Transformers Robots in Disguise

Following their defeat of Megatronus, the Autobots are visited by Micronus, who comes to take back the power the Primes lent Optimus. The process greatly weakens the legendary hero, who nonetheless insists on remaining an active part of the team. Feeling there are too many Bots around to make one efficient squad, Bee splits the team in two, with one to deal with Decepticon threats near the Scrapyard, and the other to travel the world looking for fugitives. Optimus takes charge of the “away team,” which is sent to the polar ice cap to capture polar bear Decepticon POLARCLAW, but the teammates under his leadership are uncertain of his capability. At the same time, the “home team” contends with OVERLOAD, a Decepticon with a score to settle with Optimus, who’s forgotten the pounding he once gave rookie Bumblebee. Bee hasn’t forgotten, however, and demands to face Overload alone.

Bumblebee’s emotions cloud his judgment in his fight against Overload, and the Decepticon and his two Mini-Cons have the Autobot leader on the ropes. At the same time, Optimus’ diminished strength gets his team in trouble, sunk to the bottom of a frigid ocean after blowing their pursuit of Polarclaw. For Sideswipe, it’s proof Optimus isn’t capable of leading, but Optimus demonstrates his knack for strategy, concocting a plan that ultimately brings the Decepticon down. Meanwhile, Bee finally realizes his emotional, direct approach won’t work against Overload, and he cleverly co-opts some help – Overload’s Mini-Cons – in bringing his enemy down.

Steeljaw, recovered from his defeat at the hands of Megatronus, returns to his goal of making Earth a Decepticon homeworld, and learns from an uninterested recruit that there is another community of Decepticons on the planet – living on the cloaked remains of a Cybertronian starship in Crown City Bay! Meanwhile, the Autobots track an ore-scavenging Decepticon named Saberhorn to an old steel mill, where the fugitive apparently is working to convert the ore into metal for repairing a Cybertronian ship. Russell’s urge to collect trophies from the Bots’ missions nearly gets him sliced and diced by the swashbuckling Saberhorn, and while the Autobots rescue their human friend, Saberhorn manages to get away.

Strongarm nearly causes a traffic accident while in pursuit of the Decepticon Crazybolt (and his Mini-Con, Slicedice). Although everyone insists it was an innocent mistake, Strongarm sees her actions as negligence and puts herself on administrative leave, per Cybertronian police regulations. The only issue is that Crazybolt and Sliedice are still on the loose and, together, start a massive forest fire that threatens many lives. Grimlock and Bumblebee are unable to cope with the blaze on their own and must convince Strongarm to come back into the field before a group of bird-watching humans are hurt.

The Away Team, patrolling a desert location, is startled when two Mini- Con Decepticons attack weakened Optimus Prime. The Minis are fought off, but Windblade is concerned Optimus is easy pickings for Decepticons, and vows to protect him whether he wants it or not. Her efforts only end up damaging her, and by the time the Bots reach an abandoned military base, she is an easy target for the Mini-Cons’ scavenger master, a bobcat Decepticon named RAZORPAW. Optimus feigns being weaker than he is to lure Razorpaw away, then defeats the fugitive and his hench-bots. Windblade apologizes to Optimus, but he’s happy to know he has teammates looking out for him.

Worried that his teammates think him unintelligent, Grimlock enlists Fixit’s aid in becoming smarter faster. He tries to offload the massive amount of information in a Cybertronian data cylinder directly into his brain, but an accident in the process overwrites his combat instincts - and threatens to permanently freeze his body. The Autobots need Grim’s strength against orangutan Decepticon SIMACORE, and are fortunate when Fixit reverses the data transfer process on Grim just before the Decepticon can wipe out the other members of the Bee Team. Grimlock dispatches Simacore, and vows to get smarter the old-fashioned way: by studying.

Steeljaw allows himself to be captured by the Autobots, spinning a story about being defeated by a Decepticon named SCORPONOK. Bee, Strongarm and Grimlock venture out to find this mystery fugitive, and Steeljaw takes advantage of their absence to escape and free some of his former Pack-mates. Meanwhile, the Autobots meet and battle Scorponok, along with old foes Crazybolt and Slicedice, learning that Scorponok apparently wasn’t a prisoner on the Alchemor. The Bots defeat the Cons with some trickery of their own, and pledge to learn the truth about where Scorponok really came from.

Irritable after too much futile searching for clues about this “Decepticon Island” he and his team have heard about, Bee allows himself to be talked into a relaxing night at a concert by his favorite Earth band. Russell tags along, but any hope of a quiet evening is lost when Bisk shows up at the concert venue with two Mini-Cons, intent on stealing sound equipment. Bee and Russell take on the fugitives in a battle ranging from beneath the stands to the stage itself, where Bumblebee finds himself sharing space with the band – a dream come true – before knocking Bisk cold, and earning a standing ovation. The night may not have been relaxing, but it’s one Bee will always happily remember.

Left at the Scrapyard again because he doesn’t have an appropriate disguise, while his teammates zoom out in search of Quillfire, Grimlock enlists Fixit’s aid in finding proper camouflage. Bee and Strongarm are struck by Quillfire’s quills, leaving them paralyzed and unconscious, and they wake in an impound lot, unable to escape. To get Quillfire off the streets, Grimlock and Fixit head out in the best disguise they’ve been able to come up with, clothing the Dino-Bot to look like a bizarre construction crane. As Denny and Russell successfully free Bee and Strongarm, Grim’s disguise proves surprisingly effective as he evades the notice of humans and joins his friends in defeating the Decepticon and his Mini-Con aides.

Fixit, vowing to repair the GroundBridge once and for all, errs in his efforts and winds up creating a portal that releases Soundwave and Laserbeak from the Shadow Zone! The legendary Decepticons immediately throw Bumblebee through the portal as it closes. Bee can only watch helplessly as Grimlock and Strongarm fall before the fearsome villains, who then begin constructing a beacon that might well draw all the Decepticons in the area to the Scrapyard! But Fixit redeems himself, with Russell’s and Denny’s help, repairing the GroundBridge so it reopens the portal to the Shadow Zone. Bumblebee escapes, and joins Grimlock and Strongarm in sending Soundwave and Laserbeak back to their interdimensional prison.

Concerned that one of Windblade’s supply stashes has been compromised, Optimus’ Away Team visits an abandoned military base where the cache is hidden. There, they’re ambushed by militaristic Decepticon STOCKADE and his Mini-Con troops. In the first skirmish, Jetstorm and Slipstream, wanting to prove to Drift they can handle acting independently once in a while, accidentally leave their master exposed, and he’s grievously wounded. Pinned down by the enemy, Optimus calls on his own tactical experience, hatching a plan to turn the tables. Assisted by Jetstorm and Slipstream, who come to the aid of their master after learning they can deploy from any Autobot, they manage to keep Windblade’s stash of weapons and supplies out of enemy hands. Drift tells his students they’ve graduated but, feeling they have more to learn, they elect to remain with their sensei.

As Steeljaw seizes command of Decepticon Island, the Autobots first encounter old friend RATCHET, then a Mini-Con named TINKER, a runaway from the community of fugitives, who reveals the Island is really the largest remaining portion of the crashed Alchemor, forgotten by damaged Fixit. With conflict over the leadership of the Autobot team simmering between Bumblebee and Optimus, the heroes sneak onto the Island with a Stasis Bomb for rendering all the Decepticons unconscious so they can be re-imprisoned. Unfortunately, Bumblebee and his companions are discovered, surrounded, and confronted by Steeljaw, wielding the immense power of two Decepticon Hunters, controlling the population of the Island, and eager for revenge against his old enemies!

The Autobots escape Steeljaw’s clutches, but Bumblebee loses his Decepticon Hunter in the melee and it falls into Steeljaw’s hands, making him even more powerful. The Bots split up and go on the run, in hiding from seemingly everyone on the Island. While some of the Bee Team attempt to free the enslaved Mini-Con population of the Island, Bumblebee and Optimus hash out their differences and come to an understanding in time to make a run to the Island’s ventilation hub, where they’re confronted by Steeljaw. A massive battle ensues, and only through timely teamwork are the Autobot heroes able to defeat the overconfident Decepticon. They set the stasis bomb they’ve brought, reunite with their teammates and the freed Mini-Cons, and make it off the Island just before the bomb goes off, putting everyone on the Island into stasis. Some of the heroes elect to accompany the Mini-Cons aboard the repaired Alchemor as it flies its cargo of prisoners back to Cybertron, while others depart Earth for their own adventures. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Strongarm and Grimlock elect to remain, establishing a permanent Autobot presence on the planet so many of them have come to call home.