Beast Wars: Second Chances - The Covers
Originally posted on February 2nd, 2011
Cover A - Daniel Olsén Covers B & C - Seb Quickstrike - Ed Pirrie Depth Charge - Loke Mei Yin Snarl vs Terrorsaur - James Ferrand Waspinator - Jeremy Tiongson Dinobot sketch - Matt Frank
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wada sez: Okay, this one was as much a surprise to me as it is to you. Prolific Mosaic contributor Mike Priest asked me if I had any plans to archive Beast Wars: Second Chances, a full-length comic he originally pitched in a similar vein to War Journal and Spotlight: Stunticons. As nearly all the writers and artists who worked on this one were also Mosaic contributors, and I’ve always felt like there weren’t enough Beast Wars strips in Mosaic, and because Mike asked nicely, I couldn’t say no! Thanks to Mike’s involvement, I’ve got the original scripts and his original story treatment, titled Beast Wars: Beyond, which you can read below—although the final story ended up wildly different, if you want to read along without any spoilers whatsoever, I’d recommend coming back to this post later! It seems that Matt Frank was originally tapped for the project, as he produced a sketch of Dinobot which you can see below, but no further contributions from him ever surfaced.
Okay, this is my initial rough pitch for the story.
Again, anything and everything here is mutable and subject to tweaking and whatever, or downright ignoring and trashing. I won’t cry.
We start roughly a month or two Earth-time after Primal’s crew left. The first page should explain this and whatever, and then something akin to “BUT SOMETHING STILL STIRS on this planet!” Cut to Depthcharge dragging himself out of the surf.
(I’m trying to work AROUND the Mosaic “Eternal”, making it more retroactively tied-in.)
We establish Waspinator as leader of the proto-human tribe, out on a hunt or something with some other humans. Perhaps some brief proto-human comedy before we hit the nitty-gritty.
We establish Depthcharge wandering around, arguing with himself, totally nuts, screaming at no one in-particular (He’s arguing with Rampage, who only responds through text boxes, so to anyone else, DC looks like a nut).
Waspinator encounters Depthcharge, is initially scared and confused, but decides, what the hey, see what’s up with fishie-bot. Waspinator honestly is curious/wants to help.
Depthcharge, in a confused, blind rage, grabs Waspinator and viciously beats him near to death. And not in a funny, usual-Waspinator way. He’s pleading, BEGGING for Depthcharge to stop. I’m talking the reader needs to actually feel really bad for Waspinator; he is an endearing character and kind of our “hero” for this story.
Only when some of Waspinator’s human tribe start hitting Depthcharge with rocks and spears does he snap out of it, and is literally horrified at what’s he done to poor Waspinator. (Rampage is in ecstasy though; this is exactly what he wants to turn Depthcharge into; a killer like Rampage himself).
Depthcharge retreats, transforms to jet mode and flies off, horrified at what he’s become.
The proto-humans can’t do anything to help the dying, whimpering Waspinator. So they make a stretcher and begin carrying him home.
Only they don’t make it. Something attacks and kills them; Waspinator is too weak to help them. And it takes Waspinator’s remains. (Hints of a giant metal spider, perhaps in this sequence)
We establish Tarantulas. Or rather an AI program that approximates Tarantulas’ personality and goals. It is housed in a sub-level of Tarantulas’ former lair. He “lives” through his Steel Tech proxy body, the (black and grey Transmetal Tarantulas), but he cannot particularly control it too well/or it really is just a poor substitute for a sparked body.
Tarantulas has a blank stasis pod that was affected by the Quantum Surge. He plugs Waspinator’s spark into it. And Transmetal Waspinator is born. Waspinator comes back online strapped to a table, with the Steel Tech drone working on him (And Tarantulas’ face on a computer screen, establishing that he really is housed in his lair’s “hard drive”)
Tarantulas explains that he still has to accomplish the Tripredacus Council’s goals, even after death, and Waspinator is one of his new tools.
Faux-Tarantulas ALSO reveals that he has the bodies of Scorponok and Terrorsaur (both Transmetalized), which he recovered from the lava pit. (TM Terrorsaur’s fine, but a new design for Transmetal Scorponok is essential. NOT the McDonald’s toy design. Make him larger and bulkier and his third mode should have flight capability- this is important for later)
Fitting all three with “neural implants” that ensure obedience, Tarantulas explains he will use them to breach the Ark and carry out its destruction (His Steel Tech drone isn’t dexterous or durable enough to fight through the Ark’s automated defenses).
And Waspinator is a test subject. Tarantulas releases him from his bonds and orders him to obey. The neural implant holds, and Tarantulas decides to send Waspinator for a test-drive. Waspinator speeds out of the lair in his new jet mode.
As he travels over the landscape, he is watched by someone new on the ground. We don’t find out who it is YET. Just a close up of a wide, toothy grin and an “Interesting”.
Meanwhile Depthcharge is having a nervous breakdown. Rampage is slowly driving him insane, and Depthcharge starts repeatedly trying to kill himself. It is MESSED UP, including Depthcharge throwing himself on his own sword, tearing bits off, and such. But all the damage heals. Exhausted and pained, Depthcharge suddenly becomes aware of a visitor watching him.
Cue DINOBOT II, standing arrogantly and grinning down on Depthcharge, telling him it won’t work.
Both Depthcharge and Rampage are surprised to see him. Rampage particularly.
Meanwhile, Waspinator’s test-drive includes going back to his proto-human village and is ordered to raze it to the ground by Tarantulas. But Waspy surprises Tarantulas (and the audience) by fighting the neural implant and eventually succeeding in burning it out, overcoming Tarantulas’ will by plumbing that can-do never-give-up Waspinator spirit and his genuine affection for the proto-humans. Tarantulas is surprised by this, but notes he has back-ups anyway, activating Scorponok and Terrorsaur.
Back with Depthcharge and Dinobot, who, of note, acts somewhat uncharacteristically, giving half-answers and grinning a lot. Rampage begins to suspect something is different or wrong with Dinobot.
Meanwhile, Scorponok and Terrorsaur are both activated and forced into line by the neural implants. Terrorsaur is still his arrogant self, but Scorponok is more quiet and almost more professional (It’ll be seen/developed that he’s a bit disillusioned that Megatron never saw fit to recover him from the lava pit). Anyway, as neither of them have any particular strong will to oppose the neural implant, they go to carry out Tarantulas’ orders to attack the Ark.
We establish the VOK, who realize the danger to the time stream is not yet over. The two that “killed” Tarantulas decide to intervene. They go to where Tigerhawk died and begin pulling his shattered pieces together with their powers. (Tigerhawk would be dead, just a zombie shell animated by these Vok and while his body is whole, it is in horrendous shape, missing an optic, generally looking like a terrifying zombie).
Meanwhile Waspinator is speeding along, knowing somehow he has to go back and stop Tarantulas, when he sees Scorponok and Terrorsaur in their new Transmetal vehicle modes, headed in the Ark’s direction, along with Tarantulas‘ Steel Tech proxy body. Waspinator isn’t particularly positive he can take both of them, even with his new body, so he decides to go look for “crazy fishie-bot” and hopes Depthcharge is somewhat more lucid now.
Back with Depthcharge and Dinobot, Rampage suddenly senses a familiarity between his own spark and Dinobot and realizes Dinobot’s shell is now possessed by STARSCREAM!
Guilty as charged, Dino-Scream shrugs. He’s been stuck in this time zone for a while and returned to the planet, but everyone’s left now. So he looked for the Nemesis (Hoping to find something there he can possess without damaging history) and found Dinobot II’s ravaged, sparkless shell. Possessing that and healing its injuries, Starscream set out for the Ark next.
Before anything can be done, Waspinator finds them, telling them (as best as he can) about Tarantulas’ plan to destroy the Ark and what not.
Depthcharge and Starscream don’t want to be erased from history, so they agree to help (Rampage even finds it interesting).
Faux-Tarantulas, Scorponok and Terrorsaur arrive at the Ark, and the latter two fight their way through Teletraan-1’s automated defenses (which come out of “sleep mode”). Faux-Tarantulas hangs back.
But by the time they make it through, Waspinator, Dino-Scream, and Depthcharge/Rampage arrive.
We have a three-on-three battle. Scorponok fights Depthcharge/Rampage (Scorpy’s new Transmetal body is bigger than his old one and almost a match for Depthcharge, even with the new ferocity that Rampage’s presence in his mind gives him). Scorponok angsts over his abandonment by Megatron while they fight. Terrorsaur fights the groundbound Starscream/Dinobot II (Starscream grumbles that this body sucks cuz it can’t fly) and manages to actually hold it off, as Starscream is unaccustomed to fighting like this.
Waspinator faces off against the Steel Tech Drone, and despite some initial trepidation, realizes he’s far more powerful now than any drone and takes the faux-Tarantulas down easily once his confidence is up.
Meanwhile, the zombie Vok-possessed Tigerhawk arrives at Tarantulas’s lair, runs roughshod over the meager defenses, and destroys the Tarantulas’ hard drive/AI for good.
This causes the neural implants in Scorponok and Terrorsaur to fail, and they stop fighting now that they are no longer under Tarantulas’ will.
Confused at what is going on, everyone leaves the Ark. The Vok-possessed zombie Tigerhawk arrives.
First order of business is noticing Dinobot II. The Vok declare (The Transmetal II clone body) an “abomination” and perversion of their technology. (Starscream’s like “Whoa, wait a minute!”)
The Vok incinerate Dinobot II’s shell in a blast of lightning from Tigerhawk. We don’t see what happens to Starscream’s spark.
The Vok explain that the constant interference with the timeline has TO STOP, and tells everyone to get the hell off the planet.
Of course, everyone is like “uh, HOW?”
The Vok tells everyone to go into Earth orbit. They will self-destruct Tigerhawk’s remains, with the release of alien energies ripping a Transwarp wormhole that’ll send everyone back to the right era.
Everyone of course is like “But…how do we get home from the middle of space?”
And the Vok of course are like “We don’t care, you’re going back to your rightful place in history or we’ll just kill you here and dump you there”
So everyone engages flight modes and follows Zombie-Tigerhawk up into space. They stand back and the Vok do as they promised, detonating Tigerhawk’s shell and making a wormhole. Everyone flies through in a flash, the Vok take their leave with some end dialogue about cleaning up some more small glitches or whatever.
Everyone arrives in the middle of space, nowheresville. Depthcharge isn’t hanging with these “Preds” anymore and “Besides, I’ve got enough company as it is”. He flies off into the nothingness of space, deciding to either find a way to deal with living with Rampage…or destroying them both.
Waspinator and Scorponok get into an argument about which direction Cybertron is, which ends in Waspinator engaging his jet mode and flying off alone. Scorponok sighs and goes in the opposite direction, asking if Terrorsaur is coming.
Terrorsaur (who hasn’t said a word since they left Earth) just widely grins and unseen to Scorponok, we see the ghost of Starscream possessing Terrorsaur’s frame. “Sure thing, pal.” He follows Scorponok.
END.
Notes-
*Inferno and Quickstrike…well, seeing as Quickstrike’s head was hollowed out and made into a mask, I think they’re a little harder to swallow as still alive.
*I kinda tried to do the exact opposite of what the Botcon comics did…bring Tigerhawk back (albeit a Vok-possessed zombie) instead of Tigatron and Airazor.
*When the zombie Tigerhawk destroys the Tarantulas AI core, depending on preference, we can have him say “You last bit of Unicron” or some such, depending if everyone agrees on Tarantulas’s origins.
*I have Starscream possessing Dinobot’s shell and later Terrorsaur, trying to avoid the clichéd possessing of Transmetal Waspinator.
