāt even around for the war. Brainstorm then goes on to explain why exactly heās a Decepticon.
Of course, L.L.I.L.A.C. has their doubts, considering what happened on the quantum duplicate Lost Light was caused by that Brainstorm deciding he wanted them to come get Overlord. The current Brainstorm, however, has a theory on why exactly that happened, making a bad joke as he explains that heās actually a horrendous double agent, and needed to show the DJD that he was on the up and up, by giving them one of their most elusive List members.
Ultar Mgsunaā Rodimus has been fidgeting with the name plates this whole timeā asks for any final statements. Brainstorm, deciding that shutting up isnāt on his schedule for today, decides to let everyone know that he very much doesnāt appreciate being bullied into taking the blame for something that he didnāt even personally do, quantum duplication bullshit be damned. Plus, itās not like the DJD were exactly faultless, considering they were the ones who did the actual murder.
Perceptor, this isnāt how courtrooms work, sit down.
Magnus, after taking a moment to marvel at how out of order this court is, informs Brainstorm that a committee decision has been reached; Brainstorm canāt be held responsible for the deaths on the alternate Lost Light, for reasons Brainstorm already stated, and the fact that heās a Decepticon canāt really be charged, as merely being a part of the faction isnāt actually a crime, and it would also mean that Ravage would have to be put in jail, and also that Megatronās deal would have to be opened back up, which nobody really wants to deal with. However, attempted murder is still a crime, and as punishment, Brainstormās time machine will be destroyed, and heāll be chaperoned in his lab at all times, as well as be forced to cease all communication with his Decepticon handler.
Brainstorm is very surprised that his actions havenāt earned him a booting off the ship, but states that the Lost Light is his home, and heās glad to be able to stay. This moment gives Ratchet pause, as heās taken back to the last time something like this happened, and the results of that decision.
After the trial, Magnus goes a-banging on Megatronās door, to question him about the datapad from earlier, and also the whole ānot being at the trialā thing, but that feels like more of an afterthought. Megatron says that heās been busy, but we donāt get any resolution on what exactly heās been up to, because itās time to go get shitfaced.
In āVisagesā, we see Getaway and Tailgate having a drink, as Tailgate regales him with his time travel escapades. Getaway decides that now would be a good time to practice his negging, as he not-so-subtly implies that Cyclonus has been talking shit behind Tailgateās back, even telling folks about Tailgate being a crybaby bitch while he was dying of cybercrosis. Tailgate is very hurt by this, having thought he could trust Cyclonus with that sort of vulnerability. So hurt, in fact, he forgets that Cyclonus just straight up doesnāt talk to people without provocation, unless itās Tailgate himself. Why exactly Getaway is acting like such a shitbird will be better understood later, but for now, it looks like heās doing this to have Tailgate all to himself.
Tailgate complains of a headache as Getaway pours him another drink and swears him to secrecy on what heās told Tailgate about Cyclonus. Ratchet walks by, not having caught this conversation, asking to borrow Tailgateās hoverboard.
Smash cut to said hoverboard having been put in a quarantine tube, as Ratchet goes down the list of all the folks he needs to check for the super-scraplets that have apparently infested it. Though it seems like thereās a hidden motive to these checkups, as heās only invited his friends to them. He chews Rodimus out for being inconsistent with his punishments, saying he was too hard on Drift. He reminds Nautica that Brainstorm is an M.T.O., and would have been destroyed if his plan had worked, making it a selfless act to try to make the galaxy better. He tells Rung to do his fucking job and check on Hoist, after his fucking roommate got super-murdered by an office chair, and also tells him to talk to someone himself. He tells Skids to go check on Rung. He tells Swerve to invite Megatron out, in an attempt to get some business back at his bar. He checks in on Magnus, who reveals that he doesnāt feel respected, showing off the tiny figure of Minimus Ambus he found outside his office. Heās taken it as an insulting comment on his true self.
Later, First Aid calls Ratchet out on being a weirdo who canāt talk to people without having to build up an entire false scenario first. Ratchet doesnāt really acknowledge it, and even if he had, he wouldnāt have had time to do it before Tailgate comes flying in.
Tailgate apparently got himself a new board, courtesy of Ten, who even went so far as to put a sick decal on it, of Tailgate opening a Matrix. Ratchet recognizes the art style, and decides heās got someone else to talk to before the day is done.
Ratchet finds himself down in the boiler rooms, knocking on a vent door labeled 10. Inside isā you guessed itā Ten, who invites him to come down the vent and enter his home, which heās decorated all by himself.
Notice how Swerve is nowhere to be fucking found on this mural.
Ten also builds models from scratchā heād have to, I doubt Flame Toys ships to outer spaceā and heās made several members of the crew by this point.
Shane McCarthy slipped Roberts a twenty to set up this slowburn between his OC and Ratchet all the way back in MTMTE #4, Iām fucking telling you.
Ratchet stops thinking about his crush long enough to realize he completely missed the Magnus-centric display off to the side. Itās got Ultra Magnus, his office, his alt mode, Minimus Ambus and his alt, and the irreducible Minimus, though no alt counterpart is present for that one. That would be spoilers~ Tenās model of himself is over there as well. When asked if Ten likes Ultra Magnus, he acts like a giddy schoolgirl.
Ratchet also notices the missing datapad that had Magnus so angry. Turns out Ten was trying to do a little trade, having left the figure of Minimus in exchange for the datapad. Ratchet violates Magnusās privacy by reading the contents of the datapad, finding some personal writing. Ratchet, not wanting Magnusās frustration over having his personal effects messed with to hurt Ten, writes a little note on the datapad before he has Ten hand it back over to the rightful owner.
Later on, it would seem that Minimus is feeling more at ease, having left his Magnus armor at home as he enters Swerveās, with Ten by his side. In the background, Skids marvels at a model of the Lost Light Rungās put together. When they go to sit at the bar, Swerve tries to make a scene, furious that Ten would try to act like a person. When Minimus threatens to move their hangout to āVisagesā, Swerve reveals that he invited Megatron to āVisagesā earlier, and the poetry reading he did there emptied it out real quick. Minimus says something that implies that his datapad contains his attempts at poetry, and in turn, self-understanding.
We get a full reading of Ratchetās message to Magnus, as scenes of reconciliation, relationships built on lies, stagnation, destruction of a lifeās work, and theft for unknown purposes play out.
Well thatās not ominous at all.
When First Aid enters Ratchetās room, he finds only a phone, to be used if the new CMO should need him. Ratchet, having finally decided that he needs to be the one to finally right the wrongs of the past, has left the Lost Light, setting out with his custom model of Drift, to find the real deal and bring him home.
