Beast Wars: Loose Ends
By Kevin Sigmund a.k.a. Bob Shrimp (bshrimp@together.net)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers (well maybe a few of the toys,
but not the rights to 'em), Hasbro does. I don't own the Beast Wars, (well
unless you count some tapes) Mainframe does. Names of characters, toys,
and/or gimmicks (Transmetals) belong to either one of the two
aforementioned companies (or both). I don't claim any of it, this is just
a fan created continuation of the Beast Wars universe, picking up where
Mainframe left off. I'm not making any money off this, so I hope the
lawyers leave me alone. In addition, I'm still paying off my college
bills, and I have very little money, so lawyers, I'm really a waste of your
time. The only this I can lay claim to is this story, so unless someone is
so cheap as if to repeat this story verbatim and claim it as their own, I
don't think there will be any problems. And now, the story...

************************

This story begins where the Beast Wars end. The Maximals have left the
Earth in order to find their own fate, but ironically, the very same events
that have brought peace to this ancient world, will start the Beast Wars
anew. This is the story of those events, and how three unlikely heros
ended the threat to Earth's past once and for all...

****
The Nexus, a swirling mass of cosmic dust and energy that has become home
to the alien race known as the Vok. Long shrouded in mystery, only recent
events have shown the Vok to be the descendants of the Swarm, a nebulous
entity that knew only destruction until the light of Matrix offered another
path. On that day, the Swarm ceased to exist and the Vok took its place.

Yet, even the light of the Matrix has not made the Vok wholly pure, and
even in a race as enlightened as the Vok, criminals are to be found, as
well as prisons to contain them. In such a prison a lone Vok's ponderings
are interrupted by an unlikely ally...

"So you're the one confined to the very heart of chaos?", asked the
visiting Vok to the prisoner.

From its crystalline prison the second Vok responded, "As if you didn't
know, you're one of the ones who sent me here!"

A smirk spread over the visitor's skull-like features, "Yeh-he-he-he-he...
Well you could say I've had a 'change' of mind since then. But no matter,
I'd still like to hear your opinion on the subject."

Livid with rage, the prisoner responded, "The Vok's pointless pursuit of
making amends for acts committed by the Swarm have made us weak! Without
the guilt brought about by the devastation brought upon the human race, the
Vok could have gone on to conquer the universe and bring about the peace
and harmony that it desperately needs!"

As if amused by some unseen joke, the visitor interrupts the prisoner once
again, "...and so you thought you'd beat the Swarm to the punch and
eradicate the humans before the Swarm even existed? Ye-he-ha.. ingenious
if I must say so!"

"Yes, and had it not been for the interference of the Cybertronians, my
sabotage of planetary device would have done more than merely eliminate
evidence of our alteration of the Earth's past."

The prisoner than looked closely at his visitor. Something was wrong.
This wasn't the same Vok that had sat on the council that had sentenced him
to his current fate. At the moment the prisoner began to suspect that
perhaps he did not see before him an enemy, but rather an ally.

"Tell me," the prisoner asks, "What is your intention here?"

The visitor smiled, "Why to free you of course! Together, we will bring
about a fusion of your goals... and mind."


****
Elsewhere, on prehistoric Earth, we join a familer pair of insectine
looking legs sticking out from a mud pit under an overhanging cliff. On
closer inspection we notice that this particular cliff also bears the
impression of the insectine warrior's features, leading one to the
suspision that Waspinator was flung at said cliff, at a very high speed.

With a voice full of depression (and mud), Waspinator begins to speek,
"Waspinator no like stinking flesh bots, Waspinator no like Maximals! Why
Maximals have to leave poor Waspinator behind? *Sigh* Waspinator should
have gone wiht Maximals, not stay behind to rule stupid flesh bots. Not
Maximals fault they have to leave because of "unstable Transwarp cell" and
Waspinator hide when they look for him. *Sigh* Waspinator would stick
head in sand if in not stuck in mud already. Wah-ha! Why universe still
hate Waspinator so much? Why even Waspinator hate Waspinator so much?"

As if to give response to Waspinator's unanswered question, the disembodied
voice of Waspinator's internal computer chimes, "Warning: Power Low,
Stasis-Lock imminent.."

Waspinator's eyes momentarily widen (then he quickly shuts them again due
to the mud), "Oh great, Waspinator out of gas and store not open. Poor
Waspinator can't even send buddies out for batteries. Poor Waspinator not
have buddies. Poor Waspinator wanna die!"

As if to grant his ill-fated wish, the computer again speaks, "Stasis Lock
commencing...."

"Slag."


****
Instead of waking up in the perpetual limbo between life and death,
Waspinator opened his eyes to find himself on some sort of makeshift bed
with a crude power coupling attached to his right arm. Looking around he
though he spotted a small Decepticon symbol, but couldn't be sure.

Waspinator, being Waspinator, put voice to his confusion, "What this?
Waspinator not dead? Oh happy day, oh joy! Waspinator alive, Waspinator
not... Eep!"

Waspinator's celebration was cut short by a familer toothy grin working its
way out of the shadows. "So you're finally awake, eh?," Dinobot asked,
"Well you can thank my predecessor for the tune-up vermin, apparently he
had some sense of .. 'pity' for you."

"What? Old lizard bot alive? Me thought he got slagged."

"He was, as you put it, 'slagged', but the death of Rampage allowed him to
contact me from beyond the Matrix. He wasn't able to pass on much, but
what he did pass on told me of a data entry he had made in life, one which
contained everything he wished to give me. Apparently, he wanted to leave
a record of his existance for future Cybertronian historians to study.
However, I put them to a much better use."

"How lizard bot get memories? Maximals already go bye-bye."

"You can thank the Maximal Rattrap for that. While the other Maximals were
out looking for you, after your brief "encounter", he alone was left to
remain at the Maimal base. I approached him, outlined what I needed and
said my farewells to the vermin. Who, despite actions to contrary, is the
most honorable warrior I have ever had the.. 'pleasure' to encounter."

"So new Dinobot now old Dinobot with new paint job? Big deal! Waspinator
sick of exposition, Waspinator want cool story with chick bots!"

Speaking slowly, as if to avoid killing Waspinator, Dinobot responded,
"Don't. Make. Me. Hurt. You."

Waspinator replied with his patented, "Eep!".

Relaxing, albeit only a little, Dinobot continued, "So tell me, for my own
education, why were you not around when your fellow Predacons Inferno and
Quickstrike were vaporized by Megatron's strike?

Attempting to muster confidence that he obviously didn't have, Waspinator
attempted something of a macho voice, "Waspinator not Predacon anymore!
Waspinator be neut!".

Dinobot stared at the insect for a moment and then smiled, "Well then my
chief eunuch, you might as well help me find a way off this rock."

Indignant, Waspinator replied, "Waspinator not eunuch, Waspinator
neut-TRAL! Why lizard-bot make fun of poor Waspinator?"

Dinobot's grin widened even further, "Because it's easy and I don't have
anything better to do. Now come, we have much digging to do."

"Spider can dig her own holes!"

"What?"

"Sorry, Waspinator have memory relapse."

"Whatever", and with that, the two newfound comrades departed from the
makeshift base located in the remains of the Nemesis.


****
Elsewhere on Earth, the structure that will eventually be known as Stone
Henge, flare to life, and in a dazzling display of light and energy, two
Vok appear in the center of the dais.

"Earth? You fool! This will be the first place the others will look for
us! We must leav... *Erk!*"

The former prisoner's rantings are cut short by a massive energy bolt
emitted by the other. Before the prisoner Vok can react to this attack,
his companion calmly begins to speak, "First of all, if you know what's
good for you, you'll leave all the thinking to me. Second, I plan to
sabotage this array in such a way that will allow us to leave this god
forsaken rock, but keep our brethren from interfering with *MY* plans."

Wiping the nonexistent dirt from its face, the prisoner Vok considers what
his comrade has said, "Okay, so what are you going to do to the array? And
what exactly are your plans anyway?"

"Simple, this array controls all the temporal and spacial traffic the Vok
are capable of sending to Earth. I merely reset the controls, like this,"
the Vok then turns to the standing stones and emits a single stream of
energy. He then continues, "and now, the controls are fused such as to
deny all incoming spacial traffic. But, this sabotage still allows us to
navigate through time, and thus we can get out, but they can't get in. As
for my plans, all in good time, but first we'll be needing a few things in
order to accomplish our goals. Now follow me."

Dejected and in defeat, the prisoner Vok reluctantly trails the strange Vok
that freed him so very recently.


****
Having followed Dinobot cross country for what seems like and eternity,
Waspinator is shocked to find out where the lizard has led him, and states
this in not so many words, "What lizard bot want here? Darkseide mondo big
slag heap thanks to Tiger-Bird bot."

Dinobot ignoring Waspinator, just continues to stare at the ashen black
ground of the recently cooled lava that had been the resting grounds of
their former ship, "I'm not interested in the ship, I'm interested in what
was under it."

"Huh? What lizard bot want with melted rocks?"

Cursing inwardly, the warrior continued, "Hopefully they're not melted
anymore, but there was more here than just melted rocks. Aside from my
ability to heal almost any sort of damage, I also gained the same spark
sensing ability that Rampage had, and there's still a living spark down
there, which I intend to unearth."

"Lizard bird bot and black bug bot still on-line? Waspinator thought they
slagged so Waspinator make it to next season!"

Confused, Dinobot turns to his comrade, "What?"

"Nothing."

"Anyway, I can detect only one spark. We can only hope it belongs to
Scorponok, who should be able to build us something to get us home.
However, even Terrorsaur does not deserve to be buried alive for all
eternity."

"So we dig, right? Waspinator can dig it."

Dinobot's eyes narrowed, "Remember what I said about not making me hurt
you? Don't make me repeat myself again."

"Eep!"


****
The two Vok entered the remains of what appeared to be some sort of lab.

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," the first Vok cackled.

"What was that?", said the escaped prisoner.

The first Vok grinned, "Oh nothing... Now get into that stasis pod over
there and get yourself a suitable body. While somewhat powerful in our..
'natural' states, we cannot hope to achieve our end goals without more
power."

"And those goals might be?", the Vok asked in hopes of an answer.
"Afterwards. Now get into your stasis pod and I'll get into that other
one, the DNA scan is already set so you won't have to bother acquiring a
beast mode. Oh and don't give me that look, our forms are totally
interchangeable with these creatures sparks, and so these blanks will react
to us as if we were intended for them."

Defeated, the Vok obediently entered the capsule and took on his new form,
that of a transorganic ram. "Ramulas," he silently named his new form as
he looked over to his just forming companion.

"Yes..", said the Vok in elation, "Yes! It's working... It's working...
My spark is restored - and my body is stronger than ever! I LIVE!"

"You!", exclaimed Ramulas, "You're not Vok! You're the one who destroyed
my brothers!"

"Isn't life full of surprises? Besides you've already admitted that you
never liked them.", the newly formed giant Locust said with glee.

"You bastard!", shouted Ramulas.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.
Speaking of which, you may call me Scourge. The name seems to fit this
body better than the old one, don't you think?", Scourge asked, obviously
relishing in the venom that he spewed forth.

"You're.. you're insane!", accused Ramulas.

"So they say... Yeh-ha-ha-ha, booga-booga, woot, woot, toot!", calming
himself from a rather spastic display, Scourge continues, "*Ahem*.
Actually, I have a greater plan in mind, one that I think you might be
interested in."

"Why should I listen to you?", pondered Ramulas.

"Perhaps because you're fellow Vok are liable to vaporize you if they ever
see you again?"

Ramulas's shoulders slumped, Scourge was right, he had no choice. "Good
point. Okay, I'm listening..."

Scourge's features lightened, "Good. What I propose is that you and I
attempt to alter history in such a way that both the Vok and the true
Decepticons, not the poor excuses that came to Earth, benefit from
Optimus's death. Both the Vok and my ancestors have the same origins! We
were one once, and so we can be again! My very own fusion with this Vok is
evidence of this!"

"So how do we achieve this 'fusion'?", asked Ramulas.

"Well the first part is simple, we use the standing stones to travel to the
point in Earth's past, or future depending on your point of view, and
corrupt Optimus's Matrix of Leadership in such a way that 'our' brethren
will be rejoined!"

"Scourge that is the most evil and diabolical plan I have ever heard! I
like it! Oh, and for future reference, call me Ramulas."

"Ye-ha-ha-ha," cackled Scourge, "Ramulas, I think this is the beginning of
a wonderful friendship..."


****
Elsewhere, Dinobot and Waspinator finally reach the object that they have
been seeking, only to be met by a huge explosion of earth and soot as a
purple clad warrior emerges from the crater that he just recently created.

"I'm free! Free after all this time. FREEEEEEEEE!!!!!", and with elation
the purple robot soared into the heavens.

"Stupid needlenose not need shout, Waspinator hear just fine!", said
Waspinator, obviously put off by Terrorsaur's blazon acrobatics.

"Waspinator? Well what took you so.. so..", Terrorsaur's tirade was cut
short as he noticed the toothy grin of Dinobot.

"Hello," said Dinobot and as if to make further jest of the warrior,
Dinobot proceeded to wave as well.

"Dinobot?", asked Terrorsaur, "DINOBOT! Predacons ATTACK!"

"Waspinator not Predacon, Waspinator be neut. Besides this not old lizard
bot, this be lizard bot clone," stated Waspinator, but then after
consideration of recent events, he silently added, "Well sort of" to his
appraisal of the creature.

"Clone? Didn't we do that already?", asked a rather confused Terrorsaur.

"After a fashion, but like my comrade," Dinobot reluctantly motioned to
Waspinator, "I have as well given up my affiliations."

"Lizard bot on Waspinator's team? OH HAPPY DAY!", exclaimed an overjoyed
Waspinator.

"Er...", added Dinobot, not expecting this sort of reaction.

"Would you two just SHUT UP! Hmm... neither of you are Predacons, right?
Well..", Terrorsaur then smirked as a idea popped into his head, "Well then
you can die like the non-Maximal clone and Predacon defectors you are!!"

"Now eat hot flaming... uh..," Terrorsaur looks confusedly at the pair of
wing weapons he pulls forth, instead of the pulse rifles he was expecting,
"weird shaped wing-tip thingies? What happened to my guns?", Terrorsaur's
gaze then proceeds to move from his weapons on to survey the rest of his
new body, "For that matter, what happened to ME?!?"

"Stupid beak breath a slagging Transmetal! No fair, why beak brain get
shiny body while all Waspinator ever get is blown up!", dejectedly added
Waspinator to Terrorsaur's belated reverie.

"I guess some comic relief has it better than others," added Dinobot,
clearly enjoying the exchange.

"I AM NOT COMIC RELIEF! Oh.. BEAST MODE!!", and with that Terrorsaurs form
shifts into that of a large pterodactyl.

"Hey what are these things?", foolishly asked Terrorsaur as he mistaken
activates the transformation to his third mode and jet propels himself dead
center into the ground.

"Owww...", moaned Terrorsaur, "What kind of IDIOT would put VTOL jets,
UPSIDE DOWN!!"

"Beak bot give up yet?", teased Waspinator.

"No way, I've just begun to fight! Terrorsaur Terrorize!", and with that
Terrorsaur returns to his original robotic form, "Ha! I've still got my
shoulder cannons and they're more than enough to take care of the like of..
of.. hey where did Dinobot go?"

Obviously tired of Terrorsaur's ranting, Dinobot takes this opportunity to
pounce the crazed warrior, "Now are you through yet? I don't know which is
worse, your absolute lack of any combat skills, or.. or your color
scheme!!!"

"What's wrong with my colors?!?", exclaimed Terrorsaur.

Dinobot grinned, "You're a purple-headed warrior. Think about it."

Waspinator giggled.

"SHUT UP!", yelled Terrorsaur, but he quickly calmed as he looked into the
face of his captor, "Okay, say I do join you, what's to keep you from
dumping me into a recycling bin the first chance you get?"

"Hmm... An interesting notion. However, you have my word that neither I
nor Waspinator will betray you, unless of course you betray us first.
Isn't that right Waspinator?", asked Dinobot as he turned to his companion.

"Waspinator down with that", happily added Waspinator, overjoyed at having
two friends, or at least comrades, that he could hang with.

However, the moment is broken as Scourge and Ramulas appear on the scene.

"Isn't this so sweet? I just wish I had a camera right now, you three do
make such a cute little group!", said Scourge in his most syrupy sweet
voice that he could manage.

Terrorsaur, obviously a master of communication, asks the age-old questions
of "Who?", "What?", and most importantly, "Why?".

Turning to face the new visitors, Dinobot speaks, "Who? I don't know, but
the way they're brandishing their weapons, I suspect they're not the
friendly sort."

Elated, Scourge interrupts, "Oooh.. Dinobot, still a master of
observation, I see... My compatriot is named Ramulas, and you may call me
Scourge."

Aiming his rifle at Waspinator, Ramulas speaks, "Should I blast this one
Scourge?"

"Stupid goat bot not be so tough if he not have slag-maker cannon!", shot
back Waspinator in reaction to Ramulas's threat.

"I AM NOT A GOAT!!! And..", calming himself, Ramulas continues, "and.. for
your information, this is a DOUBLE SLAG MAKER CANNON!!!"

Waspinator yet again emits his tell-tale "Eep!", and goes silent.

Eyeing his opponents, Dinobot speaks, "Scourge? What a fitting name for..
for a Spawn of Unicron."

Enraged, Scourge looses all his composure and shouts back at Dinobot,
"SPAWN OF UNICRON?!? FOR THAT INSULT YOU DIE FIRST!!! BEAST MODE!"

With that Scourge converts from his haphazard robot form to his locust
beast mode, and launches a pair of chemical warheads from his
bio-mechanical wings. Immediately upon impact, Terrorsaur and Dinobot
collapse to the ground, writhing in agony from some unseen torture.
"What is that stuff?", asked Ramulas to his compatriot.

"A nanite delivered computer virus that I have been developing for some
time. Nice to see it works.", said Scourge rather smugly.

"Well it doesn't seem to be working on this one.", stated Ramulas as he
motioned to the insectine warrior, Waspinator.

"Naturally, the effects of the virus were intended for those of Transmetal
nature, Waspinator isn't a Transmetal and so is immune from such effects.",
stated Scourge with a glint of humor.

"A problem easily rectified! Beast Mode!", with that Ramulas quickly
converts to his Ram mode and opens his skull to reveal an odd looking gem,
which soon blasts Waspinator with a greenish blue light.

"NO YOU FOOL!", exclaimed Scourge. But it was too late, Waspinator stepped
forward from the light to reveal a wicked looking new Transmetal form.

"Don't you see what you've done you FOOL? By making him a Transmetal after
the virus was already in his system, you've made him immune to its effects.
Not only that, but its only a matter of time before this immunity spreads
to his friends!", spouted an enraged Scourge, "Not only that, but you've
made Waspinator... Powerful?"

"That's it!! You're the only FOOL here, you decrepit, haphazard, one-armed
FREAK!!!", shouted back Ramulas.

"Oh, is Mr. Most-likely-to-be-Kitbashed sad? Scourge will make it all
better.", said Scourge with sickly glee.

"You'll be glad to just be a peg warmer when I'm done with you!", shot back
Ramulas as he charged up his Slag-Maker Cannon.

"Ahem. Waspinator meched-out now. Waspinator will slag.", said the newly
confident Transmetal.

"Oh. Boy.", the pair said in unison.

"Mind if we join in?", asked the recovered pair in unison.

After which the battle was brief, Scourge and Ramulas attempted to fight
back, but they were no match against the combined power of the three
Neutrals. Later, after the dust had settled, the three warriors gathered
around a campfire, as their prisoners struggled vainly in the background.

"So what's with that cockpit Waspinator?", asked Terrorsaur with something
of a sly grin.

"Waspinator not know. Waspinator not need no slagging cockpit.", said
Waspinator in a matter-of-fact way.

"Aren't you taking this neut thing too far?", slyly asked Terrorsaur. To
which, even the proud warrior Dinobot had difficulty not breaking into a
low chuckle.

Seeing the depressed expression on Waspinator's face, Terrorsaur quickly
changed the subject, "Hey Waspinator, why don't you see what your third
mode is?"

Broken out of his reverie, Waspinator turned to Terrorsaur and asked, "How
Waspinator do that?"

"I don't know", Terrorsaur sighed, "Try going into Beast Mode and see what
happens. That's how I did it."

"Okay, Waspinator do!", and which that Waspinator takes the form of a
mechanical wasp, "Hey, Waspinator think he figure it out."

Immediately, Waspinator converts yet again into a jet-like form of his wasp
mode. Soon, he exclaims "Yahoo!", as he blasts headlong into the
stratosphere.

"So what do we do with them?", asked Terrorsaur to his usually silent
companion.

"I'm sure the Vok will be glad to get Ramulas back, Tarantulas however,
will be of greater use to us in getting us home.", answered Dinobot.

"So, you've seen through my disguise. No matter. But what makes you think
you can trust me?", asked Scourge.

"You've failed Tarantulas, or Scourge if you prefer, and I can see you have
no love of your 'comrade'. So all that remains is that you turn things to
your favor, as you always do. You should see by now that the past, cannot
be so easily changed. Time has a way of making it so that any change made
will be met by counter-agents that will rectify the damage that has been
caused. The Vok's original change to Earth's past altered the future in
such a way that we were drawn into the past to correct their mistake.
And..", paused Dinobot for dramatic effect, "And.. we stopped you two from
making any further changes to Earth's past."

"So I build a ship for you, and that's it, is it?", asked Scourge.

"Yes, our future or present, if you prefer, is of little consequence. If
and when we get back to Cybertron, we'll each go our separate ways.",
Dinobot paused for a moment, "Is this acceptable to you?"

"Yes. Yes, I believe it is.", answered Scourge smugly.

"Hey what about me?", pleaded Ramulas.

"Oh, my former comrade, don't worry. I know just the people who will take
'GOOD' care of you.", added Scourge evilly.


****
Thus, this chapter of the Beast Wars is concluded. Ancient Earth is rid of
all evidence of the Maximal and Predacon presence and the Vok, thanks to
Scourge's alterations of the standing stones, can no longer alter the past.
Ramulas is returned to his prison, and the unlikely foursome of Dinobot,
Waspinator, Terrorsaur, and Scouge all go into stasis lock as their
makeshift craft slowly works its way towards the future Cybertron. What
happens to them next is another story...

************

Well that's it, my first and probably last Beast Wars fan fiction. Oh, I
do have something of a story in mind for what happens when the four get to
Cybertron, but this story took me so long to write, I doubt I'll even
bother writing the thing. Still, I wouldn't mind knowing what you think,
and/or telling me what parts you liked about the story and what you didn't
like. Anyway, thanks for reading this thing, and I hope it was worth your
time.