FicWad

Chapter 2: Black Arachnia

Black Arachnia sat in the command center, eavesdropping on the Maximal transmissions. So, there was a giant protoform just waiting to join the Predacons. She would be happy to help warp another Maximal to appreciate the value of aggression.

“Blackarachnia! Waspinator! Prepare for a recruitment drive. Whatever this protoform is, I want it flying the flag of the Predacons.” Of course, she would be forced to work with the most useless idiot available. At least he could transport her faster.

“Always eager to welcome a new comrade in arms.” Maybe it would be able to replace Waspinator in their ranks. To her annoyance, she felt Megatron place a bug in the middle of her back. So, he didn't trust her, and hoped to learn her secret. Fine, she would make sure he had interesting conversations to listen to.

The problem with traveling by wasp was simple: he was slow, even though he was faster than traveling by ground. Optimus and Silverbolt had already joined the young kitten. She was forced to start firing missiles early in an effort to disable one of them before they realized they were under attack. Unfortunately, Waspinator was not a stable platform to fire from. She missed, and was forced to engage an aware enemy. “The Predacons claim that Protoform!”

To her disgust, Waspinator proved himself worthy of her low opinion of him, by getting knocked out of action almost immediately. She almost had everything handled, when that obnoxious Fuzor, Silverbolt, rose before her. Rather than fight her, however, he seemed overcome with indecision. “Come on, fight back!” Fine, she hit him. The coward backed off, rather than fighting. “How far will you carry this silly chivalry?” She hit him again, but was irritated by his refusal to fight back. “This dark damsel is not impressed!” She kneed his jaw, knocking him to the ground. It was time to finish this nonsense.

Instead, she found herself tackled and held by Tarantulus. “You? What are you doing here?”

“You've got information I want.”

Oh, so he thought she'd just blab the information on the disk? While Megatron was spying on her? Not likely! “Fine, Tarantulus, here's the scoop: Megatron is a slag sucking saurian, got it?” She wished she could see Megatron's expression.

“Foolish spider, let's see if playing my shield will improve your sense of reason.” Great, he was going to try to torture the information out of her.

Then, she heard something even more annoying, “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.” Not him, not like this. That idiot puppy was going to rescue her.

Of course, in the process of beating on Tarantulus, he set off the exposed energon crystals, throwing all of them into the air.

She landed, circuits attempting to come back online after the energon shockwaves. Immediately, she became aware of the pup in front of her and drew her missile launcher. To her dismay, he drew as well. Unlike before, this time he seemed prepared to defend himself. Her damage sensors were trying to get her attention as she reviewed the situation. To her surprise, he chose to speak. “Are you damaged?”

He lowered his weapon, giving her the chance to review the feeds from her sensors. Her external plates had been damaged, there was minor damage to internal circuits, but overall, there was nothing a little time in the CR chamber wouldn't fix. She decided to take advantage of his interest in her. “Just enough to make... interesting.”

“I suspect Tarantulus will still come after you.”

Now that was an unpleasant thought. “I expect you're right.”

“Well, I will not let him harm you.”

Despite herself, that was actually comforting. Tarantulus would be happy to slowly dismember her, circuit by circuit for the information she had. “I'm counting on that. Now, why don't you make like a hero and fly me out of here?” It would be better than being carried by Waspinator.

He attempted to flex his right wing, but it didn't seem to have a full range of motion. “I am unable. My wing mechanism is offline. We must journey by foot to that peak above the storm, where we can contact our respective bases.”

Great. A flier who couldn't fly, and being hunted by Tarantulus. What else could go wrong? “Not my first choice, but, lead the way.”

As they trudged along, the atmosphere of the area got to her. “I consider myself a creature of darkness, but this place is even making my skin crawl!” It was not her idea of a fun place, and she kept expecting Tarantulus to attack, again.

“Tarantulus!”

She whirled about, trying to find the point of attack. “Where?”

He pointed calmly, “Do not worry, he has been disarmed.”

She looked, seeing the detached arm. “To say the least.” As relief swept over her, she found herself laughing with the pup at the bad pun.

As they continued their trek, she started reviewing the situation. Silverbolt was a competent warrior, who might not suffer the pummeling she had given him earlier. At the same time, with Tarantulus severely injured, his chivalry was just an annoyance. Megatron could easily rescue her at a moment's notice, but wouldn't admit he'd been listening in. Overall, the pup was just slowing her down, now.

When they came to the chasm, she saw her chance. The fool never seemed to pay attention to her array of tools. A chasm wasn't a problem for her, just him. That he thought crossing a log was a necessity showed how little he respected her. She drew her weapon. Time to lose a little dead weight.

He spun as he heard her draw. She was surprised to feel a tug in her spark when she saw the look of disappointment on his face. There was a part of her that suddenly didn't want to fire, and then he had to open his lame mouth.

“Behind you!”

Off all the stupid tricks, he had to sully his great “chivalry” with that one? “Don't be pathetic.” Her resolve became firm, until she heard the growl behind her. Turning, she saw a tiger in mid-pounce, which pinned her to the ground.

Suddenly, the weight of the predator was off her and the dog was rolling with the cat... right off the edge of the chasm. He hadn't been lying! She ran to the edge, expecting to see nothing, but instead saw Silverbolt hanging from a vine that was slowly giving way.

While she was threatening to kill him, his only concern had been to protect her. He risked his life to protect her immediately after she had been about to kill him. She drew her gun. “I understand. You are, after all, a Predacon.” Even now, he would not accuse her. The vine broke. In a split decision, she sent the signal to her gun as she fired, sending a web line after him, catching him.

Silverbolt was annoyingly heavy. Dragging him up was hard work. Why couldn't his wings be in working order? As she got him to the ledge, she felt obliged to ask, “Are yah damaged?”

“Just enough to make me... interesting.” It was kind of cute, but then he had to follow up with the obvious question, “Why did you save me?”

Because she loved him. She couldn't say that. Something reasonable. “Well, uh, there might be other creatures.” It sounded lame. This wasn't going to go well.

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

No, this wasn't going to go well at all. “Now you're being crazy.”

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

Was he trying to piss her off? She had saved him. That was enough. She was a Predacon. “Don't even go there.”

“But, saving me was indicative of your more noble heritage, so obviously...”

He was pissing her off, “I said drop it!”

“Just admit there is a spark of goodness deep inside you, and then...”

She saw red, spinning and firing a short burst. She was gratified to see him peek at her from behind a rock. Much better. He needed to know his place. “Shall I elaborate?”

“Perhaps not.” About time. She felt much better.

Shortly after that, they found the rest of Tarantulus. He was in pieces. “He's gone into stasis lock, that explosion didn't do this.”

“No, this is the work of...”

His somber tone captured her attention, her spark pulsing in sudden anxiety, “Of what?”

“...Protoform X.”

“What, I thought it, it extinguished?”

“Apparently, it did not. And apparently, it may never.”

Well, that made her decision for her. Time to leave. She felt Silverbolt's hand on her shoulder.

“You're, you're leaving him behind?”

Well, duh! Of course she was going to leave the crazy spider behind! “I want out of here. Now!” Fortunately, she didn't have to beat the pup up to get moving again.

As they rounded an outcropping, they discovered the giant robot, very much alive. Despite herself, she screamed. This monster looked completely irrational. She retreated, and was gratified to see Silverbolt's chivalry kick in again, as he moved to protect her.

X's arm put an end to that. She fired, knowing she had to stop the advance, but was horrified to see him laugh off her assault before he fired a missile at her, stunning her as she landed amongst rocks.

Her circuits worked to reroute, but it was Silverbolt's cry that drove her to her feet again. “Silverbolt!” She felt an involuntary jolt of relief as Primal and the pussy cat swooped to his rescue. She lent her firepower against the common enemy, driving the massive bot off the cliff.

She felt a momentary sense of relief, which turned to horror as he transformed into a tank and started advancing while firing missiles. “It's unstoppable!”

For the first time, she clearly heard his malicious voice, “Your persistence is futile, I rise again!”

Silverbolt came to join them. “In that case, let us give you further to fall!” She felt a rush of relief, followed by the impact of a missile knocking her backwards off the other side of the peak.

She started calculating the best place to snag a web line, when she saw Silverbolt dive off the cliff after her. Now she had to figure out how to catch him, as well. To her surprise, he managed to get his bum wing to work, catching her instead.

She decided he deserved a reward, “Not too shabby, but don't expect any gushing gratitude.”

“I do not. You are, after all, a Predacon.”

She smiled to herself as she dashed out of sight. As soon as he lost sight of her, she turned to spy on his reaction. He wanted to pursue her. It was kind of sweet. She had to smile as he lingered, “Ah, you're much MORE than a Predacon, my lady. Some day, you'll come to realize that.”

She sighed in pleasure, a warm glow filling her spark. She just wished he would recognize her competence. “Like I needed him to catch me, anyway.” She used a web line to start making her way to base.