Cyclonus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

Dead oni, purple oni.

Cyclonus in the 2005 IDW continuity isn't a Decepticon, nor does he have anything to do with Unicron, and he is neither Skywarp nor Bombshell. He's just an ex-zombie millions of years older than Optimus Prime tagging along on an Autobot starship with a severe antipathy to Whirl. And who doesn't hate Whirl?

Old and worn, Cyclonus is not one for much intimate contact or feelings–emotions should be felt, not heard, in his own words. This can lead to some big misunderstandings and consequences since he's not much of a talker. Seeking a new purpose in life, Cyclonus joined the Lost Light after the restoration of a Cybertron he no longer recognized. Despite early prejudices against him for his unrepentant actions during the war and just plain looking like your stereotypical Decepticon, Cyclonus' stalwart loyalty to the crew has won over many of them–not least of all little Tailgate, who comes to form a more powerful relationship with the old 'bot than you'd ever expect. Slowly but surely, Cyclonus is warming up and mellowing out.

First appearance: Spotlight: Cyclonus

Fiction

Ancient history

"I, Cyclonus, am not a Decepticon! And I am taking this opportunity to establish this so nobody will make this mistake later!"

Cyclonus of Upper Tetrahex was an ancient Cybertronian, forged in the years before Cybertron's Golden Age, more than eight million years ago. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Details of his youth are scant; at an early age, Cyclonus adopted the ideals of the religious sect known as the Clavis Aurea Finest Hour and developed a deep spiritualism, worshipping the pantheon known as the Guiding Hand. You, Me, and Other Revelations Finest Hour Cyclonus was fluent in Old Cybertronian, Cybertronian Homesick Blues and supposedly spent his time worshipping in the shadow of the Titans, reciting the creation legend known as the Primal Sacrament before the gigantic Transformers left the planet. You, Me, and Other Revelations

During the subsequent First Cybertronian Civil War sparked by the collapse of the Thirteen, Heavy Cyclonus rose to be the favorite bodyguard of the barbarian warrior Galvatron, No Exit and this esteemed position earned him a role in Nova Prime's inner cadre. Following the end of the war, Cyclonus was one of the Cybertronians who joined their leader in his search to find the lost Crystal City in the hopes of finding a Titan. They discovered Omega Supreme instead, and Cyclonus expressed his optimism that the ancient Transformer could impart wisdom derived from Cybertronian legend. All Good Things

During the subsequent Golden Age of Cybertron, Cyclonus first met Scourge, who would become one of his closest friends, in a basement bar. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

Six million years ago, Nova Prime planned to spread Transformer civilization across the galaxy through conquest, and commissioned the first Ark starship, envisioned as the first step to establishing a "Pax Cybertronia" throughout the cosmos. All Good Things Cyclonus was appointed a senior officer on the vessel. Shockwaves When the crew discovered a mysterious spatial anomaly in the Benzuli Expanse, he scanned its energy readings and was reminded of an old legend of a "Dead Universe", an alternate reality of darkness and decay. Seeking to conquer this other reality, Nova Prime plunged the ship through the portal, trapping the crew in the Dead Universe. Dark Dawn Turned into an undead creature who could only survive in the normal universe for a limited time, Cyclonus continued to serve Nova Prime, now calling himself Nemesis Prime. He had a fierce love of Cybertron and wanted to see it bring about an ordered universe, bringing structure to a chaotic universe. Ironically, he was absolutely mental, prone to unpredictable, violent actions; he tried to submerge this behind a fiction of being an ordered intellectual, and hoped ordering the universe might order him.

The Expansion

No cockpit? How will Galvatron ride him??

Cyclonus was sent out of the Dead Universe to arm the Nega-Core and put up Thunderwing as its guardian, but he made a divergence to see first hand the devastation of his beloved Cybertron. Pissed off, he decided to take his anger out on the nearest Transformer and so assaulted the Ark-12, helmed by Hound's crew en route to Garrus-9. He was blown to bits, only to reform and keep on coming until Ultra Magnus arrived and Cyclonus realized he was blowing his mission—too long outside of the Dead Universe can kill its inhabitants.

Get the Holy Hand Grenade!

Arriving on Corata-Vaz, he armed the Nega-Core but balked at activating Thunderwing, due to the destruction he caused Cybertron. Unfortunately Hound's crew and Magnus arrived, and Sideswipe goaded Cyclonus into attacking and in the process made Cyclonus realize he truly was a chaotic loony and just what Nemesis Prime wanted to erase. He was brought down, only to detach his hand, which flew off to activate Thunderwing. Using the distraction, Cyclonus escaped but Magnus sent another tracker after him. Spotlight: Cyclonus Spotlight: Hardhead

Cyclonus made it back to the Dead Universe on time and was later patrolling the Benzuli Expanse with Galvatron to look for those who would disturb the Expansion. Upon spotting Cloudburst's ship, Cyclonus called "dibs" and Galvatron happily let Cyclonus attack the vessel. Spotlight: Doubledealer After some time, Cyclonus finally destroyed the Mirror-Manifold just as its crew were beamed out by the Technobots, who had brand new Pretender shells waiting for them. Designed to survive the Dead Universe, they were more than a match for Cyclonus and he was defeated. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Galvatron's Army

"I'm not dead!"
"You will be soon, you're very ill."
"I'm getting better!"
"No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment!"

After recovering, Cyclonus made his way back to Gorlam Prime, where he and other minions of Nemesis Prime began to slowly die after the Autobots disconnected them from the Dead Universe. After several years of wasting away, Heart of Darkness #1 he gathered the bodies of his former crewmates to recycle them with honor. One of them, Scourge, was still barely alive, and Cyclonus told him that he would put an end to his miserable existence. He was interrupted by Galvatron, who was now infused with the Darkness. Galvatron blasted the bodies of the dead warriors, prompting Cyclonus to ask if he had gone binary. Galvatron revived Scourge, and created an army of Sweeps, which angered Cyclonus, who said they were sparkless slaves and refused to let this happen to him. Galvatron assured Cyclonus that he had plans and would need a lieutenant to join him. Using the Darkness, Galvatron repaired Cyclonus' spark and although he was unsure of their mission, Cyclonus told Scourge that as Seekers, their new mission is to follow Galvatron. Rebirth Unbeknownst to Cyclonus and Scourge, the Darkness also exerted a subtle kind of control over them, making them more accordant to Galvatron's will. Cyclonus maintained a small hint of defiance, which would manifest from time-to-time. Genesis

Galvatron had Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps search Gorlam Prime for signs of life, as every single inhabitant of the planet had mysteriously vanished while they were busy dying. After Cyclonus found nothing in the planet's data archives, they decided to investigate the portal to the Dead Universe, and on the way they found remains of their ally Jhiaxus's Micromaster bodyguards in some rubble. Cyclonus wanted to examine them, but was blown away by Galvatron who was more eager to get through the rubble. They eventually found Jhiaxus in a half-dead state, repaired him, and had him take them to the portal. Heart of Darkness #1 There, they found themselves under attack by Arcee and Hardhead. Cyclonus and Scourge were defeated by Hardhead at first, but Galvatron turned the tide and sent the two to hunt down Arcee as she fled. Using heat-seeking missiles, Cyclonus destroyed the bridge under her feet and sent her falling into the abyss below. He then returned to Galvatron and left the planet in his quest to raise an army to battle the D-Void, a new threat he had found in the Dead Universe. Heart of Darkness #2

Though Galvatron turned out to be very good at recruiting (and resurrecting) troops for his army, Cyclonus considered him a bit loopy and was unsure if this D-Void was even real. Unwisely, he voiced his opinion around Galvatron, but was merely mildly chastised by his leader. Cyclonus later accompanied Galvatron to the planet Dykayra, where they investigated ruins similar to ones found on Gorlam Prime. Inside, they discovered another Dead Universe portal and none other than Nemesis Prime, who was alive and well despite having been betrayed and killed by Galvatron years earlier. Heart of Darkness #3 Nemesis revealed that he had been resurrected by the D-Void and attacked Galvatron, prompting Cyclonus and the others to come to their leader's aid. Their small scout party was beaten back by the powerful Nemesis, who transformed into a monstrous avatar of the D-Void's power, but managed to vanquish him by summoning Galvatron's entire army. Heart of Darkness #4

Seeking to add Optimus Prime's Autobots to his army, Galvatron traveled towards Earth. On the way, the ship under his command ran into a space-time distortion, and inside it they found a block of ice containing what appeared to be organic and robotic corpses. But when the crew thawed the ice, the dead came to life, and Cyclonus and the others found themselves fighting against a zombie outbreak. Their ship crashed in Las Vegas on Earth, where they were attacked by Prime's Autobots, who didn't trust their intentions. Cyclonus eventually surrendered, but not without sarcasm. The Transformers: Infestation #1

Though they eventually stopped bickering with Galvatron long enough to defeat Britt, the zombie mastermind, the Autobots refused to join Galvatron's army. With the zombies safely deposited in the distant past of the Dead Universe, Cyclonus and the others warped back to their base. The Transformers: Infestation #2

Galvatron then took his entire army with him to Cybertron, declaring the planet their first line of defense against the D-Void. Heart of Darkness #4

With Cybertron under his control, Galvatron sent Cyclonus and a number of Sweeps to take the Kimia Facility from the Autobots. Cyclonus and his group killed many of those on board and brought the space station into Cybertron's orbit. He arrived on the planet's surface just in time to prevent Ironhide from doing any more damage to Galvatron and carried his leader away from the battlefield. Lamentations

After Galvatron fed the Heart of Darkness into Vector Sigma in an effort to destroy Cybertron, Cyclonus attacked him, angrily claiming that Galvatron had brainwashed him into serving him and that he had forced him to harm Cybertron, something that made Cyclonus furious. However, Galvatron was too powerful for Cyclonus to damage and he tossed him aside with ease. Genesis After Optimus Prime plunged the Matrix into Vector Sigma to defeat the D-Void, Cyclonus was given a "new lease on life", losing his undead status, and was dragged to safety by Rodimus. Thereafter, he was imprisoned alongside the Decepticons despite his claims that he was not one of them, until their makeshift prison in Kimia's gun barrel was emptied and they were ordered to beat down a NAIL riot. The Death of Optimus Prime

Joining the Lost Light

Suck it, Trebek.

The day of the Lost Light's launch, Cyclonus took a farewell flight around the reborn Cybertron, reminiscing as he surveyed the untamed landscape. He was on his way to see Rodimus about something he was promised when he detected a life sign he took to be that of Scourge. It turned out instead to be the remains of Sweeps that Whirl had strung up inside an abandoned structure. Before Cyclonus could get an explanation as to what Whirl had been doing with them, the Autobot attacked him and blew the place up. The two engaged in an aerial chase, passing over the launching site of the Lost Light and accidentally clipping Rung's arm off in the process. Cyclonus finally landed and tried to reason with Whirl, stating that he made a mistake and he didn't care what the Autobot was engaged in. When Whirl called him a Decepticon, Cyclonus exasperatedly tried to point out that he had never been such, only to be tackled off a cliff. Whirl landed on top, with Cyclonus being knocked unconscious after absorbing the fall's impact, one of his helmet horns being broken off in the process. After the situation with Whirl had been unexpectedly defused, Cyclonus was left behind on Cybertron while the others were brought aboard the Lost Light for repairs. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

Cyclonus awoke in time to see the Lost Light taking off. Not wanting to be left behind, he transformed, flew up and attached himself to the ship's hull just before it quantum jumped. Unfortunately, something went wrong, and Cyclonus was flung off the ship as it arrived in a different part of the galaxy. He fell to a planetoid below, along with forty Autobots who were sucked out of a hull breach, and landed in a lake after undergoing atmospheric reentry. Hoist, Chromedome, and Rewind pulled him out and after he had recovered, Cyclonus finally made his appointment with Rodimus. Rodimus wasted no time in pointing out that while his assistance against Galvatron had been invaluable, Cyclonus was still responsible for the deaths of many Autobots during the assault on Kimia.

This is how slash begins.

Cyclonus didn't deny a thing, and simply stated that it was war and he was following orders. He then told Rodimus that he didn't want to be a Decepticon OR an Autobot and he wanted to help find a fresh start on the Lost Light. Rodimus agreed to grant him a chance to prove himself. Ultra Magnus and Whirl arrived, with Ultra Magnus not-so-subtly warning Cyclonus against making trouble. Rodimus then suggested that Cyclonus and Whirl clear the air between them after their battle on Cybertron. Whirl put forth a totally insincere and skewed offering of peace. Cyclonus responded by hugging him and whispering that he'd kill Whirl at some unspecified point and the Autobot would never see it coming. Later, Cyclonus attended a gathering of the crew and listened to Rodimus address their current situation. Hangers On

When a Sparkeater was loose on the ship, Rodimus ordered the majority of the crew to pair off and lock themselves in habitation suites until the situation was resolved. Cyclonus ended up with Tailgate, who was stuck halfway transformed at the moment and unable to walk. Cyclonus carried him to their room, noting a wary look from Hoist along the way, and unceremoniously dumped Tailgate on the floor. Both formerly being of the original Ark's crew under Nova Prime, Cyclonus caught Tailgate up on the six million years of history they both missed, explaining the Autobot-Decepticon war as he understood it. He then wondered aloud which side Tailgate would have fought on if he had been active during it. The Chaos of Warm Things

DAMMIT, JANET!

After hearing Cyclonus' summary, Tailgate got it in his head that the Decepticons were freedom fighters and declared that he wanted to be one. After Rodimus set Tailgate straight on the true nature of the Decepticons, Tailgate angrily confronted Cyclonus, accusing him of being misleading. Cyclonus calmly pointed out Tailgate's naïveté, but the smaller robot wasn't hearing it and struck Cyclonus' arm. Cyclonus violently backhanded and kicked him in response, before exiting the room without another word and leaving his shaken roommate curled up on the floor. Life After the Big Bang

A while later, Cyclonus was sitting alone in Swerve's bar. He told Tailgate to drop dead when the latter asked him if he wanted to socialize. Interiors Despite initially appearing disinterested in attending Tailgate's Act of Affiliation ceremony at his roommate's request, Cyclonus secretly showed up, and watched from behind a curtain. The ceremony was soon interrupted by the Galactic Council, and Cyclonus was among the group who were teleported to the planet Theophany's surface. When they discovered the ruins of Crystal City, Cyclonus did a quick fly-over and reported to Rodimus that it seemed that the city had been attacked, but there were no bodies in evidence. The group subsequently found the inert body of a Titan in the ruins. Cyclonus was in awe of the discovery, revealing to Rewind that he used to pray in the shadow of ancient Titans back before he left Cybertron. At Rewind's plea, he recited the creation story of the Guiding Hand for the group. Rewind returned the favor by sharing archived footage of Cybertron from Cyclonus' era with him.

When the Titan violently reawakened, the Galactic Council sent shock-troops to Crystal City in response. Cyclonus joined the others in fending them off until the situation was resolved and everyone was transported back to the Lost Light, which then quantum-jumped to safety. You, Me, and Other Revelations

For the last time, he is not Venger a Decepticon!

Upon discovering Red Alert's decapitated body in the oil reservoir, Rodimus' first instinct was to blame Cyclonus. Drift's enthusiastic attempts to interrogate Cyclonus were less than successful, however, as the larger bot simply overpowered him until Ultra Magnus intervened. Though Cyclonus icily explained that he had no beef with Red Alert, the true clincher was when First Aid worked out Red Alert's injuries were self-inflicted. Patternism

Cyclonus took part in a mission to Temptoria, where it was believed a group of Decepticons were holding the Circle of Light. Fighting alongside Whirl, he made it clear the two of them would never be square and he still intended to kill Whirl. Shortly after Cyclonus saved Tailgate from a bomb, Whirl locked the door, trapping Cyclonus and Rewind with said bomb. Cyclonus shielded the small Autobot as best he could as the device exploded. His badly-damaged form was dragged to the Lost Light medibay by Tailgate alone. Chromedome, not knowing that it was Cyclonus that had saved Rewind, expressed disappointment that Cyclonus had not died. Inspired by the ritual of Innermost Energon, Tailgate attempted to leave Cyclonus an offering as others had done for Rewind, only for him to rebuke it and label Tailgate pathetic. After seeing the offerings left for Rewind, he helped Tailgate pick up the pieces of broken vial. Before & After

Cyclonus was interviewed for Rewind's movie documenting the travels of the Lost Light—though he requested that a subtitle saying "NOT A DECEPTICON" be displayed during his segments. While claiming to not know the meaning of "happy", he admitted that he was impressed by the great Thunderclash, and later was pulled into a group picture of the crew at Swerve's. Little Victories

A short while later, Cyclonus found himself at the center of a security incident when his singing of "Glory to Cybertron, Glinting in the Heavens!" in the Primal Vernacular was mistaken to be him brutally murdering Tailgate in their shared quarters. Once that situation was peaceably resolved, Cyclonus joined roughly one hundred of the Lost Light's crew for a brief shore leave on the planet Hedonia. Cybertronian Homesick Blues During this, Cyclonus joined Rung, Rewind, Tailgate, and Skids in browsing a gift shop outside of the bar they had left Swerve and Ultra Magnus in. Signal to Noise

After being picked up by Rung, Whirl, Skids, and Rewind, he was taken to a bar where he threw a bit of an exaggerated tantrum to keep his drinking partners from discovering something he'd been hiding for some time—that Tailgate, while certainly older than the rest, was not the incredible, space-faring Primal Vanguard member he had painted himself to be Tailgate was, in fact, a waste disposal bot who was such a nobody that no one bothered to look for him when he disappeared. Taking pity on his roommate, Cyclonus decided to teach Tailgate a song in Old Cybertronian. Cybertronian Homesick Blues

When Overlord went on a rampage through the ship, Cyclonus was part of the contingent who tried to stop him. Hearing Rewind's remark that Overlord was incapable of being killed, Cyclonus replied that he knew—better than most—that anyone can be killed. Under Cold Blue Stars After Overlord was ejected from the ship, Cyclonus was invited by Chromedome to attended the funeral service for the deceased, pleasing Tailgate with his presence. The Gloaming

"There is no Easter Bunny! There is no Tooth Fairy! And there is no Queen of England!"

Not long afterwards Tailgate admitted to Cyclonus that he had a terminal illness, the fatal and incurable cybercrosis. Cyclonus initially appeared cool and unfeeling in front of Tailgate, but upon leaving their hab-suite, silently self-mutilated his face with his claws. Cyclonus was subsequently invited by Rodimus to join an away team to investigate Luna 1, and agreed to go on the condition he could bring Tailgate with him. The Fecund Moon Once down on the moon's surface, the team were attacked by Lockdown's Titan Hunters, and Cyclonus and Whirl disobeyed Rodimus's orders for retreat in favor of a counterattack. House of Ambus

Overcoming their pursuers, the pair soon located the prison that the rest of their team had been consigned to, hanging over a smelting pool. Though reluctant to leave Luna 1 just yet, Cyclonus joined Whirl in breaking into a nearby armory to gather weapons for an escape attempt, but was abruptly stabbed through the midriff by a Legislator. Whirl fought off the attacker, and he and the relatively-uninjured Cyclonus then teamed up with other rescued prisoners, Dai Atlas and the remaining survivors of the Circle of Light, just as an army of Legislators attacked en masse. Whirl proposed a deal to Cyclonus, asking him to call off his previous death threats if they made it out of the fight alive, and the duo rushed into battle wielding Great Swords procured from the armory. The Divided Self As the battle raged, the curiously disproportionate strength of Cyclonus's spark even proved able to energize his appropriated Great Sword's blade. Arm the Lonely

"I'm on a mission from Primus!" "Tell him you failed."

After Dai Atlas fell to Star Saber, Cyclonus rose to the zealot's call for challengers, and overcame his foe's physical superiority by plunging his remaining horn into Saber's optic. Denouncing Star Saber's fanaticism, Cyclonus attempted to finish the reeling enforcer off with his Great Sword, but his opponent teleported out before the killing blow could be struck. Later, after the Legislators had retreated, Cyclonus and Whirl met back up on the lip of the smelting pool, where Whirl asked Cyclonus if their "deal" was still good. Cyclonus briefly entertained a fantasy of shoving the damaged Whirl into the smelting pool, but ultimately agreed and flew away.

"Stabbed through the heart. And I'm to blame. I give on/off love a good name."

The next day aboard the Lost Light, Cyclonus sat with the dying Tailgate, singing to him as the latter's cybercrosis entered its final stages. Though Tailgate was afraid of the painful end the disease promised, Cyclonus refused to terminate him prematurely, holding out hope for a last-minute cure, which seemed to arrive when a page from Ratchet called him to the medibay. Tailgate's spark had shrunk too far for the cure that had been divined, but Whirl then suggested using the Great Sword to channel some of Cyclonus's spark's excess energy into Tailgate's, restoring it to a point where the cure could take effect. Cyclonus did so with only minutes to spare, stabbing his roommate in the spark with his Great Sword, and successfully re-energizing his spark. A short time later, now with his missing horn replaced with a new one made for him by Tailgate as a gift, Cyclonus explained the whole situation to Ultra Magnus, including his theory that Vector Sigma had supercharged his spark when it restored him back on Cybertron. Impressed by Cyclonus's deeds, Magnus formally welcomed Cyclonus aboard the Lost Light with a firm handshake. This Calamitous Life

Dark Cybertron

Cyclonus was present to welcome Orion Pax and his team aboard the Lost Light. A member of Pax's crew immediately accused him of being a Decepticon. While angered by this remark, Cyclonus chose to remain silent. Cyclonus was later on the bridge when Starscream contacted the ship and uploaded the readings of a portal over Cybertron. When Starscream asked Cyclonus what he thought, he confirmed that the readings are identical to the ones he saw when Ark-1 was pulled into the Dead Universe six million years ago. Dark Dawn Because of his experiences, Cyclonus was recruited by Rodimus to join the team entering the Dead Universe. Hardhead lightheartedly called Cyclonus a coward, which prompted Whirl to try and start a fight. Much to Whirl's dismay, Cyclonus quickly disregarded the idea and departed with the rest of the team into the Dead Universe. Cyclonus briefly became separated from the rest of the group but quickly located them. His arrival mysteriously caused the cyberwraiths that were attacking the team to flee. But all was not right with Cyclonus, as he proceeded to vomit black energon, while assuring the rest of the team that he was fine. Black Metal Cyclonus later started leaking fluids from his face and claimed it was from the heat, but in reality, the Dead Universe was freezing. Despite his protests not to touch him, Orion tried to provide medical aid before being interrupted by the believed-to-have-perished Nightbeat, who encouraged them to not touch Cyclonus and to hear him out. Into the Abyss

After he explained himself to the team, Nightbeat went on to introduce himself to Cyclonus, and much to his surprise, carried out a cold-reading that let him deduct many details of Cyclonus' life, including the condition of Tailgate. Furious at this invasion of privacy, Cyclonus grabbed Nightbeat by the throat and told him he was lucky Cyclonus would not kill him, or the entire team for that matter. Orion calmed Cyclonus down, and apologized for not intervening with the cold-read. As the team continued to push on, Hardhead asked Nightbeat why he told them not to touch Cyclonus. Nightbeat then asked Cyclonus to hold up his hand, and he revealed that he broke his forcefield generator after a bad landing, causing the Dead Universe to infect him. Troubled that the Dead Universe had reclaimed him, Cyclonus went on to say that he didn't belong there when a containment cube suddenly erupted around them. Nightbeat revealed to them that he was still Nova Prime's sleeper agent, who then proceeded to head towards the site. Finest Hour

While trapped, Cyclonus regarded Hardhead's attempt to headbutt his way out as foolish. When Nova Prime arrived, he soon spied his former crew mate and mocked him, saying that the only reason he was on the Ark was because he was Galvatron's favorite bodyguard, and is nothing more than a "hanger-on". This caused Cyclonus to give the word for Hardhead to smash through the crack in the cube that Orion had made but after breaking through, the cube resealed itself. Cyclonus bore witness as Nova destroyed Hardhead's forcefield generator, causing the Dead Universe to consume and disintegrate him. No Exit Nova brought Cyclonus and the rest of the team to his citadel in the Dead Universe where they found that Nova was using the barely living Kup as a space bridge. Cyclonus and the others were then locked in a cell where Nightbeat revealed to them that Nova planned to use their sparks to strengthen the space bridge so he could cross over back into the universe. After Rodimus challenged Nightbeat with a puzzle, re-establishing Nightbeat's true self, he let Cyclonus and the others out to go rescue Kup. The Dead Are Not Enough

The team fought through a horde of Sweeps as Cyclonus began to grow weaker from the effects of the Dead Universe. Orion ordered him to guard the door while they freed Kup, and granted his permission to shoot on sight. However, Cyclonus grew even more tired until he fell into unconsciousness. When Nova arrived on the scene, he hurled his body at the recently released Kup. Burning Bright Cyclonus slowly began to stir just as Orion engaged Nova. When Nova had beaten down Orion, Cyclonus and Nightbeat intervened and engaged him, only to be smacked down by the corrupt Prime. However, Orion got back up with new confidence, and anointed himself Optimus Prime again before killing Nova once and for all. Finis Temporis

Escaping the Ramondelliverse!

Cyclonus and the rest of the team discovered that the portal they used to cross over from the living universe had closed and that the Dead Universe was rapidly contracting around them. However, from somewhere far away, Cyclonus and Optimus could hear singing. The Becoming Turns out, the singing they heard was a drinking song being sung in Swerve's and the singing was being heard through Nova Prime's corpse. They used Nova's equipment to turn him into a space bridge and emerged from Brainstorm's chest Black Planet ...And the Damage Done Cyclonus, along with Kup and Nightbeat immediately collapsed after emerging, not being able to survive long outside of the Dead Universe. Skids, Brainstorm, and Rodimus helped carry them towards Brainstorm's lab to heal them. Cyclonus protested the idea, claiming he didn't want to be saved and the universe was coming to an end anyways. He was cut short by Rodimus when they reached the surface to see that the sky above Cybertron had come alive with images from the past, as every moment in time was occurring all at once. The group was picked up by the Lost Light just as the army of Ammonites spontaneously exploded due to someone's actions below the surface. Now in his lab, Brainstorm whipped up a cure and saved Cyclonus and the others. Cyclonus was among the group of Autobots who confronted Starscream and later joined the crowd that was waiting for Megatron to step off the Lost Light. ...And the Damage Done

Return to the Light

Cyclonus was walking around the Lost Light when Tailgate leapt upon him, cheerily poking him in the head. Words Hang in the Air At Swerve's, he then silently looked on as Tailgate began chatting with Getaway before silently storming out of the bar. Predestination: A Beginner's Guide When the Lost Light suddenly vanished, Cyclonus was one of the twenty crew members that boarded the Rodpod. After taking a headcount, he listened to Crosscut as he talked about his latest play...before he suddenly vanished after the lights flickered! After Tailgate, full of bravado due to his recent praise, accused Megatron of killing the vanished Crosscut, Cyclonus joined Ratchet in talking down Tailgate before Megatron then pulled a gun on Tailgate after the small Autobot proposed locking him up. Riptide then put his weapon into the fray. Cyclonus attempted to defuse the situation, but Huffer and Gears drew their weapons on Cyclonus, neither trusting him. After the lights flickered a second time, Cyclonus had disappeared, though his Great Sword had not. Twenty Plus One After Megatron and an alternate Rewind shut down the quantum engines, Cyclonus reappeared in the Rodpod. The Road Not Taken

Cyclonus then embarked on a mission to the past to prevent Brainstorm from killing Orion Pax alongside Rodimus, Rewind, Tailgate, Chromedome, Rung, Whirl and Riptide, ending up inside the trailer of Roller. After a few tense moments, the time travelers made a cover story, pretending they were reinforcements sent by Zeta Prime to help Pax. Later on, Cyclonus and Whirl ended up fighting a weapons platform. All Our Parlous Yesterdays

On the next leg of their journey through the past, Cyclonus got to visit Iacon four million years in the past, at a time when Cybertron still thrived as it had in his day. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of the world he lost millennia ago, and was moved to finally apologize to Tailgate for beating him shortly after they first met. At Maccadam's New Oil House, they barely escaped a bar fight involving Megatron and Impactor. Stet At the final stop, Cyclonus and the others prevented Brainstorm from completing his true mission to kill Megatron (while inexplicably also ensuring Megatron was born in the first place). While trying to find a way back to the present, Cyclonus and Rodimus inadvertently created the Lost Light's quantum engines retroactively, as well as the sparkeater that they would one day find in their own ship's hold. Predestination: An Expert's Guide

Cyclonus was one of the select few to witness Brainstorm's trial. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme He was also present at Thunderclash's pre-wake, but opted to sit quietly at the back of the ballroom. Tailgate insisted that he get on the dance floor, but Cyclonus declined. After the party, he returned to the Lost Light with most of the crew. The Sensuous Frame Soon after, at Swerve's EarthDance, Tailgate offered to dance with him. At first, he refused, but after hearing the song that was playing, he changed his mind. It was too late; Tailgate was already dancing with Getaway. The Frail Gaze Cyclonus, along with Tailgate, Rung, Skids, and Bluestreak, volunteered to investigate the life-size holomatter Earth projected by Swerve that was trailing the Lost Light. The ship's upgraded holomatter engine gave Cyclonus a female avatar with fancy, ruffled clothes. The team found an apartment to use as a base of operations. After their new neighbors got locked out of their apartment, the three were found to be a holomatter avatar of Swerve that had been fractured into three parts. Eventually, Swerve figured out where his injury was, allowing Velocity to repair him and put an end to the whole episode. The One Where They Go to Earth

Cyclonus woke up once to find Tailgate absent from his recharge slab. After silently heading to Swerve's, observing Chromedome and Rewind holding hands on his way, he entered to have Swerve offer him an Old Corroder as a thanks for saving him during the Swearth debacle. After taking the drink to, as he put it, "steel his nerves", he strode out of the bar and headed to Whirl's quarters, where he expressed his concerns about Getaway and Tailgate; but Whirl said that Tailgate was better off with Getaway then with him, which then prompted the watchmaker to ask why he even bothered coming to him with his problems. After explaining that Whirl was the only one he could rely upon to tell him the painful truth because he didn't care about his feelings, Cyclonus left Whirl's quarters before eventually realizing something was wrong. He then rushed back over, only to find Whirl had lost his memories of his, Getaway, and Atomizer's plan...but not before managing to leave a clue by setting all the chronometers in his room to Megatron's hab-suite number; "113".

Cyclonus rushed down to the hab-suite and arrived just as Megatron was about to begin attacking Tailgate. He then threw his Great Sword at Megatron through the doorway, and the sword sank into Megatron's chest. Charging into the room, Cyclonus bludgeoned Megatron into unconsciousness with a chunk of recharge slab before taking Tailgate and fleeing for an escape pod. Realizing that Getaway had set Tailgate up, Cyclonus was stopped just before he could reach the escape pod by the ship's security team, who opened fire upon him when he reached for his Great Sword, grievously wounding him and leaving Tailgate suffering his worst panic attack yet. The Lopsided Triangle

Fortunately, Cyclonus was a tough old warrior, and came around after some repairs. Megatron apologised for lashing out at him and Tailgate, which Cyclonus accepted, but he expressed discontent when he learned Rodimus had Chromedome perform mnemosurgery on the comatose Tailgate to find out that Getaway was the one who had set him up. Speak, Memory: Part 1

When a time window was discovered in Swerve's, a small ceremony was held to visit the past and mourn the dead. Cyclonus participated in the festivities. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases He was also in attendance at movie night during the discussion of Sentinel Prime despairing that Cybertronian society still felt it necessary to differentiate between Autobots and Decepticons and finding it appalling that the Decepticons had mutilated Sentinel Prime's corpse. The Last Autobot

Cyclonus was part of the exploration party who were abandoned on the Necrobot's world by a mutiny aboard the Lost Light. He, Tailgate, and the rest who were deemed too friendly with Megatron were left to die as the Decepticon Justice Division moved in on their former leader. How Bright Their Frail Deeds Although an opportunity to escape presented itself, Cyclonus and the crew were unable to take a collection of comatose organics with them, which they had found in the Necrobot's basement. The heroes resolved to stay behind in an effort to defend the fallen from the DJD. The Sun in Flight

As the group prepared what defenses they had, Cyclonus and Whirl had something of a spark-to-spark talk while fixing the perimeter cannons. Whirl wanted to know if Cyclonus and Tailgate ever properly talked or declared their conjunx endura status after Getaway's manipulations. Cyclonus said no, and indicated he thought Tailgate was too bright a spark for him under any circumstances. But that wouldn't stop him from splitting the world open and tearing down the sky to protect him. At Close of Day As the fight began, Cyclonus confronted Overlord, the latest and scariest of the DJD's allies to arrive. Rage, Rage He eventually retreated back inside the fortress as Megatron brought a swift and final end to his most infamous monsters. Do Not Go Gentle

After the battle, it was discovered that the Necrobot's "organics" were actually disguised Cybertronians. These "Disappeared", Autobot and Decepticon alike, were awakened to reacclimatize to the universe after their long sleep. Tailgate was showing off his strength to the new arrivals, and Cyclonus tried to temper the exuberance of his friend. One of the Decepticons, Fangry, clocked Tailgate as the "baddest 'bot in the yard" and tried to provoke him by shoulder-checking Cyclonus. However, Cyclonus had deeper problems to worry about. Tailgate artificial Outlier abilities were becoming unstable. He needed recharging more often after exerting his strength, but also flailed wildly in his sleep, lashing out and potentially harming himself. Cyclonus tried to restrain him, but would be injured himself in the process. When Tailgate awoke and saw Cyclonus's damage, he jumped to the conclusion that Fangry was responsible. Some Other Cybertron

Cyclonus caught up to Tailgate after he pushed around the Decepticons, scaring most of them and nearly killing Fangry. Cyclonus tried to counsel Tailgate on what it meant to take a life, like he did so many times while fighting Deathsaurus's troopers. He was unwilling to openly express how Tailgate had hurt Cyclonus and himself, though, and so Tailgate mostly cast off Cyclonus's worries as him being overprotective. Anomie Tailgate's fits in his sleep only got worse, and next cost Cyclonus an entire arm. A World Misplaced Nevertheless, he responded to a call for help from Whirl and Swerve when they discovered Whirl's nemesis, Killmaster, among the slower-to-rise Disappeared. Cyclonus and Whirl teamed up to turn Killmaster's own wand against him. Still, Cyclonus's damage was enough for Whirl to actually show an interest. Although Cyclonus withheld as best he could, Whirl saw through Cyclonus's lies and realized Tailgate was responsible, and worse, didn't know it. Bad Moon Rising Whirl spoke to Tailgate about what he had been doing behind Cyclonus's back, but they were all distracted by the return of Rodimus's team from the Functionist Cybertron before much could be said about it. Modes of Production This Machine Kills Fascists

In order to get back on the path of Getaway, the Lost Light, and Cyberutopia, Rodimus had his team mass-shift the body of a dead Decepticon named Skip into a moderately-serviceable transport ship. As they prepared to leave, though, Tailgate told Cyclonus he was staying behind, and Cyclonus needed to leave without him. After speaking to Whirl, Tailgate decided Cyclonus was better off without him until he fixed his Outlier issues, and Cyclonus would never leave him willingly. For a moment, Cyclonus stoically accepted Tailgate's rejection, as he did most things, but his feelings compelled him to return. Tailgate felt compelled to push Cyclonus away more forcibly then. As undefined as their relationship had been, it was now definitively over. Cyclonus boarded Skip and sat quietly in the corner. As he began to carve his face again in pain, however, Whirl came to his side and stopped him. The two friends sat together in silence as the ship took off. After Megatron

Aboard the ship, Cyclonus largely kept to himself, having a brief discussion about the future and happiness with Ultra Magnus, before Rodimus called him into the cabin to inform him that Fortress Maximus had found evidence suggesting Tailgate was dead. Sardines At this news, Cyclonus became despondent, losing the will to live entirely so he could reunite with his lover in the Afterspark. You Are Here As he stalked out of the cabin, he found himself caught in the prank war between Swerve and Anode and attempted to murder the latter with his Great Sword only to wind up raking Rewind by accident. Before he could then kill Chromedome for striking him, Whirl intervened and allowed his friend to collapse in his arms. The tender moment was interrupted when Skip's mass-displacement began to wear off completely and Ten told everyone to listen to him. Sardines The legislator instructed the engineers aboard to modify Skip's engines to allow them access to the Warren so that they could reach a Mederi facility. Though the modifications were successful, the crew was forced to "abandon Skip" with their bodies being ravaged by the super-compressed space. They had however managed to reach the original Mederi, falling into its gravity well. The moon's systems repaired them all and, based on Cyclonus's powerful desire to see Tailgate again, presented itself as the Afterspark, as he'd been raised to expect it as. Metastasis You Are Here

Upon awakening, Cyclonus quickly pieced together where the crew had supposedly wound up and explained his theory to his friends. When the "ghosts" of Trailcutter and Pipes showed up however, he quickly flew off to find Tailgate, tenderly reuniting with him. Metastasis As the two walked back to the hovering Matrix, they discussed their relationship and swore to never be apart again. The God War As the couple prepared to "ascend" with the rest of the crew however, the landscape began to distort as Rodimus's group had discovered the truth of where they were. A somber Whirl then delivered the news that Tailgate himself was not real but a sophisticated holomatter facsimile. As the other ghosts began to vanish, Cyclonus mournfully confessed his love for Tailgate before embracing him. When Whirl tried to rouse him however, it transpired that Tailgate really was present. The happy reunion was cut short however when the rest of the Lost Light's crew arrived, now mutated into sparkeaters. You Are Here

FATALITY. CYCLONUS WINS. FLAWLESS VICTORY.

Salvation soon arrived in the form of allies bearing weapons and a ship. While most of the group searched for a way to cure their mutated friends, Cyclonus joined the boarding party to take back the Lost Light, swearing to kill Getaway for what he'd done to Tailgate and promising his partner that they would be reunited at the day's end. Upon docking in Shuttle Bay Four, the blast doors immediately began to seal, with only Cyclonus and Rodimus managing to escape. The duo then ran to the bridge to confront their foe only to find him backed up by Star Saber and Scorponok. A Dance Before Dying Cyclonus immediately turned to jet mode and flew off causing Star Saber to give chase. Once he'd lured his foe to a tight corridor, Cyclonus reverted to robot mode and bisected him. Eulogizing his opponent, he prayed that Primus might forgive the zealot's sins. He caught up with Rodimus in the fuel furnace, disarming (literally) Getaway as the escapologist tried to destroy the ship. As the terrified mutineer ran into the flames, a determined Rodimus followed succeeding in bringing their former comrade to safety. With that done, the two immediately set to work on fixing the sprinkler system activating it in time to see Getaway be eaten alive by a swarm of Whirl-tamed Scraplets with Cyclonus theorizing that the predators had assumed Primus's likeness after interfacing with Mederi's telepathic field to determine Getaway's greatest desire. A call then came in directing their attention to a massive tear in reality manifesting itself outside. Lūstrāre With the Lost Light back under their control, everyone made ready to evacuate only to find that the ship was unable to match the gravity of the rift winding up in the Benzene Cluster now populated by five multi-coloured copies of ancient Cybertron. As they touched down on one, the group came under attack from the Black Block Consortia, now reduced to a puppet state controlled by the Grand Architect. The being invited them all aboard his Worldsweeper where the group bore witness to the five Cybertrons being used to drill a hole between universes. From the other universe came a fleet, with a duplicate of the Lost Light flying point, whose captain called and revealed himself to be Megatron. Farsickness

From out of the portal then came the Functionist Universe's version of Cybertron, now transformed into a robot mode cast in the likeness of Primus. As the avatar laid waste to Benzene, Megatron freed the prisoners and brought them aboard the Last Light to catch up. The Return of the King Soon enough, everyone gathered on the Lost Light to brainstorm a plan to defeat the Functionists. When Epistemus proposed exploiting Rossum's Trinity, Cyclonus refused, citing that Tailgate would be inside "Primus" when he exploded pushing everyone to consider a plan that didn't involve destroying Cybertron. When the group decided to attack Vector Sigma via an energy weapon, Cyclonus pipped up that he had once interfaced with the supercomputer could repel any attack and knew it would be able to protect itself from Cybertronian energy, prompting Anode to opine it be attacked from all the sides at once via the hot spots. The Unremembering With a duplicate Matrix of Leadership, Cyclonus accompanied Tailgate and a group of Infinites to the Rivets Field hot spot, defending his lover until he managed to open the talisman. A Spark Among Embers

This is how slash ends.

When it was decided that the Lost Light would be decommissioned, the crew had one last "victory lap" around the galaxy. Before jumping back to Cybertron, they recreated the initial malfunctioning jump to shunt any potential quantum duplicates into a parallel universe so their adventures would never end. At the last hurrah at Swerve's, Cyclonus belted out The Power of Love before everyone began reminiscing over their quest and the ship was disassembled. As everyone went their separate ways, Cyclonus gave Rodimus a "thank you" peck for the second chance the Autobot had afforded him before he flew off with Tailgate. The two enjoyed many interstellar voyages before they settled in Tetrahex in time for Ratchet's funeral. Hearing about all the sentences Whirl had served, Cyclonus invited his friend to come live with them, much to the ex-Wrecker's delight.

And far away, in some distant corner of the multiverse, the duplicate Lost Light materialized, ready to set sail for an infinity of new adventures. How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2

Notes

A Dame Adamant(ium) Lives.

• In Revelation, it was Galvatron, not Cyclonus, who could remain in the normal universe for long amounts of time without being destroyed, but All Hail Megatron #14 got it backwards. Writer Andy Schmidt has admitted that he misremembered what had been established in Revelation, and that this was just a flat-out biff.^[1]
• In 2013, James Roberts stated on Twitter that Cyclonus would have had a female holomatter avatar.^[2] In 2015's "The One Where They Go to Earth", this happened!
• Before the release of More than Meets the Eye #47, James Roberts tweeted^[3] a theme song for Cyclonus: Chicago by Sufjan Stevens.
• Apparently, Cyclonus doesn't think his picture on the cover of issue #1 looks like him!

References