Stormcrow and the battle-weary Maximals head underground, to finish off the leader of the Daughters of Tarantulas cult. Combat begins again, far below the surface of Cybertron, as the Maximals face the Daughters' main guard, the Black Sentries. For a while, it looks like Stormcrow is beaten, but when he begins to use a spark-based weapon, he turns the tide. The cult Mistress makes a call to all Sentries, ordering them to come to her aide. Outside, Splitarachnus receives the call. Tarantulas, already outside of the complex and in the underground heart of Silicon City, is relieved that the Sentry is being taken off his duty, and urges him to follow the Mistress's new order while Tarantulas makes an escape. Splitarachnus, however, believes that his original orders stand. Tarantulas finally makes an attempt to ditch the sentry, taking Stalker with him and leaving Split behind, but Split shadows the pair through the city. When they arrive at Stalker's apartment, where Tarantulas plans to hold out until the war between his soldiers and the Maximals blows over, Split reveals himself again, thinking of the chase as a kind of game. Tarantulas, however, is not amused, and asks Stalker to kindly kill the intruder. The two engage in combat, and in the end Stalker enjoys killing the Sentry so much that Tarantulas gives her a different kind of command.
While some villains play, others fight, as the battle in the DoT hall continues. The Maximals and sentries are an even match, until Stormcrow, with the aid of Medusa, manages to pin the cult Mistress down. He stops before killing her, however, noticing a Maximal symbol on the young female's chest. He tells Rhinox and Rattrap to clean up the issue, and the incoming Maximal units manage a surrender from the remaining cultists while their leader is in custody. Meanwhile, Stormcrow insists he has other business to attend to, and returns to Tarantulas's trail. Medusa follows him, interested in the outcome or possibly the driver, and Thundercat decides to tail him as well.
In the Council Citadel, the Maximals take their Predacon prisoners—1/2 of the Revolutionaries—to speak with Magnaboss. As Magnaboss introduces himself to the Predacons, Optimus and Darkwave, who spoke with him before, realize they are now speaking to Elita One. Elita, through the voice of the Magnaboss drone, brings the council up to date about the events at the Daugthers' complex and at the Matrix complex. She/he then tells Darkwave to speak with the agents in the back. There, he catches up with Magnaboss's "other half." Magnaboss refuses to accept Darkwave's proposal of completely revealing himself to the Revolutionaries. However, in speaking with Elita, he has a counter-proposal prepared. One by one, the Predacons (Swiftsting, Hardhead, Sellsword, and Stahldrache) are allowed into the secret back room, and interviewed. Finally, they are brought into a large chamber. They only have but a moment, however, before Elita One enters...and with a white flash from her spark, they remember no more.
Stormcrow tracks Tarantulas, and enters the building in the mercenary sector—an area Medusa knows well. He first sees the body of the Sentry on the floor, then, Tarantulas and Stalker sleeping in each other's arms. Wasting no time, he throws the female to the floor, the true Spawn his first target. Medusa shoots a venom dart into Stalker so she cannot interfere. When Tarantulas looks up, he sees the Silverbolt lookalike bearing down on him with a sword, the Tigerhawk lookalike standing in the door. Stormcrow reveals his true identity by showing Tarantulas an image of the Matrix of Leadership burned into his chest; as the last Maximal, he is an agent of Primus's vengeance. Tarantulas asks if that makes him an agent of the Vok, as well; it does not, but the Vok and Matrix of Leadership are connected, as both the combatants know and reveal. The spider gives one final plea as the sword connects with his spark: he begs Stormcrow not to hurt Stalker. Stormcrow, with his father's memories, realizes what Tarantulas did not—the light from Silverbolt's spark as he died touched Tarantulas, purifying him just enough to experience true love. However, Stormcrow knows that this is a request cannot be fulfilled. He kills Tarantulas, then asks Medusa to hold Stalker back. When the fuzor screams and threatens to kill Stormcrow, he destroys her as well. He regrets his duty, but promises the pair that they will have better luck the next life around.
Duty done, the Maximals attend the funeral for Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. Hearts are heavy, but hope runs high. The only loose end is the threat of Megatron on the horizon, a threat that Magnaboss hopes to solve simply...
Darkwave is summoned again by his ally and leader, the Maximal Magnaboss, former Decepticon General Shockwave. Shockwave has the Predacons stowed in a satellite prison above Cybertron. He invites Darkwave to gather his unit for a special undercover mission, one that will take him into the heart of Predacon territory, and put him right at Megatron's side. The risk to Shockwave himself is very minimal, but if Darkwave and the Revolutionaries perform as expected...
A Decepticon General will own Cybertron once again.