On Cybertron, Ultra Magnus is looking at the stars through a telescope. He says they seem so peaceful at a distance, but up close, they're so troubled. At Unicron's head, a ship moves in. Inside, a Quintesson scientist tells his only crew member that this Autobot specimen is something they've designed well -maybe too well.

He has the guard activate the ship's mirage sequence, which makes the ship look like Sky Lynx. They're able to land on Cybertron without any issue, and as Ultra Magnus comes out, Sky Lynx tells him that Rodimus Prime wants him to report to the EDC command center. Ultra Magnus gets on board, and the fake Sky Lynx blasts off.

The scientist has the ship changed back to normal, and then says that the specimen has been secured. He decides to test his reaction to betrayal by the one he trusts the most, and has a illusion of Rodimus Prime activated. As Magnus wonders who Sky Lynx's new interior decorator is, Rodimus appears and says Sky Lynx isn't here. He then attacks Magnus, as the Quintesson watches as says the specimen will defend himself, but will try to avoid harming his leader, unless his own survival is threatened. Magnus says he doesn't want to hurt Rodimus, but won't take any more of this.

The guard asks how his master knew this, and he tells him it's because he contributed to the Autobot's design. They always react according to their individual programming, and Ultra Magnus is a soldier first and foremost. As Magnus helps Rodimus up, the illusion suddenly vanishes. Magnus then sees that one of the walls was also an illusion, revealing that he is in a cell.

He tries firing a missile at the bars, but it just bounces off and fails to explode. The scientist says that they are to go to Chaar next, where their next specimen awaits. On Chaar, Cyclonus is chasing after an armed drone.

After shooting the drone down, he says it was a good workout, but it doesn't compare to combat with a thinking foe. Broadside then lands next to him, and tells him that Galvatron wants to talk to him.

Cyclonus boards him, not knowing that Broadside is actually the Quintesson ship. The Quintesson scientist says that Cyclonus' programming is very similar to Ultra Magnus, and thinks he'll react the same way to an attack by his own leader. A Galvatron illusion is activated, which attacks Cyclonus. Cyclonus restrains him...

...but the illusion vanishes as Cyclonus realizes there is something very wrong here. The scientist says Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus are one in the same, one is good and one is evil, but to him, that makes no difference at all. The ship heads to the Junkion planet next, where Wreck-Gar is watching TV. He watches a program hosted by Lippo the Clown. Lippo tells boys and girls to remember that the best way to get your way is to be good every day!

A large cruiser lands behind Wreck-Gar, as Lippo appears out of it and tells Wreck-Gar to come inside, so he can say hello to the studio audience. Wreck-Gar happily follows him in.

The scientist says that if you take a Junkion out of the most cluttered environment in the galaxy, and then place him in a completely bare cell, he should be shocked into total inactivity. However Wreck-Gar instead trashes his cell, making a complete mess of it. But to him, it's now home sweet home. The scientist is surprised, as an Autobot he should have reacted as he predicted.

At an EDC space station above the Earth, Marissa Faireborn asks for an EDC shuttle to identify itself. It turns out the pilot is her own father, who says he's come for a visit. As the shuttle lands, Marissa rushes to the dock to meet him.

She tells him she's so glad he's here, and invites him inside to show him around, but then the door shuts. As the shuttle heads back out into space, it's revealed to be the Quintesson ship. The scientist says that humans are disgusting creatures, but are worthy of study, if just to find a better way of destroying them.

He begins the next experiment, and has the illusion of Marissa's father change, giving him an alien head. He claims he's still her father, but she kicks him down and then hits him again, saying she doesn't know who he is, but he's not her father.

The scientist laughs and says violence is always the human's way of solving problems. Marissa then discovers she is in a cell, along with three others. Cyclonus tries grabbing the bars of his cell, but gets shocked.

The Quintessons walk in, and the scientist greets the specimens. As Marissa says he's committed crimes, he says she is just an insect to be studied and then disposed of when she's of no more use -and that goes for all of them! He has the guard activate the cell submission device, as he's decided to examine the human first. The guard does as he's told, which fires a blue beam over Marissa, causing her to fall. The cell bars are deactivated, and the Quintessons move in.

Wreck-Gar fires off one of his own hands, using it as a projectile to hit the button controlling the submission device. Since she can move again, Marissa tells the scientist how about she does some experimenting on him? She rushes up to him and shoves him...

...causing him to collide with the guard. She tries to open up the cell holding Ultra Magnus, but it doesn't seem to work. But then suddenly, the entire ship starts to emit bolts of lightning.

The ship has entered an electron storm, which wrecks havoc to it and the Transformers and Quintessons inside. Cyclonus wonders if it's another Quintesson trick, but Magnus says it's a storm, and he's losing control of his mechanisms. They've got to get out of it, or it'll tear them and this ship apart!

The ship's exterior is already beginning to break up. The scientist and guard rush back to the control room, where the scientist says they must steer through the lulls of the electron storm, and tells the guard to pilot the ship towards an empty area to the right. However the guard accidentally turns the ship to the left.

The scientist hits the guard and tells him he said right, not left, and threatens to have him scrapped if he makes another mistake like that. The guard moves the ship out of the storm, as Marissa tries, but fails, to open of Magnus' cell.

Magnus grabs the bars of his cell, and holds onto them, causing them to short circuit. This also causes the bars to the other cells to disappear, allowing everyone out. Cyclonus says it seems their bad weather has passed, but Ultra Magnus says their troubles haven't.

In the control room, the scientist tells the guard he may have been hasty in his assessment of his piloting skills. They go back to resume the examination of the human, only to find that all of the specimens have escaped. As Wreck-Gar fights the guard, Marissa goes after the scientist.

Magnus tells Cyclonus it is his duty to take this ship back to Cybertron, but Cyclonus says it's his duty to deliver the ship and Magnus to Galvatron. The two start fighting each other, as Cyclonus says it has been too long since he had an opponent worthy of his full attention. Meanwhile, the guard uses his spear to slice one of Wreck-Gar's arms off.

Wreck-Gar throws a spiked wheel at him, and as he dodges that, he gets his arm plugged back in. Back in the control room, Marissa attempts to plot a course back home, but the scientist says it may be too late.

They see that the ship is flying into another problem. She goes to the others and tells them to stop fighting, as if they don't do something about this, they're all losers. The combatants cease and go to the control room, where they see that the are heading towards a black hole.

The scientist explains that a black hole is a star that has collapsed in on itself, becoming so dense that neither matter or light can escape its immense gravity. The guard tries firing the ship's reverse thrust, but there is no change in position. He says the engines are barely keeping them in the same place, but as he talks, the scientist rushes off. As the guard sends out a distress signal, the others realize the scientist has gone, and find out he's headed to the back of the ship. They go to find him, but come across the ship's escape pods, most of which have been destroyed by the storm.

However one is still working, and the scientist says he's going to be the one who escapes. The guard tries to stop him, but then malfunctions, as Marissa points out he can't override his programming, and is now letting the scientist get away. Magnus has other plans, and before the scientist can take off, he shatters the glass of the cockpit...

...and throws the scientist out of it. But he reveals he's activated the escape pod, which is going to automatically launch in seconds. Magnus tells Marissa to get up here, so she can go home, but Cyclonus blocks her off and says he is boarding that escape pod, and will destroy anyone who gets in his way!

Wreck-Gar then tackles Cyclonus, allowing Marissa to get to Magnus. But as he lifts her up, the guard grabs her, and as they struggle, the escape pod ends up launching without anyone inside it.

Ultra Magnus gets sucked out into space, but he can still be seen from the ship. A tractor beam is used to bring him back in...

...but it's revealed Cyclonus is the one who saved him. Magnus asks why Cyclonus saved him, and Cyclonus tells him it's because warriors like them should meet their end in battle. They are about to resume fighting, but the scientist comes over and calls them fools for allowing the escape pod to launch with nobody aboard it -now they'll all be devoured by the black hole! Magnus and Cyclonus point out they wouldn't be in this situation at all if he hadn't captured them.

The scientist heads back to the control room, where he picks up an incoming transmission. He finds out the call is coming from something behind them, and is on the same frequency as their own distress signal. He has the guard bring up a visual, and they see a ship. The scientist believes it to be a Quintesson ship, which is why it has the same frequency as theirs. But Cyclonus thinks only Decepticons would travel this far, whilst Magnus says to his visual receptors it looks more like an Autobot cruiser than Decepticon junk.

When Wreck-Gar hears the word junk, he says he'll phone home. Marissa tells everyone to forget it, as the ship is a derelict which has no crew. As the visual is made larger, it's clear this is the case, as Magnus asks about the signal they were receiving from it. The scientist says the signal must be automatic, and is merely repeating a distress call.

With no engines to counter the pull of the black hole's gravity, everyone watches as the derelict ship enters the black hole and disappears. The scientist says that as long as their ship's engines are functional, they have enough power to maintain their position above the black hole for a while longer. As Magnus asks how long is a while longer, an explosion rocks the ship.

The engines fail and the ship is pulled into the black hole. However, the ship isn't destroyed, and passes through the hole. Whilst everyone has survived, their colors have all changed.

Cyclonus says his internal data indicates no malfunction to his color preceptors, so these changes must be caused by outside forces. The scientist says this is incredible -they are in a negative universe! Another scientific theory of his has been proven correct. Magnus picks up the scientist and says that whilst this is all very interesting, he wants to hear his theory on how they get out of here, and back to their own universe. He throws the scientist at the guard, as the scientist says if they can produce enough speed to enter the white hole on the correct trajectory, they have an excellent chance of passing through it intact. Cyclonus hits the guard down and says these two are the cause of their ordeal, but Magnus tells him it's only fitting they help them solve their problem.

They head to the engine room, where the scientist says the engines have been damaged by the overload. He says with some donated parts from their mechanisms, and some work, they can be made fully functional. Magnus, Wreck-Gar, Cyclonus and the guard donate a few parts each, and the engines are repaired. They head back to the control room, where the scientist warns that if the ship enters the white hole on the incorrect trajectory, they'll all be crushed or torn to pieces. But Magnus says to do it, as Cyclonus says they have nothing to lose. The guard activates the ship's full forward and lateral thrust.

The ship successfully passes through the white hole, and the group arrive back in their own universe. Marissa says they are back where they started from, but Magnus says not quite. He points out that outside, Sky Lynx and Astrotrain are locked in a fierce battle. The scientist realizes that they did receive their distress signal.

Magnus has a transmission channel opened, and contacts Sky Lynx. He tells him to disengage and make a reverse heading, so Sky Lynx heads back and docks with the Quintesson ship. Magnus tells Cyclonus not to try and stop them, but Cyclonus says there would be no point in that, as it appears to be a stand off both inside and outside.

Magnus tells him that they'll go their separate ways, but the next time they meet it will be as enemies. Cyclonus agrees, and tells him it'll be as soldiers on opposing sides. Later on, Sky Lynx heads back to Cybertron, with Magnus and Marissa onboard. Magnus says that they traveled from one universe to another and back again, but as citizens of the same galaxy, they're still so far apart.

NOTES

-Broadside makes another appearance. He previously appeared in this episode, where he was used as a ship for some Autobots to escape in. However his appearance was most likely an error, and he was even shown being destroyed. He's back for this episode, but now he's a bad guy! Fans speculate that Broadside may have originally been intended to be a Decepticon, but it's unknown what the deal is. He'll show up in future episodes, but he's definitely an Autobot in later appearances.

-Marissa's father isn't named in the episode, but it meant to be an older version of Flint, a character from G.I. Joe.