Before the charging Side Burn and Wheeljack could reach Heatwave, he leapt to his feet and transformed in a single, smooth motion. Seconds before his tires touched the ground, he launched a volley of missiles toward the nearest Autobot. Side Burn had only managed to squeeze off three shots before the missiles struck his midsection. The Autobot flew backwards into one of the stellar spanner’s control pylons. The pylon held, but Side Burn bent nearly in half and tumbled to the ground.

Side Burn’s fate had given the other two Autobots their opening. Wheeljack and Goldbug leapt in unison, each one landing at Heatwave’s sides. Now able to block the movement of Heatwave’s turret, they were free to grapple with him without fear of missile attack.

“Apply pressure at the plate seams, we’ll force the spy to transform!” Wheeljack shouted as his fingers dug into the missile launcher and began to pry it into a pair of legs.

“A decent idea… You’re a veritable stopped chronometer, Wheeljack.”

“Heatwave…” Blitzwing whispered to himself. Still unnoticed, he watched as the Autobots forced Heatwave back into robot mode. “Well, no time to wait for reinforcements now. Sorry lil’ buddy, you’re gonna have to bail out.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s going to get violent and I don’t want you getting killed.”

[...]

Wheeljack moved quickly to bind the Decepticon’s hands behind his back. The optical cabling he used had not been designed for the purpose, but its tensile strength was enough to keep Heatwave’s hands, and subsequently his form, locked. For his part, Heatwave refused to cooperate. By the time Goldbug and Wheeljack forced him into the spanner, each of them had been dented by Heatwave’s flailing legs. Just as the Autobots pushed the struggling Decepticon to the center of the spanner, Heatwave managed to flip up and make one final kick.



- Blitzwing Bop