The story is written by Mairghread Scott and David Rodriguez, featuring art by Max Dunbar and Freddie E. Williams II, and colors by Ander Zarate.

With Marissa Faireborn appointed the official Council delegate and de facto ambassador of Earth, human diplomats and dignitaries assemble in Iacon for the occasion.

Joe leader Scarlett races to discover Colton's motivations behind his evil deeds; hoping to save her former mentor from himself, she forges an alliance with Matt Trakker and Soundwave to find a way to Cybertron.

As the villains move on their objective, Garrison Kreiger deploys the bounty hunter Colditz to trick Centurion (his mind now fused with that of Mike "Atomic Man" Power and his body saturated with Talisman energy) into travelling into the wilds beyond Cybertron, luring the team of humans and Autobots to follow him in the hopes of killing him and tying up a loose end.

The conflict is cut short when Kreiger finally reveals his true identity as Merklynn, an ancient sorcerer from the planet Prysmos; his plan had always been to use the Talisman to transform Cybertron into a copy of his old homeworld, but unable to reach the core, he settles on using the Talisman's power transforming only a fragment of the planet into the arcane city of "New Prysmos," the first step on Merklynn's crusade to wipe out technology and usher in a new age of magic in the galaxy.