Realize the Forbidden Love!
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| "Realize the Forbidden Love!" 禁断の恋を成就せよ!
(Kindan no Ai o Jōju Seyo!) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Comic BomBom | ||||||||||||
| First published | September 1998 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | October 1998 | ||||||||||||
| Story | Shōji Imaki | ||||||||||||
| Art | Shōji Imaki | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars manga continuity | ||||||||||||
Misunderstandings ahoy as Bighorn competes with an uninterested Scuba for Scylla's love.
Synopsis
Bighorn busies himself making a flower bouquet atop a seaside cliff, regretting the lack of love in his life. He thrusts the bouquet into the air, calling for the love of his life to appear before him... and absolutely nothing happens. Just as he's about to give up and go back to base, a photon sailer lands at the cliffside. The furious Maximal is ready to throw down with whoever's interrupted his romantic gesture, until a hatch opens and someone emerges from the hull: the Seacon squid-bot Scylla. She explains that their ship is lost and low on energy, and asks the bison for help... but Bighorn is lost in love and struck dumb by the sudden granting of his wish. He turns and flees, leaving a very miffed Scylla...
Back at the Maximal base, Scuba is enjoying some quiet time reading comics when Bighorn barrels in, howling the Maximal squid's name. Scuba is instantly on the defnesive, believing the hothead is still holding a grudge over a prior argument over the superior snack with beer: beef jerky or squid jerky. Scuba attempts to smooth things out by telling his comrade "you're not beef jerky, you're a fine cow!", and is floored when instead it turns out Bighorn wants the well-read squid to write a love letter for him. Scuba quickly pens a note, and is nearly blown away as Bighorn snatches it up and rushes off to deliver it... only to instantly come rushing back, insisting that Scuba deliver the letter, as Bighorn is much too shy to do so himself.
Reluctantly, Scuba travels to the spot Scylla was last seen on the Tako Tank's motorcycle, calling out for the squid-bot... who emerges from the sea directly behind him, and none too pleased. Nervous, Scuba delivers the love letter, and after a few moments' reading, Scylla's mood changes dramatically. She is now head over heels in love... with Scuba, believing he is "Bighorn". She insists on an immediate marriage, and an even more shaken Scuba stammers out that he'll return with an answer, not realizing that she was asking him to marry her. Peeling away at top speed and leaving the lovestruck Seacon believing he's just shy, Scuba returns to base to give Bighorn the news. Bighorn is naturally delighted and rushes off, while Scuba sighs and returns to his quiet reading.
Back at the Seacons' ship, Scylla is lost in her dreams of marriage, so much so that she doesn't even hear Sea Phantom mutter about how apparently some men in the world love monsters, a sentiment Terrormander nods along with. Captain Halfshell, however, is ready to help Scylla "experience a woman's true happiness like any normal woman", remarking that she's missed her chance at marriage by a good thousand years. (Also, it's his chance to foist that pain in the aft on someone else.) Thus, he's ready to hold a grand wedding ceremony for his subordinate.
The Maximals are delighted to hear about Bighorn's pending nuptials, with Tasmania Kid already picking out a nice suit for the ceremony. Scuba quietly congratulates himself on a job well done. The news of the wedding has also reached the Predacons, with Thrust and Dirge delivering their spy report like a TV broadcast. Megastorm thinks this is stupid, not interested in a "cow's" wedding, but Galvatron believes this might be their chance to destroy those meddling Maximals...
The ceremony is on, officiated by Coelagon. Scylla, dressed as "Orihime", waits under the Milky Way as her groom-to-be descends in a boat labeled "love"... and when the real Bighorn steps out, she is absolutely baffled. When Bighorn leans in for the kiss, bafflement turns to brutality as she blasts the bison, demanding to know where her true love is. Spotting Scuba in the crowd, she reaches out, ensnaring him in her tentacles and dragging him onstage. Furious, Bighorn transforms to robot mode, yelling at Scuba for stealing his love. Halfshell steps up, believing he knows the problem... both Maximals are in love with Scylla, and must fight for her honor! Scuba naturally wants nothing to do with this and professes his innocence, but his hand -err, tentacle- is forced when an enraged Bighorn rams into him and sends him flying.
Bighorn charges again, but this time Scuba flings a Surumerang, which Bighorn effortlessly blocks with a forearm swipe, only for the blade to explode in a cloud of ink, blinding him. Scuba uses the moment to hit Bighorn with a volley of Scuba Missiles. Staggering, Bighorn moves into the surf to wash the ink from his face... only to realize too late he's stepped right into where Scuba works best. The squid-bot pops up from the surf over and over, seemingly surrounding the bison with ninja-like tricks, nailing him with Dynamite Surumerangs from multiple angles. As Bighorn stumbles, Scuba chides him, saying he'd lost as soon as he'd entered the water... but the bison has his own water-based tricks, as he electrified his horns and slams his skull into the surf, sending the voltage surging through the seawater and flash-frying his teammate. Bighorn apologizes for what he's about to do, but he can't lose this fight, and rushes in for the final blow...
...only to be stopped dead in his tracks as Scylla jumps between them, screaming her hatred of the bison, which sends Bighorn falling to his knees, heartbroken. Halfshell is confused at the interruption, but the scene is interrupted further as Megastorm leads the Predacons in a surprise attack! Apache laments that Lio Convoy isn't around to help, as he's away training and re-focusing following his last battle with Galvatron. The Seacons leap into action, forming God Neptune, but the Predacons focus their fire on the giant, sending him stumbling. But Bighorn has jumped in the way, using his bulk to block any of the shots that might of hit Scylla. As the rest of the combiner topples to the ground, Scylla is stunned by Bighorn's selfless act. Bighorn nods to Scuba, and declares the power of his love, neck extending in his devastating Buffalo Missile attack. Scylla pulls on his tail, adding fuel to his fire, and Scuba augments the blast with a flurry of Dynamite Surumerangs, resulting in an explosion that sends the entire Predacon attack force running for the hills.
After the battle, Scylla confronts Scuba, confirming that he feels nothing for her. She says how she joined the pirate life looking for romance among the stars, and that it was foolish of her to go gaga over a single love letter... and wonders why Scuba did it. He tells her he wasn't really enthused about the idea, but he did it to help his friend Bighorn. Finding the dejected Bighorn in the surf, Scylla timidly approaches, remarking that the differences between them are too great for there to be anything between them... but that she wishes he had been born a squid, and she heads off with her teammates.
Later, back at the base, Tasmania Kid is confused as to why Bighorn is furiously attempting to scan a package of squid jerky.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Seacons |
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Notes
Continuity notes
- Lio Convoy is (conveniently) absent, as he is off on a solo training/refocusing mission following the events of the previous installment, where he grew to humongous size and went just a little bit crazy trying to stop a similarly gigantic Galvatron.
