Beast Wars Metals issue 3

« Beast Wars Metals #3 »
Published in	Comic BomBom
First published	December 1999
Cover date	January 2000
Story by	Shōji Imaki
Art by	Shōji Imaki

Jaguar, son of Ravage, escapes from incarceration and wants revenge on both Maximals and Predacons by eliminating ALL the Beast Warriors!

Synopsis

Megatron reconvenes with Quickstrike, Terrorsaur, and the rest of the Predacon troop, only to find they've been slaughtered by a cloaked figure. That killer is Jaguar, whom Megatron recognizes as a fugitive murderer of both Maximals and Predacons. Megatron attacks in T. rex mode, but Jaguar does the splits on his jaws, holding his beast mode mouth open while he opens fire down Megatron's throat. Believing Megatron dead, Jaguar transforms to beast mode and jets away. Once he's gone, Waspinator salvages Megatron's remains, including his robot mode head.

At the Maximal Scientific Research Laboratory, the Maximals have finally made contact with Dinobot, who is being nursed back to health by a tribe of anthropoids. Dinobot suggests that if they survived the space battle, perhaps other Maximals have, too. Airazor believes this means her beloved Tigatron is still out there and leaves to search for him.

As for Tigatron, he has suffered amnesia from the space battle and remembers nothing except his love for Airazor. He is approached by a repaired Tarantulas (who is taped back together) and the Predacon offers a truce. He wants to tell Tigatron a secret and leans into the naïve Maximal's "ear"... where he thrusts his tongue in and plants a Predacon control unit in his head, taking control of the Maximal's mind and body.

At the anthropoid village, Jaguar has begun an aerial attack. Dinobot attempts to fend him off, but unfortunately he brings a sword to a gunfight and is shot to pieces. Jaguar prepares to execute the anthropoids but Optimus arrives just in time to stop him. He sees Dinobot's remains and swears to avenge his friend. A vicious battle ensues and eventually leads into a cave, which promptly begins to cave-in due to all the fighting. In the chaos, Jaguar uses his jet boosters to fly straight through Optimus, leaving a gaping hole in his torso.

All part of the plan! Optimus bodyslams Jaguar, lodging him in the hole, which begins to self-repair and crush Jaguar (whom Optimus keeps sedated with headbutts). He then rips Jaguar out of his wound, tearing off both his arms in the process. With Jaguar helpless, Optimus blows him away with his gun. The mortally wounded Jaguar stumbles into a pit and plummets into oblivion. Optimus remarks that Dinobot has been avenged and leaves the cave.

Elsewhere, Airazor continues her search and is spotted by Tigatron, but Tigatron is not in his right state of mind...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• Jaguar's crazy martial arts moves are all highly influenced by popular blockbuster action films, mainly those directed by John Woo or starring Jean Claude Van Damme.