FicWad

Chapter 1: Silverbolt

He got the call and was proud to leave with Optimus. Another protoform had been discovered, and it was their mission to rescue it before the Predacons corrupted it, as they had the lovely Black Arachnia.

It didn't take them long to get to the unusually large stasis pod. Normally, getting to a stasis pod before the Predacons would have been something to celebrate. This time, Optimus seemed troubled, rather than pleased. There was a protoform present, but its spark appeared to have been extinguished. After hearing the story of the experiment, Silverbolt wasn't sure he disagreed with Optimus's feelings on the matter.

That made the perfect time for Black Arachnia to enter the scene, of course. With missiles flying, she announced, “The Predacons claim that protoform!” He turned to see her and Waspinator, even as her declaration hurt him deep inside. It hurt almost as much as the missile exploding on his chest. He managed to shake it off, but found himself one on one against Black Arachnia.

Fortunately, she was choosing to use her fists against him, rather than her guns. Every move she made was poetry in motion. The punches hurt, of course, but every move was beautiful and graceful. He almost heard the steady stream of irritation from her. “How far will you carry this silly chivalry? This dark damsel is not impressed!” He would take it as far as he had to, of course. He could not strike a female. Especially not her, even if she did insist on knee-striking his jaw.

It was something of a shock to find himself rescued by Tarantulus. He wanted to be grateful, since he didn't enjoy being beat on by Black Arachnia, but the mood was immediately spoiled by Tarantulus putting her in a head lock and getting her to confess that Megatron was a slag sucking saurian. There didn't seem to be much point in extracting such a confession. Fortunately, his head had a chance to clear. Unfortunately, what he heard was, “Foolish spider, let's see if playing my shield will improve your sense of reason!” The villain had to be stopped.

Silverbolt managed to rise and face Tarantulus. “Though threatening your own comrade is no doubt business as usual in the Predacon guide to villainy, it is simply unacceptable behavior in my book.” With that, he pounced, knocking his fair lady free. The resulting explosion wasn't part of the heroic rescue he had envisioned, unfortunately.

It was also something of a mixed blessing to find that he had landed next to Black Arachnia. Granted, she was lovely as ever, but having her draw a gun on him wasn't quite what he wanted to face. He drew his missile/feather to defend himself, but it wasn't clear how best to handle the situation. It appeared that her armor was scuffed. His concern won out against his wariness. “Are you damaged?”

Fortunately, she paused, even better, “Just enough to make me... interesting.” As if she wasn't always the most interesting robot around. If only she would just realize that. Still, it was good to know that no serious harm had befallen her. He had successfully defended her, and the blunder with the explosion had not proven to be a real problem.

However, if they were unharmed, then... “I suspect Tarantulus will still come after you.” He lowered his weapon. They had better things to do than fight each other, like worry about the crazed spider that seemed so intent on torturing her.

Black Arachnia lowered her weapon as well. “I expect you're right.”

Good, now they could focus on the common enemy. “Well, I will not let him harm you.”

“I'm counting on that. Now, why don't you make like a hero and fly me out of here?”

Now that he wasn't focused on a potential fight, he could actually pay attention to the warnings from his subsystems. The one that was screaming at him the most loudly, unfortunately, was from his wing mechanism. A quick test confirmed his fears. “I am unable. My wing mechanism is offline.” A quick glance gave him a plan, though. “We must journey by foot to that peak above the storm, where we can contact our respective bases.”

“Not my first choice, but, lead the way.”

They walked for a while, the natural activities of the dark place revealing, once again, how nature could come in all forms. It was pleasant to walk next to such a lady, even if it was only temporary. The real question was, how could he get her to see her inner nature? She didn't have to be... “I consider myself a creature of darkness, but this place is making even my skin crawl!” ... dark. Why did she have to revel in her artificial Predacon nature?

Suddenly, he saw a familiar purple arm above them. “Tarantulus!”

Black Arachnia looked about in alarm. “Where?”

As he got a better look, he realized there was no danger. It dangled from a tree, detached from his body. “Do not worry, he has been disarmed.”

“To say the least.” They were able to laugh at that. With Tarantulus obviously damaged by the storm, it seemed the danger was now past.

A short distance later they came to a chasm. There was a single log across it, not good footing, from the look of it. Unfortunately, there appeared to be no other route, short of flying, and that simply was not an option at this time. With resignation, he pointed the way. “Across here.” He lead the way, as any gentleman would. With the treacherous footing, and uncertain strength of the log, he could not risk Black Arachnia being hurt should it give way. He would take the risk.

He had not accounted for the potential danger behind him, until he heard her grab her gun. Turning, he saw that his chivalry was about to be betrayed. So this is how she would reward him for protecting her. He understood, she was embracing her dark side, rather than her Maximal nature. Still, he had hoped to have more time to show her what a lovely creature she could be, inside as well as out.

His musings were interrupted when he detected the motion of a large creature behind her. She would be ambushed! “Behind you!”

Her dismissive voice showed how poorly she understood him. “Don't be pathetic.” As if he would dishonor himself with such a petty ruse. Alas, he was forced to watch as the saber-tooth leaped on her from behind. With her gun no longer tracking him, he transformed and charged her attacker. He would defend her! He could not let her treachery cloud his own purpose, to rescue her from herself and those who would harm her.

As he rolled with the beast, he suddenly found himself falling, then clutching a convenient vine. It seemed vines were not really meant for supporting the weight of a robot. Worse, she was once again pointing her gun at him. So this was how it was. She would kill him to preserve her dark nature. “I understand. You are, after all, a Predacon.”

The vine gave way first, saving her the messiness of being responsible for his demise. To his surprise, however, she instead fired a web line at him, and started pulling him back up. As he climbed up the lip of the chasm, he heard a familiar question. “Are yah... damaged?”

He considered the question, and chose to respond in kind with her earlier answer. “Just enough to make me interesting.” Of course, what was really bothering him was her sudden change from trying to kill him, to saving him. Was she finally giving in to her Maximal nature? “Why did you save me?”

“Well, uh, there might be other creatures.” Her answer sounded like the sort of excuse she needed to cover her true feelings. So, her Maximal nature WAS coming out, after all. It was time to pursue this revelation.

“I think you couldn't bring yourself to dishonorably kill a helpless opponent!”

“Now you're being crazy.” The tone of disgust came a little too quick, to his ear.

“Lest you forget, you were, originally, a Maximal protoform.”

With a note of rising defensiveness, she responded, “Don't even go there.”

He pressed the advantage that was obviously his, “But, saving me was indicative of your more noble heritage, so obviously...”

“I said drop it”

“Just admit there is a spark of goodness deep inside you, and then...” He was interrupted by the need to seek cover as her eight machine guns opened fire on him.

“Shall I elaborate?”

He considered for a moment. It seemed that he had pushed her too far. “Perhaps not.”

They traveled for a while in uneasy silence. Had he misread her motives? Her excuse made no sense, and she seemed too defensive about her actions. His musings were interrupted by the discovery of more pieces of Tarantulus.

“He's gone into stasis lock, that explosion didn't do this.”

He quickly realized who must have dismembered the helpless Predacon. “No, this is the work of...”

“Of what?” There was a note of panic in her voice.

“...Protoform X.”

“What? I thought it, it extinguished?” There was now confusion in her voice.

“Apparently, it did not. And apparently, it may never.” He realized they would have to be on their guard. They could collect the pieces of Tarantulus and... His thought was interrupted as he saw Black Arachnia turn and start walking away. He quickly caught up with her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You're leaving him behind?”

“I want out of here, now!” She shrugged his hand off and kept moving. Silverbolt found himself following her with a twinge of regret. He didn't like leaving someone behind, helpless and injured, but his first priority was to protect his dark lady from a true monster.

Suddenly, the monster was before them, towering far taller than either of them. They backed away carefully, while X advanced, making incoherent noises. Silverbolt moved to provide Black Arachnia with cover, but he was casually knocked aside.

Stunned, he heard machine gun fire interrupted by an explosion. He forced himself to rise, and threw a missile at X by reflex, only to have it blasted out of the air. Before he knew it, X had transformed into a giant crab, and was crushing him in a claw.

“Is that fear, you're feeling, Maximal?” He knew fear. He was thinking of Black Arachnia torn to pieces as Tarantulus was. “Mmm yes, my spark, it feeds on terror.” The sound of the pure evil in that voice was worse than anything he'd imagined from Optimus's descriptions. He would delight in tormenting Black Arachnia. “Let it grow, let it consume your circuitry.” Something about the malice, and his helplessness to stop the maniac sent his circuitry into the very loop he knew he had to avoid. He should be thinking of how to escape, even as the claw squeezed tighter. “Feel it, yes, feel it, feel the fear!” The combination of helplessness and need to protect Black Arachnia and pain overwhelmed him. He screamed.

He heard a cry from Black Arachnia, “Silverbolt!” She cared about him, but it was Optimus and Cheetor who freed him from the evil one.

He heard a barrage of fire while he attempted to get his bearings. It was followed by the rumbling of treads and Black Arachnia's cry of, “It's unstoppable!”

The malevolent voice saying, “Your persistence is futile, I rise again!” was what drove him to his feet. He saw the tank/crab advancing up the cliff.

“In that case, let us give you further to fall!” He saw the vulnerable tread and threw a missile at it, causing the fragile tread to dislodge and send the monster to the bottom of the cliff. To his alarm, a final missile knocked Black Arachnia backwards off the other cliff behind them.

There was no thought. He had to save her. It was a reflex that brooked no discussion, no consideration, no thought. He was in the air diving after her falling body. At that point, he became aware of a minor, technical glitch. His wing hadn't fully recovered. He tried to force the mechanism. “Come on wing, work.” It wasn't working, and now they were both in trouble. He applied more force to the mechanism, trying to unjam it. “Work, blast you!” He applied more force. “WORK!” Finally, he was rewarded with the mechanism unseizing, and the ability to both catch the bot he realized he loved, and land safely.

As he placed her on the ground, he was rewarded to hear, “Not too shabby, but don't expect any gushing gratitude.”

He could accept that. With a smile, he responded, “I do not. You are, after all, a Predacon.”

His smile was ruined when she ran off into the forest. He was restrained from following her by Optimus's hand on his shoulder. “Silverbolt, let her go.”

It took everything in him to allow her to move on. He tuned out Cheetor and Optimus as he gazed after where she had disappeared from view. “Ah, you're much MORE than a Predacon, my lady. Some day, you'll come to realize that.” His spark was now bonded to hers.