Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, Viz Media, and Shonen Jump.
Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro.

RxR- Read & Review please.

Chapter: Predator and Prey

-Unknown location, middle of dense forest-

"I really hate bugs."

Somewhere in a deep forest, Jack smacked himself in the neck. Since arriving in the forest, Jack found himself a primary target of several insects. Flies, gnats, and quite the number of mosquitoes. All types of bugs were irritating the boy, treating him like he was a five course meal or something.

Arcee didn't have an issue of course, being made of metal and all. Luckily, this allowed her to focus on the mission at hand.

A mission being the very reason the duo were out in the middle of a forest to begin with, and it was a bit of a special occasion.

It was a last minute deal, nor was it a sudden emergency that simply required someone of Jack's statue to assist the bots in. This was Jack's first official mission. A simple scouting mission, investigating some of Ratchet's sensors which had detected an Energon spike. Not much admittedly, but the bots were okay with it for once. For the first time since he and the others had been introduced to bots, Jack had finally been cleared to go on a real mission.

A mission that may lead to others in the future...at least, ones that might not get him killed. Jack would be happy with that.

Still, Jack wasn't alone on such a mission. He had been given the mission alongside Arcee, who smirked at the boy while she scanned the area, "Quite the outdoors-men, aren't you Jack?"

The teen raised a brow at the femme, jokingly smirking at her, "You're not making fun of my survival kit, are you?"

Arcee smiled, "Maybe."

"I may not have metal skin Arcee, but in a pinch I could use my Swiss Army knife and magnesium fire Started to cook up a quick meal." Jack chuckled confidently.

Along with such skills, Jack didn't dare mention the other 'unique' traits he possessed. The power to somehow exhale fire from his mouth, see things in ways others could not, and knock MECH agents out with a single kick to the head? None of them seemed particularly normal for a human and Jack didn't even understand them himself. So why would he bother Arcee with the knowledge either?

For the time, Jack felt as if he should keep the news to himself. Especially the fire he had somehow conjured. If there was anything he didn't understand, the fire made the least amount of sense to him. Whatever it was, it was wild, uncontrollable...and unnerving to the teen.

The flames were fire after all, and Jack did not want burn himself on them, physically or mentally.

Arcee smiled and gestured toward the she held, "You have your tools, and I have mine."

Chuckling to himself, Jack continued to follow Arcee as they walked through the forest. Their mission wasn't complicated. A scouting mission for any Energon deposits the bots could find. The Decepticons weren't the only ones who searched for the material after all, and the bots needed it just as much as they did.

As the duo walked though, Arcee's scanner suddenly began beeping. It was sudden, and quite loud, earning the attention of both parties. But when Arcee glanced at the device, a bit of confusion appeared on her face.

"Thats...odd," she muttered, "Ratchet's satellite readings were accurate, but subterranean Energon deposits don't cause this kind of surges..."

Jack raised a brow, not quite sure what to say. He wasn't a tech expert, so there wasn't much that he actually could. So instead, he and Arcee merely continued onward. The forest was thick, with several hills, gaps and various other obstacles to deal with. Mosquitoes were still the most irritating to deal with however, and they made Jack wished he brought something to handle them with.

The forest seemed never ending, with Jack's irritation growing a tad bit more intense as time passed. As the pair pushed closer to their target though, Jack began to notice something. The farther the duo trekked into the forest, the more the trees changed.

Space between them began to increase, the bark grew darker, and even the heights of the tress grew smaller. Some were missing their entire tops as well, the entire trunk having been torn right in half somewhere near the top.

Continuing on despite such discoveries, Arcee came to a sudden stop when her scanner began beeping once again. Jack slowly caught up to the femme, watching curiously as she examined her scanner. But, both of them froze when they saw the source of the disturbance.

A short distance away from the pair sat a massive crater, the earth itself having been torn open like a massive wound. The grass of the forest had been reduced to dust, ash spread across the field like a light snow. Several tree stumps blanketed the outer recesses of the crater, charred beyond recovery. And at the center of the destruction, sat a dark, colossal construct, darker than any of the charred land that surrounded it.

"What happened..." Jack wondered, shocked at the destruction.

Arcee was not as shocked. Instead, the femme narrowed her optics at the broken landscape. She gazed over everything, eventually settling on the very center of the crater, the blackened shape sitting at its core. For some reason, it made her feel uneasy. Like a dark, sickening chill swirling throughout her frame.

"Crash landing..." she muttered.

The question was, what had done it?

"Stay behind me, low and close." Arcee ordered, beginning her trek towards the crater. Jack followed, doing his best to keep up.

Their trek was short lived, but for the pair, it felt like a mile. Arcee constantly kept on guard, glancing at everything she passed. Jack too was on guard, even shifting his eyes just in case. Like his partner, Jack felt...uneasy about something, unsure of what it really was.

Arcee and Jack finally came to a stop near the edge of the crater, ducking behind the remains of a nearby tree. From there, the duo got a good look at the construct. Much to their uneasiness, the construct wasn't a meteor or even a broken ship. Instead, buried deep into the ground at the very center of the crater was a ship, fully intact.

Its hull was scratched, dinged, and charred from the reentry, but it was still in one piece.

Glancing up at the ravaged ship, Jack bit his lip. From its design, Jack could guess that it was Cybertronian. But aside from that, which faction it belonged to was impossible to tell for the boy, any symbols or classifications having been burned from its hull due to the reentry.

"Is it Autobot, or Decepticon?"

Arcee frowned, "Can't tell."

With no more need for the device, Arcee put her scanner away and deployed one of her blasters, "Wait here."

Her weapon in hand, Arcee stood up and carefully approached the vessel. Jack wanted to go along, the unsettling feeling beating quite a hole in his chest. However, due to the uncertainly that came with the ship, Jack remained behind. Even his eyes couldn't pear into the darkened ship, its insides just as black as its hull.

So with nothing he could do for the moment, Jack let out a sigh and watched as Arcee continued onward.

The femme slowly approached the ship, her optics going over every little detail of the vessel, watching for any movement or anything of the like. It was an unknown element after all, who knows what could be inside it? Once nothing appeared however, Arcee made her way towards the ship's entrance.

It was a massive, blackened doorway, a ramp leading down from it. It was like a looming, dark portal in some ways, making Arcee unsettled by just looking at it.

Now there though, Arcee snapped to attention and spun around to face the ship's entrance. Her blaster was always at ready, Arcee waited and watched for even the slightest of movements. Autobot, Decepticon, or anything else, Arcee wanted to see the color of their optics before doing anything. But yet again, nothing appeared, not even the slightest twitch. The entrance remained silent, not even a flicker of life within it.

And with none, Arcee's decision to wait outside of the ship was rendered void. With a sigh, the femme slowly made her way inside, careful for anything that could be waiting for her within.

Jack clenched his teeth as the femme vanished, her form completely eclipsed by the vessel. The minutes passed by slowly, like a painful crawl. Jack could barely even think, the worrying feeling in his gut growing even worse as the seconds passed by. With no way to contact the femme, Jack was alone in the dark, unable to do a thing but watch.

'Arcee...'

Seconds and minutes. Both passed by like a hellish standoff. Not a single thing emerged from the vessel's entrance. In fact, the silence only ended minutes later when a sudden crash sounded in the distance. Such as noise instantly caught Jack's attention, causing him to glance upward at the ship's entrance.

There, Jack saw Arcee, standing just off the side of the ship's hull. But once glance at her instantly told Jack that something was wrong. She looked injured, some Energon staining her frame. And her face? It looked...unsettled, not suitable for someone like Arcee.

Not waiting anymore, Jack shot up from his cover and ran over to the femme, "Arcee?!"

Even as Jack through, calling her name, Arcee continued to stare at the ship. Her optics grew wide and her frame was cold...

The things she saw in that ship...the monstrosities, the revolting images. All of them reminded the femme of one certain person, and a certain event...

A dark, shadow filled room.

Three mechs, one pinned down, unable to move. Another standing up, looming over the third with a horrific gleam in her eyes. And the third, on his knees, optics disoriented.

Eight legs, thin and black as the darkest pit of space.

A slash, a clawed servo slashing through the air. Metal cutting metal, Energon splashing through the air...

A scream...

Snapping out of her memory, Arcee held her helm. There was only one Cybertronian she knew that was sick enough to do such things, and to even keep them in her ship. But if she owned the vessel, then there was no time. The ship hadn't just landed, it had been sitting there for quite some time. And if that was the case, then-

"Arcee!?" a sudden voice called out, catching the femme's attention, "Whats wrong!?"

"I...I know who owns this ship." Arcee muttered, a solemn expression appearing on her face.

Jack blinked confused for a second. What happened inside the ship? What did she see to come to that conclusion? And why did she sound so unnerved? None of it made sense to Jack, and his confusion was made only worse as the time passed by.

Arcee didn't wait for him to question it though. Instead, the Autobot stood up and activated her comms, "Arcee to base, I need a Ground Bridge ASAP."

For seconds there was no reply, only static. A painful, empty static blurring into Arcee's audio receptors.

"Whoa, wait. Arcee, whats wrong?" Jack asked, "Whose ship is this!?"

Again, Jack was ignored. Instead, Arcee tried to contact the base again, sounding more frantic this time, "Arcee to base, do you read!?"

Once more, Arcee heard nothing but static. She didn't even get a jumbled, gargled out, mess of a reply. There was nothing, not even the slightest traces of a reply from base. Whats worse though, was the fact that Arcee knew what the issue was. It was something she had seen more than once before.

"Scrap!" she cursed, "Comm Link's down. Ship must be transmitting a hyper-com sequence scrambling pulse."

Standing up, Arcee walked off and began to make her way back out of the crater. Jack blinked and quickly followed after her, even more confused than before, "Arcee!? Hold on, you're kind of freaking me out here! Seriously!"

Yet again, Jack's questions fell upon deaf ears. Arcee made across the crater before Jack could even catch up, her careful pace from earlier reduced to a stiff and unsettled jog. She stopped directly at the edge of the forest and looked around, as if looking for something.

"Wait here." she ordered Jack, her tone leaving no room for objections.

Jack stopped in his tracks, intentionally surprised by the femme's tone. He had never seen her act in such a way before. Whatever was wrong...well, something was seriously wrong. Jack could tell if it was getting Arcee THIS off her game.

Despite such worry, Arcee made her way into the forest, leaving Jack by the ship.

Inside the forest once more, Arcee carefully walked on with her optics sharpened. Waiting, watching carefully in case something appeared out of the darkness. Nothing appeared though, nothing but several signs scattered amongst the forest. Slashes in the trees, much deeper than what something from Earth could have done.

There were tracks too, numerous ones leading up the trail. They were small, tiny even.

In fact, they looked like something a creature with more than two legs would make...

Metal, a dark encrusted room. Chains rattling in the background, a small amount of light peaking in from above. Her arms bound, held in place by thick restraints, unable to wrestle herself free from the bindings.

Light footsteps approached, her attention snapping upward.

A figure, bathed in darkness appeared. Two sickeningly purple optics cut through the blackness, glaring directly at her.

The sound of a blade rising up, the light bouncing off a single steely claw. A talon connected to a servo, rising up towards her face.

She tried to pull away, to put distance between the two of them. The talon inched closer, touching right underneath her left optic.

Metal tearing against metal.

A terrified scream, ringing out through the chamber...

The world returned to Arcee in the flash of a second. She felt herself vent, her optics flickering in distress.

Everything looked the same, felt the same. And if it was her, the same femme...

"Arcee?"

Optics widening, Arcee looked to her side and saw Jack. The boy was standing just off to her side, staring up at her worryingly. God knows how long he had been standing there, watching her freak out like she had been. But the feeling of worry wasn't just limited to Jack.

Arcee didn't even bother replying to Jack. Instead, she transformed right on the spot, collapsing into her vehicle form right next to the teen, "Climb on."

Hesitating for a brief second, Jack did as the femme told and climbed aboard. Such didn't stop him from glancing confusingly at Arcee. If anything, he was even more confused now than he had been minutes prior. She seemed tense, nervous, and even a bit afraid, a concept Jack didn't even think Arcee was capable of.

With Jack secured, Arcee imminently shot forward and flew into the forest. The suddenness of the departure earned a small yelp from Jack as the speed at which Arcee was going seemed quite overboard. She sped past tree after tree, moving like a blue blur through the forest, all while Jack just barely held on. The two were going so uncomfortably fast that Jack nearly felt his grip loosen several times, all of which seemed to go by unnoticed by Arcee.

Eventually though, the duo finally came to a stop after Arcee leaped high into the air after clearing a nearby hill. The action alone nearly gave Jack a heart attack, but he manged to calm down once they landed...for the most part.

"Ow..." Jack muttered, his whole body shaking, "Was that...really necessary?"

With Jack dismounting the bike (wobbling the entire time), Arcee rolled forward and activated her communicator once again, "Arcee to base, do you read me!?"

Seconds passed, but no reply came. Only static once again, "Scrap!"

Letting out a frustrated growl, Arcee deactivated her comms. and started forward once again. Before she got too far though, Jack approached the femme and tried to catch her attention, "Arcee, look. I get it, somethings happening. I've seen danger bef-"

"Wait here." Arcee snapped, cutting Jack off before he even finished, "I mean it this time."

Jack let out an irritated sigh. He was frustrated, irritated, and concerned. Concerned with the femme, what was in that ship, and what to mean to her. All of it was overwhelming and even Jack had his limits, "Okay, what is going on!? First you leave me in the dark, and now you're ditching me?"

At such a question, Arcee transformed and stared down at Jack, "I thought I was your partner?"

"No, you're a kid," Arcee growled, sounding just as frustrated as Jack, "You're only here because this was meant to be a no-risk scenario, got it?"

The children had only been involved previously when the situation left them with no other choice. Like with the 'Scrapyard', Jack was chosen due to the limited options the bots had at the time. Now though, nothing was meant to go wrong. The Mosquitoes were meant to be the worst things got, thats all. If any of the bots, especially Arcee had known what was there, what really triggered Ratchet's sensors then none of them would have allowed Jack to come.

Instead, Jack's presence was only a liability now.

A liability Arcee did not need, not now.

Her case made as clear as possible, Arcee transformed and shot off back towards the ship. As she disappeared though, Jack could feel his jaw clench as he watched. The whole situation felt bad, real bad. But even with that, the teen couldn't believe her words, just how easily Arcee had tossed him aside. She was treating him like some little kid, an annoyance who should have been seen not heard.

And frankly? That pissed Jack off for some reason. He could even feel his eyes burn as he glared in the direction she took off in.

"Okay," he growled, "If thats how you want to do it. Fine."

With Jack silently marching off after Arcee, the femme in question continued to fly through the forest. Her processor was encompassed in a swirling twister of emotions. From the most anger inducing thoughts to the worst of her fears, they were all there. Arcee could barely keep her attention on the forest as they flowed forth, assaulting her mind in every passing second.

It took most of her self-control to push those thoughts to the side, to keep herself on task. If THAT femme was there, then letting herself be compromised was the LAST thing Arcee could afford at the moment. She had to steel herself, push emotions out of the picture, and make certain she as on task.

Those goals burned themselves into Arcee's processor as she drove, making her way back the way she came. If she was dealing with who she thought she was, then Arcee had to start back where she first saw the tracks, the markings of her longtime foe.

Once arriving, Arcee transformed and landed treads first, her blasters instantly activating. She snapped around, surveying the entire area as she walked about. Her optics swirled in every direction, making sure she didn't miss even a branch falling. If she was certain who had arrived on that ship, then she knew how careful she had to be.

So when the femme heard the distinct sound of something...burning, Arcee attention was instantly drawn. But what she saw stopped the bot dead flat.

Just a short distance away was a tree, practically melting due to a strange...green fluid. A fluid, Arcee had seen before.

On a day a long time ago...

"Arcee to Delta Team, Requesting Rendezvous coordinates. Do you copy?"

Running as she talked, Arcee dodged blaster fire left and right. The entire street was encompassed in battle, chaos raining through the ruins without end. At one point, the area might have been alive, filled with bots simply living. But now, simply being there meant for a fight for survival.

"Arcee, you lost again?" a chuckling voice answered, "You're sense of direction could use some improvement."

Another blast just barely missed the femme's helm, "So could you're aim Tailgate."

"If you took care of that sniper back at that artillery deport, we wouldn't have had to break rank and take care of these Cons hand to hand, now would we?"

After blasting one of her pursuers square in the helm, Arcee made her wait into an apparently abandoned plaza. Silence began to pass as she stopped, no sign of her allies or any other contacts appearing within the structure.

"And from the sound of things, I guess you came out ahead of things?" Tailgate asked, sounding a tad bit worried.

Arcee continued to examine the area, her blaster still raised, "Try waiting for me this time, and I'll be sure to give you the blow by blow."

"Whats you're position?"

Even while unable to actually see him, Arcee was sure her partner was smirking, "About half a click from the deport due north. You think you can find that, partner?"

"Trust me Tailgate," Arcee chuckled, finally lowering her blaster, "My navigation skills are-"

Cut off before she could speak another word, a strange gooey substance slammed into Arcee and propelled her across the plaza. She crashed into a wall, pinned by the substance, unable to move or resist. But she tried, the tough femme that she was. Even as she did though, Arcee looked forward and saw someone approach her.

It was another femme, slim with black and purple armor covering her frame. Through the darkness, Arcee saw the femme smile before another wad of the sticky material was shot, slamming directly into Arcee's helm. It knocked her out cold, turning everything to darkness.

But as Arcee awoke later, bound in stasis cuffs, she glanced up when a sadistically cool voice pierced the darkness.

"Piece of advice, make yourself comfortable..." the femme smirked, raising a talon right up to Arcee's cheek. She dragged the bladed digit right under the bot's face, leaving a painful scar just under Arcee's optic.

"You're going to be here for a while..."

Servos tightening, Arcee stopped near a nearby tree and leaned against it. Her fingers dug into the wooden surface, cracking and tearing apart the bark like glass.

The memories. Those damn memories were starting to be too much. The pain, shock, and suffering that continued to replay themselves in her mind. That day was one of the darkest in the femme's long life, and even thinking about them was making her shake like a leaf.

Steeling herself though, Arcee raised her blaster and continued onward. If that glitch was there, if that ship had belonged to her, then Arcee couldn't let her get away. Not this time. Things had gone on far enough, and if she was allowed to roam free on Earth? Then there was no telling what could happen, especially if her ship was anything to go by.

So with her pace never faltering, Arcee continued to march through the forest, ever watching. Eventually though, Arcee stumbled upon a nearby hill and briefly hid herself behind a nearby tree. Her blaster still in hand, the femme glanced around the tree trunk and spotted two things immediately.

The first was a small campsite with a tent, a few chairs, and a campfire. All of it was small with only a few humans occupying it. But just to the side, in the distance, Arcee saw a tall figure running across the ground. Armor as black as night and sharp to even look at, the femme had a strange similarity to Arcee, aside from the several legs sprouting from her back.

She moved fast, scurrying around the ground like a spider with a speed that was almost silent. So silent in fact that the campsite had no idea of what was approaching, with claws sharp and ready for the kill.

Her optics widening, Arcee jumped out from behind the tree and leaped toward her foe. The duo met in the air, Arcee intercepting the femme before she could even touch the ground again. The force of their meeting sent the duo flying, crashing into the ground and rolling even further down the hill.

The trip down the hill was a rough one. Both femmes struggled against each other, clawing and punching as they rolled. The grass and dirt beneath the pair was crushed, torn up, and thrown into the air as well, their metal frames easily roughing up the landscape.

Arcee sneered and cursed at the femme in her arms, furiously punching and slugging at the figure. Her blasters were useless at such a short range, but her attempts to tear the femme's helm off were no less vicious. Simply being so close to the femme made her Energon boil! It was sickening.

Eventually, both Arcee and her foe's stumbling came to an end when they reached the bottom of the hill. The flatness of the ground stopped the two flat and sent both bots flying, with Arcee crashing into a nearby cliff-face while her foe slid across the muddy ground. But as the Autobot struggled to stand, her blackened foe stood up with six legs sprouting from her back.

"Arcee..." she smiled, a sickening delight staining her tone, "Small Universe..."

Glancing upward, Arcee sneered.

"Too small...Airachnid."

The femme chuckled, her tone seductive and sickening, vicious and soothing. It was like someone was trying to make the act of being tortured sound pleasant, and it made Arcee's frame shiver in disgust.

"Still holding a grudge?" Ariachnid mused, "Arcee, the wars been over for mega-cycles now."

Arcee growled with tightened servos, "Tell that to the Decepticons."

Watching as the Autobot snapped into a fighting position, Airachnid chuckled, "Really? Well, these days I travel solo. Best way to enjoy my new hobby."

Memories flashed inside of Arcee's mind. The images of what she saw on Airachnid's ship flashed passed her optics. Horrific, terrible, and gruesome sights. Creatures of various sizes and shapes, each of them preserved in a nice little case. Many weren't in the best of condition...and every single one of them were dead. Horribly, horribly dead.

"I got a look at your souvenir case." she sneered.

Arachnid chuckled, sounding almost proud, "You mean my trophies? Endangered species, each and everyone of them."

"Of course, they aren't endangered until they've met me, but still." she chuckled darkly, "And I've got one special one reserved for humanity."

Arcee scowled, "Not going to happen!"

Not about to waste her time on anymore words, Arcee charged Airachnid with a furious sneer. Her fist was pulled back, ready to pound the smile right off Airachnid's face.

In response, Airachnid lifted all but two of her legs into the air and stabbed forward. The thin, multi-jointed limbs cut through the air like butter, aiming to tear right through Arcee's joints as she ran. But, just at the last second, Arcee turned to her side and wrapped one of her arms around the femme's limbs. It was sudden and easily caught Airachnid off guard, allowing Arcee to pull her forward with her own legs.

Then, with one final pull, Arcee pulled Airachnid right off her last legs and threw her across the ground, slamming her into a the same cliff-face as before.

The impact twisted and fractured the femme's frame, sending Airachnid's processor for a loop. She quickly recovered, struggling to stand up once more. As she did so, Arcee reactivated her blasters and fired, blue streaks of energy sailing through the air. Despite the suddenness of the attack though, Airachnid easily manged to leap up into the trees and avoided the blasts. Now high above her foe, Airachnid shot a long trail of webbing at Arcee, striking the femme's blasters dead on.

The webbing not only tied up Arcee's blasters, but it also connected the pair, like a pair of chains. And like chains, Arcee and Airachnid tried to tug the other towards themselves, using the webbing like a thick rope. Airachnid pulled form above, in the trees while Arcee pulled back from the ground. Each femme put all their strength into it, attempting to overpower the other.

It was like a game of 'Tug-of-war' at first, with neither side giving in. But eventually, Arcee manged to get a foothold with her stance on the ground and brought Ariachnid down from her perch. The Spider stumbled and fell from the trees, the wooden frames unable to hold her anymore. She smashed face first into the earth, grass staining her helm.

Airachnid now dazed, Arcee focused on freeing herself from the strange webbing. For a time, her attempts proved fruitless due to the strength material. It was like solid cement, unable to be pulled apart. But as her for began to recover just a few yards away, an idea struck Arcee.

'Yeah, that'll work.' Arcee decided.

Glancing downward, Arcee pulled one of her legs up and gently pushed the webbing into her knee. It was sharp, more than enough to pierce a Vehicon's hide. And, it was more than enough to cut through the webbing.

Which it did.

Tearing the material from her servos, Arcee smirked to herself and fired on Airachnid again. The femme was still on the ground and partly out of it, earning Arcee more than a few hits. But once those registered, Airachnid snapped to attention and returned fire, using blasters hidden in her own hands.

A firefight between the two femmes quickly broke out, utterly tearing apart the environment. Trees were burned, grass was charred, and the femmes themselves were more than a bit scuffed up by the end of it.

Eventually though, the battle of blasters finally came to an end when one of Arcee's blasts struck just inches from Airachnid's face. She wasn't harmed, but the second of hesitation allowed for Arcee to charge the femme once more, utterly shortening the distance between them.

Airachnid quickly recovered from the distraction and attacked Arcee again with her blasters. To dodge this, Arcee used the trees themselves to avoid her foe, leaping from tree branch to tree branch as she approached. Once near enough, the Autobot used yet another branch and spun herself around it, gaining quite an amount of momentum before launching herself at Airachnid.

This speed combined with a well placed kick easily knocked the spider on her behind, allowing Arcee to leap atop the fallen bot and point her blasters directly into Airachnid's face.

Silence quickly encompassed the battlefield. Arcee could feel the tension in her blasters. She was so close, just seconds away from ending this stain on the universe. Airachnid too just glared up at Arcee, a hiss escaping what seemed to be the last moments of her retched existence. But before either of the two femmes could react, a sudden sound of stumbling rocks caught both their attention.

Just to the side, Arcee gasped when she saw a familiar looking figure sliding down a nearby hill.

It was Jack. How he had followed the femme in such a short time was baffling, even with how tired he looked. The mere sight of him though filled Arcee with dread. The dread of what could happen now that both he and Airachnid were so close together. It made terrible, horrific ideas flood her mind, chilling her to her spark.

Such thoughts weren't the only thing Jack's appearance brought however. By merely seeing the boy, a sadistically gleeful smirk appeared on Ariachnid's face.

By using the temporary distraction, the femme kicked Arcee off of her and sent the bot stumbling to the side. Arcee quickly got back to her feet, weakened but not out of the fight yet. Airachnid however, was not in the mood for more fighting and instantly pelted Arcee with more webbing, effectively pinning the femme back against the cliff-side once again.

"Arcee!" Jack shouted, running off to help the femme. This was not what Jack had been suspecting to see once he FINALLY caught up to Arcee. The boy's eyes had been his only method of finding the femme again, and upon arriving? Unknowingly causing such a situation was not the boy's intention, at all.

Intentions or not, Jack's shout instantly caught the attention of Airachnid, who gleefully turned her gaze on the boy. The mere look in the spider's eyes instantly made Arcee frantically struggle against the webbing, desperate to get out. Thankfully though, another idea hit the femme like a brick, this time being the use of her arm blades.

One quick activation and a large blade unfolded from Arcee's arm, slicing through the webbing like butter and freeing her once more.

With one of her arms free, Arcee reformed her hand into her blaster and shot at Airachnid, striking the Spider right in the center of her head.

The force of the blast easily knocked Airachnid back and away from Jack, sending her sprawling into the background. Once landing, the spider-bot struggled to stand with a hiss. But with the blunt trauma of the blast striking her already frazzled processor, the femme collapsed back onto the ground, unconscious while her legs shriveled up like a real spider.

Arcee sighed and tiredly held her head. She was nearly exhausted, both mentally and physically. Seeing, fighting, and beating Airachnid had taken so much out of the femme that she couldn't even put it into words. But what she could put into words was the rage she felt when Jack approached, his concerned expression be damned.

"I told you to wait for me!" she sneered, yelling at the boy.

Jack, likely due to his frustrations with the femme's attitude, didn't even flinch at that. Instead, the boy shook his head and tried to help peal the remaining web from Arcee.

"Well, partners don't ditch partners, do they?" Jack countered, much to Arcee's aggravation.

"Get this through your thick head! You're not my partner; you're a liability!" she sneered, being as forceful as she possibly could.

Those words cut through Jack like a hot knife, hitting him at his core. The entire reason he had joined Arcee on her mission was so he wouldn't be a bother, a weakness to the team and to her. Even at his very center, Jack hated the idea of being weak, of being a burden. He helped his mother by getting a job just for that very reason. Being a liability meant he couldn't help someone when the time came and for some reason, Jack despised that idea.

Still, Jack pushed such pain aside and stared directly into Arcee's optics, his own shining quite red.

"I don't believe you," he replied, "I can see it in your eyes. You're afraid Arcee, and you're NEVER afraid."

It had been something Jack had noticed ever since Arcee emerged from that ship. She was unhinged, concerned, and nervous. And given everything Jack knew about the femme, that wasn't right. Arcee was strong, confident, and a stern person at the end of the day. So seeing her unsure and shaken? It was a red flag, down to the very slightest of details.

Arcee was afraid, and Jack knew it.

The femme turned away and let out a small whimper. She felt ashamed...

No. It was much worse than that.

"You're quite resilient, you know that?" Airachnid mused, "For an Autobot I mean. In fact, I doubt you'll crack no matter what I do to you."

Arcee said nothing, as she had for her entire stay in her hellish prison. The time she had been there was unknown, even to her. Days? Weeks? Months? She had no idea. All Arcee did know, was that Airachnid had been enjoying their time together for nearly the whole time as well.

At least, till now.

"Am I right?" Airachnid asked, earning nothing but a glare in return, "I thought so."

Across the chamber, a door suddenly opened. It was bright, shining light throughout the cell. It caught both Arcee and Airachnid's attentions, making them watch as two Vehicons walked in. They dropped off a single mech right in the middle of the chamber. He had a white body, and groaned as he sat. But Arcee? Her optics widened when she saw him.

"Tailgate..." she whispered.

Her shock then turned to anger, for which she aimed at her 'host', "What did you do to him!?"

Airachnid chuckled, "Oh, nothing much...yet."

Stepping way from Arcee, the Spider began circling the two partners, "All you have to do is tell me what I want to know or, well...You're a smart bot. So I'm sure you can think of what'll happen."

Arcee stopped, her frame going silent, "I don't know the coordinates."

It had been the question she had been pegged with since her arrival, and until now she had refused to even answer. But even with her frantic response, Airachnid scowled. One of her legs raised itself over Tailgate, its pointed edge hovering over his chest-plate, like a knife about to strike.

"I swear! I don't know!" Arcee begged, "Please!"

Airachnid glanced at the femme, her eyes sadistically dark, "We shall see."

Watching as the limb was pulled back, Arcee struggled against her chains. She pulled, almost to the point of breaking her arms. But nothing happened, the chains were just too strong. Arcee could do nothing but watch, begging as it happened right before her very eyes.

"No! Please...No! No! NO!"

"TAILGATE!"

Arcee gasped, suddenly venting as the memory faded. She could still feel the pain, the horror of that very moment. And upon seeing it again, Arcee glanced down at Jack. The boy who was still trying to free her from the webbing, despite his efforts proving to be useless. The webbing was just too strong.

"Okay...you're right..." she mumbled, catching the boy's ears, "You're right, Jack. I am afraid..."

"I'm afraid...Of losing you!"

Everything stopped right then for Jack. His body refused to move, his eyes widened, and his gaze just barely met Arcee's own, "...what?"

The femme nodded, just barely. The pain on her face was too much, even for words. But before Jack could make even a slight comment, a cool...sadistic voice cut through the silence, shocking the both of them.

"You sure have trouble hanging onto partners, now don't you?"

Slowly turning around, both Arcee and Jack froze at what they saw.

It was Airachnid, fully awake and smiling. She strolled closer to the duo, with Arcee freezing up while Jack stood in front of her almost protectively. The boy might have been small, but he was damn determined to protect his partner, no matter what was threatening the two of them.

"We all know about Tailgate after all." Airachnid mused, smiling at the pained expression on Arcee's face, "But I even heard from a little Con's radio that Cliffjumper has passed away too. A pity, isn't it?"

The Spider's words burned. They were like a sickness, burning everything they touched. Jack wanted to scream to tell her to shut up. They just made him so angry, for what they were doing to Arcee and what they meant. The sheer revolting nature of them, picking at the most vulnerable parts of the femme. She was basically digging her finger into Arcee's wounds, and the pain? It was all over Arcee's face.

"At this point, I'd really be asking myself..." she sarcastically mused, "Is it me, or them?"

Those words finally sent Arcee over the edge. She couldn't hold back her panic any longer. Any hope she could have was silently vanishing, so Arcee had to act now. Before it was too late.

"Jack, run." she muttered, "You need to go, now..."

Taking his eyes off Airachnid just for a second, Jack glanced up at Arcee confusingly, "What? I'm not going to-"

"You don't understand!" Arcee frantically cut him off, "She isn't here for me! Airachnid is collecting things! Its what was in her ship! A planets indigenous species! And on Earth, that means humanity!"

"And that..." she muttered, fear overtaking her voice, "That means you!"

Time seemed to slow down for Jack, just for that instance. The fear, all of Arcee's fear shot right into the boy's heart, alerting him to just how serious she was. But as it happened, Jack's mind went into overdrive. He connected so many dots that his mind felt like a word puzzle. So much about how Arcee was acting now made sense. The frantic tones, the orders to stay away, and the harsh words. All of it was to keep Jack away from Airachnid.

And here he was, standing just in the middle of the spider's nest...

'Shit...'

"Jack," she cried, all her fear manifesting in one word.

"RUN!"

That word nearly fractured Jack's mind. One side of him wanted to stay, to help Arcee. After all, she was defenseless at the moment, stuck to a damn wall. How else could she defend herself?! But then again, Jack couldn't defend himself either. He was simply a human, and if he stayed...then he would die. No doubt about it.

And then, how could he help anyone?

Eventually though, it was a glance at Airachnid herself that set the boy's mind straight. The spider was just so sinister, just the way she looked at him. One look easily told Jack what she was planning. His eyes could even pierce her optics, allowing him to see into her sickening spark. And what he saw...

...was horrifying.

Without waiting a single moment longer, Jack snapped to the side and did the only thing his mind could process.

He ran.

Ran, ran, and ran even more. Jack ran as fast and hard as he could. Even when he heard the sound of Airachnid shooting yet another glob of webbing at Arcee. He nearly bit his tongue when such a sound met his ears but Jack didn't stop. He ran towards the hill and began to scale it, hoping to put some distance between him and Airachnid.

Back with said femme though, Airachnid chuckled as Jack made his escape and walked over to Arcee, "And that, is why I prefer to work alone."

Arcee bit back a sneer and struggled against the webbing. As she tried to break free, Airachnid savored the moment and used a single talon to life Arcee's helmet up just to look her at eye level. The rage, pain, and frustration in the femme's eyes were just too sweet to resist, even for Airachnid,

"Its so sad when something happens to one so close to you..." she mused with a fake bit of sorrow. It was so obvious that Arcee wanted to slug the spider in the face so bad that it wasn't even funny, if she wasn't trapped at least.

Instead, Arcee was forced to watch as Airachnid began to scale the cliff-side, laughing even while upside down, "Oh, but don't get me wrong. I still plan on snuffing your your spark. That hasn't changed."

"And trust me..." she hissed, "I am going to make it hurt."

Arcee flinched, and tried to pull her helm away. She did manged to do so, but only when Airachnid released her with a small pat on her cheek.

"But-!" the Spider smiled, far too cheerful for her own good, "That won't even compare to how much it'll hurt for you to know that your little human will be joining my collection, very soon."

Her intentions made purely known, Airachnid glanced over her shoulder and watched as Jack ran for his life. Amazingly, the boy had already made it to the very top of the same hill where Arcee and Airachnid had began their struggle. But the moment he reached the very top, Jack glanced over his should and met eyes with Airachnid. His blue eyes and her vile optics met for only the briefest of moments.

Yet, those seconds were more than enough to motivate the boy to run once more. And Airachnid? She laughed, even when Jack disappeared into the trees, she laughed. To her, it was like watching a mouse scurry away with no idea what was coming, and it amused her to no end.

"Oh, I do love it when they run." she smiled.

Flashing Arcee one final smirk, Airachnid pushed off the cliff side and landed back onto the ground.

The very ground itself shook like an earthquake had struck. Leaves fell from the trees, and dirt crumbled in the distance. And during it all, Airachnid smiled, her legs spreading out like a hunter ready to leap after her prey. Then with one push, she shot off after the poor boy, scaling the hill within a matter of seconds.

Back in the field though, Arcee slumped against her prison. She was trapped, still unable to escape the femme's webbing. She could struggle, attempt to free herself once again, but the deed had already been put into motion. She was trapped, like a prisoner once again...forced to watch as events began to repeat themselves all over again.

"No..." she muttered in denial, "Jack...NO!"

It was happening again, that was what Arcee was seeing. The same events playing out again, and she could STILL not do anything to stop it.

Tailgate was the first, then Cliffjumper, and now Jack. All of them were going to be killed by the same damn Spider and it was all Arcee's fault.

None of it was fair, not at all. What had she done to deserve this!? What had they done to deserve this?! Was she cursed? By Primus himself? Was it fate?! Arcee had no idea. She simply knew the grim truth, the suffering that was about to take place. All of which, was done due to her own actions.

It was her fault and her fault alone.

Yet again...

"I couldn't save him!" she cried, "I couldn't save my partner!"

She cried as she was freed from her bounds, as her comrades carried her out of that hellish cell. Even now that she was safe, in the hands of people she knew and trusted, Arcee couldn't say much else.

Moments before, Arcee had been chained up, in the same position she had been in since she had been thrust into Airachnid's clutches. But unlike before, there was no life in the femme's eyes. She was silent, limb, and numb. There were no sneers or growls, no struggling against her chains. Arcee was as silent as her partner was dead, the only trace of movement on her being a slight tremble.

For a time, Arcee was silent, broken. Just like her partner.

Ariachnid watched just from a few feet away. She stared into the femme's dead optics and raised up one of her claws. It was the same one she had used to end Tailgate. It was even still stained by his Energon, and now? She was going to use it to end Arcee as well.

Two partners with the same claw.

But seconds before the strike could be made, Airachnid was distracted when the far side of the chamber exploded. It was decimated, the chamber's door was utterly torn apart and thrown aside, nearly crashing into the femme herself. Airachnid let out a horrid hiss and escaped into the darkness, leaving Arcee chained up in her cell.

Two mechs entered the chamber, a red and yellow one. They scanned the room and approached Arcee, freeing her from her bonds. After a few words, they then began to carry the poor femme out of the hellish room, leaving it behind for the rest of time.

But no relief came to Arcee, or freedom.

Only failure...

Her own failure.

Arcee hung her head, reality once again returning. But alone with reality, came guilt.

The femme slumped against the cliff-face, the webbing being the only thing keeping Arcee standing. There was no avoiding it anymore, not for Arcee or anyone else. What happened to her partners, what happened to Jack, all of it was her fault. It was her fault that she had gotten caught, that Airachnid was on her tail, and it was her fault for bringing Jack along too.

She should have left him at the base, should of told him about what was going on. Instead, she had simply shunned him, hoping to deal with the mess herself. To sweep the whole thing under a rug, like a child trying to hide her mess from her parents.

A mess that was now unleashed, and a mess that was now hunting Jack like a wild beast.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, barely even speaking, "I should have just kept driving...just kept going."

That one day, where Arcee hid just outside Jack's workplace. If she had chosen somewhere else, just drove past it, then Jack would be home. He would be safe. But because she hadn't, he was running for his life. And, he was going to die. Just like Tailgate, just like Cliffjumper, Jack was going to die.

He was going to die, and it was her faul-

"No." Arcee swore, her servos tightening, "No...no, NO!"

Snapping upward, Arcee immediately struggled against the webbing. She pounded, kicked, and pulled on the material with a fiery drive pushing her forward. She was not going to let it happen again. Arcee wasn't just going to sit back and watch one more person be claimed by that witch. Not while she could do something about it.

She was there, she was present, and she wasn't in chains this time.

As a new idea popped into her head, Arcee vowed right then and there. Airachnid was not claiming another one of her partners.

Not this day.

-Meanwhile-

"I'm sorry, there is no service in the present area. Please try again later."

Ripping his phone from his ear, Jack glared down at the piece of plastic, "Oh come on! Are you serious!?"

The sun began to set, encompassing the forest in a thick blanket of darkness. Even with such a blackness though, Jack continued to run. His lungs burning, the boy leaped over logs, zipped around trees, and ducked under branches. He never stopped moving, and never dared to look back.

Never daring to gaze at what was chasing him.

His attempts to call for help were about as useless as Arcee's. Whatever was blocking the Autobot's vastly more powerful transmitter was easily taking care of the teen's phone as well. He was alone, running for his life in a forest that seemed to have no end at all. In fact, the forest itself made Jack feel like he was in a maze. A giant maze.

With Jack as the mouse, and Airachnid as the massive, bloodthirsty cat.

Biting his lip, Jack's brain quickly tried to think of something. Even as he jumped over a fallen log, Jack was going overdrive with his mind. Ideas, thoughts, concerns, strategies. Anything he could think of, it all few through Jack's head, whether he knew it or not.

All the boy knew was that he had to run, he had to keep on running.

Jack barely even had the time to think of something besides running. What about Arcee? Was she safe? Did that Spider leave her alone? Where was Jack going? Could he escape? Could he contact the bots in time if his phone didn't work? And of course, that all important one...could he make it out alive at all?

So many questions, and yet no answers at all.

'Okay, need to think.' Jack reminded himself, his eyes rapidly spinning as he scanned the environment, 'Anything would be good.'

The strategic, the smart part of Jack's mind knew he had to think of something. Anything. He couldn't just keep running, not against a Cybertronian. For if Jack couldn't think of something, anything else, he knew what would happen. The inevitable, what was coming no matter how far he ran. Sooner or later, Jack as certain that she would-

"Hello, Jack~"

-find him!

With his eyes snapping open with nearly inhuman speed, Jack pushed himself to the side as fast as he could. It was like a linebacker cutting right before he was tackled, Jack's legs turning his body just inches before he collided with something. That something being a massive hand, a clawed servo that dug into the ground like butter the second it touched dirt.

Rolling to the side, Jack stopped for a moment and caught his breath. As he did so, the teen saw Airachnid, suspended in the air with her legs digging into the nearest sets of trees.

The femme smiled, "Its so nice to meet you..."

"Yeah, well." Jack grumbled, "The feelings not mutual."

Airachnid frowned, looking somewhat hurt, "Aw, now don't be like that. All of Arcee's other partners have always picked the worst times to introduce themselves and I hoped you'd be different. After all, the first one died after I met him, and poor Cliffjumper..."

Jack scowled, his eyes spinning wildly, "Shut up..."

"...both cut down, all because of one common mistake." Airachnid smirked, "Really, she has to be quite unlucky. Its almost like shes cursed. Everyone Arcee is near normally dies..."

Those words struck a core in Jack. Up till then, the boy was just sitting there, partly terrified of the massive arachnid. But at the very mention of those words, just how lightly she took her actions, the torment both those instances caused to Arcee? It set a fire in the boy's heart, starting from his chest and worked its way all the way to his eyes.

"I said shut...up..." he growled.

Airachnid chuckled, "And to think, people call me a monster-"

"SHUT UP!"

Without really thinking, Jack leaned forward and plucked a rock from the forest floor. It was small, barely enough to fit in his hand, like a baseball. And like one, Jack stepped forward and chucked the rock through the air. It moved at a speed that didn't seem possible, acting like a blur as it cut through the air. And just after leaving Jack's hand, the rock smashed against Airachnid's faceplate, cutting the femme off as it crumbled against her cheek.

The femme was instantly silenced, just as Jack was. He hadn't even felt himself pick up the rock, let alone throw it. But what shocked Jack the most was the fact that he actually hit Airachnid, striking the femme right underneath her left optic.

"Wow..." Jack mumbled, amazed.

However, the amazement of such a feat died down when Jack locked eyes with Airachnid.

Like a black void, all of the amusement was gone from her eyes. Instead, there was a mix of shock...evil, and sadistic rage. And all of it was directed right at Jack.

Suddenly, throwing the rock seemed like a VERY bad idea.

So much so that the second Jack realized this, he was off once again. He ran, leaving Airachnid behind. But unlike before Airachnid didn't simply let the boy get a head start. Oh, she followed him, quite quickly. The trees acted like stepping stones, guiding the femme through the forest without even touching the ground once. She was like a real spider, crawling across a web and gazing down at her prey.

Waiting until it was nice and...ready.

"Ha!"

With a sudden hiss, Airachnid shot down from above and snatched Jack from the ground. Her servos wrapped themselves around the boy's torso and squeezed. Jack didn't even have a chance to yelp before he left the ground. It was a moment of weightlessness, one that ended when Airachnid pressed Jack up against a nearby tree. The very trunk of the tree was pressed up against Jack's back, Airachnid's servos easily dragging the boy up its side until he eye to eye with the Spider's optics.

Watching the boy squirm in pain, Ariachnid smiled, "Well, I've got to give it to Arcee at least. She sure knew how to pick'em. You're quite the runner for something so small, and that rock? Didn't see that coming either."

Jack huffed, trying desperately to get some air back into his lungs, "Glad...I could be so entertaining..."

As the Spider gleefully watched, Jack struggled. He kicked his feet, pushed with his arms, and even tried to slip himself out of the femme's hands. But no matter what he tried, Jack found that Airachnid wasn't going to let go all that easily. She was enjoying her new toy far too much, even if she was close to breaking it.

Airachnid let out a devious chuckle, something so vile that it made Jack's skin crawl, "Oh, you were. I can even see why Arcee keeps someone like you around…"

A sudden gasp escaped from Jack. Airachnid's servos pressed even harder on the boy, practically squeezing the life out of him. Any more pressure and Jack would surely begin to hear his ribs start to crack.

"Who would have known your kind would be so...amusing."

One of the most devious smiles then worked is way onto Airachnid's face. She lifted up one of her fingers and gently began to drag it across the tree's surface. An action that seemed so casual to her easily began tearing the bark from the tree, leaving behind a scare that would never heal. And with such a scar, the femme's claw gently edged itself closer to Jack's head.

Like a knife approuching a smooth piece of flesh, about to slice it open.

Jack instantly twitched at the mere sound of it. He could feel the tree vibrate, the sound of his approaching doom getting ever closer. It made the boy's mind go into overdrive, thinking of anything and everything he could possibly do. Stupid ideas, what-if ideas, and some of the most impractical ideas Jack could think of. Each of them flashed through his head while his subconscious began tossing them aside as soon as they arrived, like burned out lottery cards.

Every idea, every concept, and every little thing he could do. Jack considered it and tossed it away in turn.

'Come on, think!' he snapped at himself, 'Think! Think! THINK! I gotta move! Now!'

Airachnid's servo inched closer to the teen, her talon tearing up bark as it moved. Jack could even feel the flacks beginning to bounce off the side of his face.

'Scrap!'

Still trying to free himself, Jack found his efforts proving to quite fruitless. Nothing he did seemed to be working, his struggles only resulting in Airachnid's amusement. The Spider was nearing the point of laughing at the boy, like if she was watching a little ant frantically trying to preserve its insignificant existence. Quite amusing, yet all the more pointless.

But, there was still one thing he could do. It was risky, and he had only done it once before...by accident...

'Screw it!'

An accident was surely more promising than simply waiting to get his head popped off like a bottle cap! So with it decided, Jack abandoned his attempts to free himself through strength alone and himself together. Then with his hands still shaking like a leaf, Jack began to weave his fingers through a series of hand-signs.

It would take some time, but Jack had a feeling he could manage it.

Thankfully, Airachnid seemed more than amused by his antics, "Ah, I love it when they squirm..."

Such words nearly made Jack fumble right then and there. How many times had Airachnid done this to someone? Watch as her prey struggled in its last moments, taking so much glee in seeing their last breaths fall from their bodies. Merely even looking at how much amusement she was taking from his suffering was almost too much, even for him.

Luckily though, Jack's memorization payed off in spades. His hands never fumbled, even when an extra large piece of bark bounced off his face.

Then, after a few seconds of his heart being about ready to burst out of his chest, Jack finished with one final hand-seal. It took the shape of both hands holding themselves together, his index fingers pointing straight up while the rest were intertwined. Jack could feel his hands shake, his breath was shallow, and his palms wet too. But by the end, Jack felt a familiar feeling building up in his chest.

With his work done, Jack glanced up at Airahnid, almost earning a coo out of the sadistic femme, "Oh...whats with that look?"

Jack said nothing, not even a word. Instead, the teen tightened his hands and took one of the deepest breaths he could mange. Airachnid thought for a moment that it was the last one Jack would mange before dropping dead flat in her hands.

But, even Airachnid couldn't have imaged what actually came out.

For instead of air, Jack spewed forth a entire wall of fire. It was wild, uncontrolled, like a force of nature itself. The fire even swelled the moment it touched air, becoming even bigger. But as it spewed out of Jck's mouth, the fire shot forward like a flaming bullet and found itself colliding with the only thing that was in font of Jack at that very moment.

But, comments were the last thing Airachnid had in mind. Instead, she only had a split second to react to the inferno, her face going from a sadistically gleeful expression to one of pure shock.

Glee, to shock, and finally...to pain.

Gliding itself between the two within seconds, the fire exploded like a bomb the moment it touched Airachnid, engulfing her entire head in a massive cloud of flames. A second of hesitation was all that could escape before Airachnid screamed, her servos releasing her prey and clutching her face instead, the searing her metal exterior. The fire nearly wrapped itself around her metal head, covering it entirely with burning flames.

Now free, Jack plummeted toward the ground like a rock, eventually landing on his feet with a small stumble. It as a long fall though, as Jack instantly felt his legs grow tired from the impact. That was not all though. A sudden tiredness returned as well, filling Jack with a feeling of exhaustion. It felt as if he had ran a small mile if not more. But even with all of that, Jack grinned at the sight in front of him.

"I can't believe that worked..." he whispered to himself.

The fire danced around Airachnid's head, like a storm of fire. To even think that he could knock a Cybertronian off her game like that was a fool's idea to be certain. And yet the sight of Airachnid flailing around with her head ablaze could not be denied. The satisfaction it produced was something Jack took pride in, almost wishing he had a camera to record it on.

However, the fire did not last. The intinsity of the fire easily sucked up all the air in the area. And with its fuel gone, the blaze of flames quickly cooled into a puff of smoke.

"Oh no..." Jack whispered.

The vanishing of the flames left Jack gazing at a cloud of blackness. But within this smoke Jack could feel himself being watched. Like a demon within the void, two purple optics emerged from the cloud, cutting through the darkness like an evil gaze. It promised death, pain, and all the suffering in the world. But the worst of it only came when the gaze turned around...and found Jack, sitting just a few feet away.

With a yelp, Jack instantly shot to his feet. He did his best to ignore the pain in his legs, which felt as if someone had stabbed him with hot iron. Never the less, Jack held no hesitation and ran off, taking off in the closest direction he could find. As the boy vanished though, the figure pulled itself from the smoke, revealing just how much damage his fire had actually caused.

Soot and ash covered Airachnid's entire heard. From the very tip of her helm to her chin, the femme was burned. Chunks of her helmet were even still burning red, as if it had been pulled right from a forge. But even so, Airachnid seemed perfectly functional despite all of that. If anything, she was only slightly damaged.

And that...angered her, tremendously.

"Crap!" Jack yelped, focusing back on the path in front of him. He could practically feel the rage radiating off her frame, and it was being directed squarely at him.

As such, Jack only had one goal at the moment. Escape, to put as much distance between him and Airachnid as possible.

Which wasn't that easy of a goal. As seconds after he had began his run, Airachnid was once again on the boy's tail, her expression furious and legs tearing through anything that got in her way. Trees splintered, rocks crumbled, and foliage was upturned. All of it fueled by the Spider's rage, her amusement taking a backseat for a moment.

Jack didn't let himself be distracted by such rage however. The boy instead focused on staying ahead of the spider-bot. He pushed as much strength as he could mange into his legs, even letting the strange warmth from before overtake him. The speed Jack was running became so fast that he even nearly tripped several times.

But no matter how fast he ran, Airachnid was always just a few steps behind him. The thin, multi-jointed legs constantly propelled the spider over anything that could impede her hunt. She was truly a hunter, and Jack was her pray.

'Need to think of something...anything!'

It was this drive that gave Jack focus, gave him momentum enough to keep running. His legs burning from overuse, his feet aching, and his heart was beating a mile a minute, and yet he continued to run. He ran until Airachnid disappeared into the trees behind him, a small moment of rest gracing the boy's feet.

Even so, the sounds of Airachnid's servos were ever present, racing towards the boy through the dense foliage of the forest. Jack might not have seen her, but he could almost feel the sickening presence rushing towards him like a maddening storm. His eyes twisted and twirled, keeping the boy on constant edge.

So even while running, Jack felt a sudden shiver tickle the back of his next. It was warning him, whispering into his ears of what was about to happen. So when Jack glanced over his shoulder, the boy's eyes went wide. Something flashed behind the boy, something so fast that it didn't seem possible to notice it.

But even at such speed, Jack saw it. And the moment he did, the boy instantly ducked behind a tree.

The tree was more than large enough for a human to hide behind it. The moment Jack hid behind it though, the boy's entire body went silent. He could feel something, a chill radiating through the air. And while he couldn't see anything at the moment, Jack kept his ears open until-

"Now, where did you wonder off to..."

Airachnid lumbered forward, her legs stabbing into the dirt and wood like searing knives. Jack's assault had still left quite a mark on the femme, her face smoking from the burning explosion.. She crawled and slithered through the trees, barely making a sound aside from the creaking of her surroundings. Her servos clawed across tree and bark, pushing them out of the way as her sickly purple optics scanned through every inch of the forest.

Even the subtlest of things, from a small bird flapping in the distance to a insignificant little squirrel. Airachnid noticed all of it.

As such, the femme's gaze eventually fell on a lone tree, just a few yards in the distance. The bark incrusted planet was rather thick, and it stood alone in comparison o the others. But above all else, Airachnid noticed with a tiny whistling noise emerging from behind it. While unnoticeable to most, the Cybertronian chuckled at the sound.

For it, was the sound of something breathing.

Airachnid grinned, a subtle and sadistic smile forming on her face, "...come on, Jack. you have to be right..."

Lifting herself up, Airachnid silently used her legs to travel from tree to tree. Her shadow floated over the ground like a blackened cloud, waiting for the perfect moment to ruin someone's day. And the moment the femme reached the tree in question, Airachnid pulled her arm back and...

"-Here!"

Like the snake she was, Airachnid snapped her servo forward and ripped the tree trunk right out of the ground, crushing the solid piece of foliage between her claws without missing a beat. The tree's roots ripped like threads, torn from the earth like weeds. Even the branches fell to the ground in a crumbled mess, leaving Airachnid with a sadistic smile appearing as she revealed...

Nothing.

There was nothing, nothing at all. Where the tree had been there was nothing but a ruined piece of earth. No terrified humans of the like or anything living at all. There was nothing.

Such failure angered the femme, earning the busted tree a one-way flight across the forest. Even with the tree gone though, Airachnid continued to search. She tore up every piece of the forest she could get her servos on. From trees to bushes, Airachnid tore through everything till even the smallest bit of grass. The femme was at this for minutes even, her attention only finally being torn away when something snapped in the distance.

It sounded like a piece of wood, such as a branch or a twig being stepped on.

Airachnid instantly shot toward the sound, scampering off in pursuit. Her massive frame easily tore though the landscape, knocking down trees and the like as she moved. Airachnid even vanished from view eventually, leaving a very ruined portion of the forest in her wake.

And at the very center of it all, was the broken tree.

"...too...close."

Off to the side, just a few feet away from said tree, sat a log. It was a tiny thing, barely noticeable and even blended into the forest. That was also partly due to its age and the thick coat of moss that covered it. Which was quite surprising, especially given the raven haired teen who popped up from behind it.

Jack stood up and watched as Airachnid vanished into the distance, his eyes spinning a deep red, "Way too close..."

The teen could honestly say that his heart nearly stopped for a moment there. One misstep and Jack was certain that he would have been in pieces, torn to shreds while Airachnid gleefully laughed. He could even picture it, the sight of the femme wrapping her servos around his body, crushing his head so he couldn't spit fire at her once again...

But as close as that had come, Jack sighed in relief.

It might have been thanks to his eyes yet again, but Jack could honestly thank his eyes for saving his ass once more.

For within the span of less than a second, Jack had seen everything happen in a bit of slow motion. Airachnid popping out from the tree-line, her servos wrapping themselves out of the tree, and even the roots snapping! Everything had appeared as slow motion, even for a second or two. And with that spare time, Jack manged to hide himself behind one of the most unlikely things he had ever though would save his behind.

A freaken log.

Sure, Jack had accidentally smacked his head against said log the moment he hid behind it, but it still saved him.

Still watching the femme in the distance, Jack carefully lifted himself up and stood over the fallen log. As Airachnid moved farther and farther away, Jack's heart slowly began to calm down. No trophy case for this teen, and now he didn't even have to worry about running away from Airachnid anymore. Heck, Jack smiled while the spider scampered away...

...but, where was it going?

With his gaze never faltering, Jack suddenly felt his stomach drop as a devious realization took hold. He might be safe from the chopping block, even if it was for a short and fleeting moment, but he wasn't the only one Airachnid had been tormenting. She merely aimed at the boy because it would cause torment to his partner.

And if she couldn't find Jack anymore...then Airachnid would surely aim for-

"Arcee!"

Without wasting a second more, Jack snapped to his feet and made a mad dash in the same direction Airachniad had stormed off into. His feet was still burning and his chest felt as if it had been set ablaze, but Jack pushed himself forward, forcing his feet over the grass and the mud.

'If Airachnid can't find me, she'll go back to Arcee!' Jack dreaded, pushing himself even farther in desperation.

Arcee's words rang through the boy's head. Airachnid wanted him, she wanted him to make Arcee suffer. She was meant to watch from her prison of web as Airachnid killed Jack. Now, even if he was safe, Arcee was likely still stuck. She was without her weapons or a real way to defend herself. And since Jack had up and vanished, Airachnid would likely return to vent her rage on Arcee!

"No way!" the teen sneered, his jaw clenching up, "Like I'm going to let that happen!"

Jack furiously picked up speed, a familiar warmth pushing into his legs. The very idea of something happening to Arcee filled the teen with rage, even if he didn't understand it. It was something, like the fire within his chest, burning up inside him. An urge to fight, to defend, to protect someone.

To prove himself...

"Get this through you're thick head! You're not my partner; you're a liability!"

...to show, that he wasn't nothing but a pest.

Arcee had lost so much to that Spider and now she was in danger herself. Danger that Jack had helped bring upon her. Airachnid was a threat to both of them and now she was heading back towards Arcee. To do god knows what to her. Even thinking about it made Jack angry.

The fear Arcee had been through, the emotions stained on her face-plate like a bloody wound. The sorrow, the pain, and the fear.

Such fear...he didn't want to see again.

"I'm not..." he sneered, hands tightening, nails piercing his skin.

"You're...right, Jack. I am afraid. Of losing you!"

"...going to let that happen!"

Eyes snapping open, Jack furiously growled, his eyes burning a furious rage. Along with that, Jack felt his entire body flooded with that warm feeling yet again. It was like his determination, pshing him forward with a drive he never knew of. Whatever it was, Jack could even feel it in his veins, acting like gas for his engine.

Amazingly, with such a push, Jack found himself catching up with Airachnid in no time flat. Hell, the boy even looked like he was jumping from tree TO tree at points! Like a blur, leaping through the forest like a force of nature, not a human. But within a few blinks of the eye, Airachnid was in clear sight again, maybe even shouting distance.

As he neared the spider however, Jack forced himself to stop. Catching up to Airachnid was one thing, but getting too close wasn't the smartest idea either.

Jack's inhuman speed dissolved into a light jog, the warmth leaving the boy's legs in the process. This reduced the limbs to burning chunks of worn muscle, barely ableing him to walk, let alone run. Luckily for Jack, running wasn't on the menu anyway. As while Jack slowly approached his target, the boy's jaw dropped when he realized where Airachnid had led him to.

"Here again...?" Jack whispered.

The chard ground, stumps blackened stumps, the shattered trees, and the massive craft sitting at the very center of it all?

Somehow, Airachnid and Jack had found themselves back at the crash site, where the femme's ship had first landed.

How, and why? Jack had no idea. The best thing he could guess was that all the running he did whilst trying to escape Airachnid had unknowingly resulted in a circle. One that had unknowingly led the pair back near where they had started. Where it all started actually, from the moment Arcee had entered that ship.

Briefly looking up from his hiding spot, Jack spotted Airachnid skulking around her own ship. Her sickly optics scanned the wreckage, glancing over every nook and carney. It looked as if she was looking for a irritating bug, wanting to smash it the moment she found it.

Still concealed behind his hiding spot, Jack almost felt the urge to snap his fingers when realization stuck him, "Must of thought I ran back here for cover..."

It made the most sense, especially given the spider's muttering. It was hard to heard given his distance, but the insane rambling of Airachnid wasn't all that hard to miss. She playfully taunted the teen, asking where he was or even if he was even there at all. The even felt his blood boil when a comment toward Arcee graced the spider's mouth. She was pulling no punches in her attempts at finding him.

After a minute or two of searching however, Airachnid let out a hiss. Clearly displeased with her lack of results, the spider turned her attention toward her own ship and began to head inside. Her skulking form swiftly leaped toward the massive ramp and headed inside, Jack's eyes just barely able to keep track of her as she vanished into the ship's inner-workings.

With her gone though, Jack leaned against the closest tree, his muscles finally loosening up after so long, "All right...now what?"

He had manged to find the Spider again and knew where she was but what else could the boy do? Jack had a deep feeling that he had to do something, anything to stop the sadistic spider. But other than shooting fire in her face, the teen didn't really have much that could even scratch Airachnid.

Reaching into his pocket, Jack chuckled at the familiar touch of his Swiss Army knife, "Don't think thats going to help..."

Letting his hand drop, Jack bit his lip. Thoughts, concerns, and anything of the sort swirled inside hiss head. There had to be something, anything he could do. Something to distract Airachnid, to keep her busy, maybe even disable her for a short time. The teen knew he couldn't just run away, not yet. His own body wouldn't let him, the urge to do something being too strong.

But what? Jack had nothing, nothing to distract the femme, and certainly nothing that could distract her long enough for him to check to see if Arcee was alright.

And one thing was for sure, watching the vessel wasn't going to make such options any easier to figure out.

"Damn it..." he cursed, glaring at the femme's ship.

The ship was dark, as black as its hull. The femme herself was gone, vanished inside the structure. From the ramp onward, all Jack could see was a dark nothingness. A void, as empty and dark as the Airachnid's own armor, and likely hid just as much darkness behind it as well.

Carefully crouching, Jack silently approached the ship. He made sure not to approach it at the front, instead opting to circle around it. His boots made barely a sound as he approached, the grass underneath his shoes having been long since dead. Certainly made it easy for Jack to near the vessel, despite his frantic heartbeat.

Jack let out a sigh and tried to keep himself calm. Instead of focusing on his nerves, the teen slide silently alongside the ship. The hull might have survived the entry into the atmosphere, but it wasn't tough enough to completely survive it. The surface was rough, like glass, fractured and sharp. It burned to touch it, even with the lightest of pressures.

Such a pain was a constant nuisance to Jack, undermining his attempts to keep himself quiet. Luckily though, a wet splash quickly caught Jack's attention, a moist sensation seeping into his shoe. The cause of such a thing was a strange puddle, one that nearly went up to the boy's ankle. Whatever it was, the liquid was a mix of blue, green, and some other colors that just didn't seem...normal.

The source of this eerie liquid was a mysterious substance oozing out of the ship. It was thick, far thicker than most liquid. Along with that, combine that and the color, the liquid was certainly not water.

In fact, the liquid glowed a bright blue, which reminded Jack of-

"Energon?!"

The strange, extraterrestrial material that had been hidden on Earth, the very key to Cybertronian life. The crystal-like material, the same material that the Autobots and Decepticons often fought over, a material that sustained their very existence. A powerful and often unstable fuel...and it was leaking out of Airachnid's ship.

An idea suddenly popped into Jack's head. It was crazy, insane, and likely to get him killed, but it was an idea.

Jack made certain that Airachnid was still inside her ship, using his eyes to peer as far into the structure as he could. Once certain though, Jack silently began to move, his eyes never left the ship as he silently stalked through the massive, burned up crater. The air was entirely tense, silent as the grave during the entire trek. Jack even felt himself constantly fighting the urge to flee the whole time.

One wrong move, and Airachnid could be upon him within a split second...

Such a silence lasted right up until Jack reached the Energon itself. The pool of fuel sat just a few feet away from the ship, collecting in a small hole in the ground. Jack could even spot the line itself, pooling out from a broken portion of the ship. A slight stream was all it was, leading directly back inside the marooned vessel.

"Alright..." Jack sighed, "Lets get this going!"

Standing up straight, Jack took a deep breath and glared over at the ship's entrance. The giant wall of shadows, entirely encompassing the ship's innards. It was like a dark void, something malevolent, sadistic, and evil. Just like the ship's owner, it felt sick...disgusting, and vile.

Just looking at it made shivers under his skin. It didn't deter Jack though. Instead, the teen quickly began to weave a familiar set of hand-signs, all while keeping his eyes dead set on the vessel's entrance.

Once nearly finished, Jack glared up at ship's ramp and let out a shout, "Hey! Airachnid!"

The sheer radius of Jack's shout echoed through the demolished field, passing through the treeline and into Airachnid's ship. Jack's voice echoed and bounced throughout the massive vessel, the boy's voice reaching even the deepest and darkest portions of the horrid construct.

Gazing upward, the sound of his own voice wasn't the only thing that could be heard. Along with it, the sound of metal upon metal also sounded. Like a bug crawling over a steel floor, Jack felt sweat drip down his back. Then, atop the horrid ship, Jack saw her.

Airachnid was perched, atop her own ship. Like a blackened shadow, she loomed over the burnt field and gazed across it. Eventually, her gaze fell on Jack and a sinister smile worked its way onto her face, a sadistic grin. The spider had recognized the boy's voice and had come running, right until her optics spotted him.

A horrid hiss escaped the femme, earning a shiver from Jack. But just as the spider made ready to leap at him, Jack took a deep breath.

"Bon'voyage!"

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion for both parties.

Airachnid bent her legs, just about to jump towards her prey. Yet at the same time, flames once again poured from Jack's mouth. But instead of aiming at Airachnid, the flames made a beeline towards the pool of Energon. The target seemed strange for a moment, but the intent came clear the second the flames hit. For instead of merely being extinguished, the flames exploded the second they touched the Energon, spreading like a broken damn.

The Energon outside the ship was instantly overcome by fire, the flames spreading to each corner of the energy source.

Eventually though, the flames reached the Energon that was still pouring from the ship. It was a small leak admittedly, but the second those flames shot up the leak and into the ship?

The display that followed could be compared to what it would be like to throw a match into a gas tank, only on a significantly larger scale. The explosion was so massive that Airachnid couldn't even manage a yell in time. She was utterly consumed by the flames, disappearing into the infero like a piece of paper being charred into nonexistence.

The ship utterly blew apart. From within the ship, the entire frame utterly cracked and fell apart. It was like some fractured glass, the hull tearing itself apart like a busted balloon. Once this balloon popped though, the shockwave was more than powerful enough to send EVERYTHING flying. From pieces of the ship itself, the broken landscape, and even Jack too! Everything was sent spiraling backwards like a tornado just came through.

Airachnid was entirely engulfed in the blast, her form vanishing as fire took hold of everything in sight. Jack however, was both lucky and unlucky in his own experience.

For one, the teen was standing just barely within the safe zone of such an explosion. One or two more feet and Jack would have been utterly devastated by the explosion. Luckily, the most Jack had to deal with from the fire was a few burns and some damage to hist shirt.

But while Jack was fine from the fire, the explosion was a bit different. As with a thunderous explosion like this one, Jack was instantly sent flying backwards by the shockwave. It could shatter trees, rocks, and send even the most sturdy human flying. Thankfully, Jack survived...albeit barely.

Crashing spine-first into a tree had not been fun. It was quite the experience on the spine, thats for sure.

"Ugh..." the teen groaned, his body feeling as if it had been through a meat tenderizer, "Holy...ah, crap..."

His back hurt, his hands felt raw, and Jack could barely find the air to breath. And if that wasn't enough, the teen also found himself feeling tired as well, exhausted even. It was like the flames he had used actually burned up all of his energy, leaving the teen with only the smallest traces to work with.

"Really need to work on that..." he muttered, "Oh, this is going to hurt in the morning..."

Barely able to sit up, Jack glanced over at the burned wreckage of Airachnid's ship. The entire vessel was torn asunder, the previous shape of the ship no longer even recognizable. The ominous vessel was now simply a pile of scrap, burning chunks of metal and debris scattered amongst the crater.

After glancing at the wreckage for a good few seconds, Jack let out a sigh and hung his head back, "Well, that worked at least..."

A small sense of accomplishment flowed through Jack, almost making the boy forget about how beat up he felt. In fact, Jack almost had the urge to laugh at the burning pile, to warn it not to mess with him. It was a strange feeling and vanished quickly. There was no need for him to laugh at a burned up corpse.

Instead, Jack simply sat against the tree and sighed. A moment of relaxation seemed appropriate all things considered. Airachnid was taken care of, Arcee was safe, and Jack had done it all by himself...

"Just...five me a moment, " he asked no one in particular, "Catch my breath..."

The moment those words left Jack's mouth, a sudden creaking noise echoed at the crater's center. Even with the ship destroyed, several chunks of it littered the barren crater. From bits of the hull to ruined scraps of whatever the ship contained, all of it was in ruins. Like ash piled at a bonfire, with smoke billowing into the air.

In many ways, the ship was a corpse, burning to ash and sitting upon its grave.

Yet at the very center of the debris...something moved.

It began slow, a subtle twitch or two. Like burning wood, the metal slid down the debris like ash falling apart. But as he continue to watch, Jack froze.

At the very center of the destruction, something began to move. A figure emerged from beneath the pile of scrap, pushing the debris up and to the side. Jack's breath hitched at what happened next, a think blackened servo ripping itself up and out of the ruins of the ship. It was like a demon, rising from the pits of hell.

The monstrous, demonic looking femme rose from the shattered debris and hissed, one that could make snakes shiver in fright.

While unidentifiable at a distance, the figure's entire form was scorched, blackened by the first of the explosion. Bits and pieces of it were molten red, the intense flames having burned the armor to the melting point. But even with such damage, the figure stood tall over the wreckage, her purple optics glowing ominously within the inferno.

Airachnid had risen from the debris, charred but very alive with a snarl present on her faceplate.

At the sight of the ravaged femme, Jack tried to stand himself back on his feet. It was hard, proving strenuous on the boy's body due to his worn state. All the running and the shockwave had beaten Jack up quite a bit. Still, the teen tried his best to get to his feet, even with his breath growing more ravaged with every passing second.

Despite such explosion detonating just inches from her face, Airachnid snapped her optics in Jack's direction. She was still a hunter, and the sound of even the slightest gasps were like music to the femme's ears.

"You..." she sneered, the femme's claws tightening at the mere sight of Jack.

Airachnid unfolded her damaged legs from atop the ruins of her ship and stalked towards the beaten boy. Along with being a hunter, the spider was a fighter as well, a survivor. She would not let such injuries put her down. Not while she was so close.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart..." Airachnid sneered, "Piece...by, piece..."

Jack clenched his teeth, still trying to stand. But as the femme neared the boy, still looming over him like a dark shadow, Jack's efforts were proven to be in vain. At most he could simply stand, let alone do anything to defend himself.

But as Airachnid loomed over Jack with her claws at the ready, a sudden noise echoed though the forest. It was loud, a low rumble, and sounded quite mechanical. But the sound itself was not unfamiliar to either parties. Both Jack and Airachnid had heard to noise before, and it brought a smile to Jack's face all the same.

"AIRACHNID!"

Like a blazing blue bullet, Arcee shot out from the ruined trees. Still in her alt. form, the femme leaped into the air and transformed, her servos reforming into her blasters at the same moment. Then, with a raged expression on her face, Arcee blasted Airachnid, sending the spider sailing backwards with a painful hiss.

Damaged and beaten, Airachnid glared at Arcee and bit back a curse. She was damaged, beaten, and vulnerable. So vulnerable that Airachnid was willing to do the one thing she saved for the most special of occasions.

As another blot struck home against her helm, Airachnid clenched her servos and launched herself into the air. Then with her multitude of legs forming around her, Airachnid dove straight toward the ground, spinning wildly. Combined with such momentum, Arcee watched in shock and anger as Airachnid disappeared, her form drilling into the ground at such a speed that not even her blasters could stop.

The Autobot continued to fire, blasting bolt after bolt at the Spider. But by the time Arcee reached her, it was too late. Airachnid had vanished into the Earth, leaving nothing but a massive hole in her wake.

Defeat rushed through Arcee yet again. She had been so close to finally ending it. Just a few more bolts and she was certain that Airachnid would have been done for. But now, she was gone yet again. Loose on Earth, going to Primus knows where-

"Arcee..."

Her rage at the spider slowly diminishing, Arcee deactivated her blasters and held her head. With the object of her rage vanished for the moment, the femme turned her attention to Jack, letting a sense of relief quickly overtake her.

"You alright?" Jack smiled, hopeful.

Arcee raised a brow at the teen, "Am I? I should be asking you that."

Chuckling, Jack waved his arms at his battered form, "I've been better...but hey, Survival kit, remember?"

Arcee smiled. She still had questions of course. Airachnid's ship was a burning mess and Jack wasn't too okay either. Both of those little facts were more than enough to warrant a few , Arcee was okay with pushing them off, even for a moment. She was just relieved, more than relieved actually. Jack and Arcee were safe.

After settling that though, Arcee glanced at the hole and sighed, "So much for closure."

Jack walked up to the femme, his pace reduced to a slight limp, "Well, her ship's just a bunch of scrap now, so I don't think she'll be leaving Earth anytime soon..."

"Which I'm not sure is a good thing."

Arcee said nothing. Jack had a point. Airachnid wasn't going anywhere, not now. So the chances of the duo meeting up again and finishing things was quite possible. Earth might have been quite large, but the universe always had ways of bringing people together again. And considering the bad blood between them, Arcee and Airachnid's rivalry wasn't going to end that easily.

Though in Jack's opinion, he hoped it wouldn't be so...hectic next time.

"Jack...I'm sorry you had to face my demons today." Arcee apologized, frowning at how close things had gotten. For a time, she had no idea how things were going with Jack. He could have died, ended up one of Airachnid's trophies. But with such thoughts, a smile also emerged, "You were pretty fearless out there, weren't you?"

Jack chuckled, waving off the praise, "Me? Oh no, I was...I was terrified."

"Mostly for you though."

There had been much running through Jack's mind during the entire experience. A rage towards Airachnid, a terrified expression plastered on his face, and maybe even a tiny bit of thrill. Some odd, others confusing, and one or two were even blood boiling. But by the end of it, only one thing had been running through Jack's mind.

Arcee smiled as she activated her communicator, "Arcee to base. Requesting a ground bridge."

Trying yet again to contact the base, Arcee let out a sigh of relief when Ratchet answered her call. Without the interference from Airachnid's ship, the connection between Arcee and the base was as clear as day. In fact, Arcee could swear that the connection was even greater now!

Didn't help with the mosquitoes though unfortunately.

"Need to get my partner away from any over-sized insects." she smirked, silently watching as Jack glanced up at her, his own smile also forming.

"Partner, eh?"

The femme chuckled and gently patted Jack on the shoulder, "Junior Partner. Still need to pull rank on you."

The duo shared a small bit of laughter, a feeling that was greatly welcomed. After so much worry, pain, anger, and even some tears, Arcee and her 'Junior' Partner were more than happy to laugh a bit.

Such laughter was what held the two over as they waited for the Ground Bridge. And after a few minutes of waiting, the sight of the vortex appearing was more than a sight for sore eyes for them both. The Ground Bridge was like a nice wake up call, to deliver the duo from quite the horrific nightmare. It was surely something both Jack and Arcee were more than ready to wake up from.

Arcee was the first to approach the portal, more than happy to put the entire situation behind them. Jack on the other hand, hesitated. As Arcee continued onward, Jack fumbled with his feet for a moment. Words spun around inside his head, unsure of how to make themselves real. Eventually though, Jack glanced up and called out to the femme.

"Arcee..."

The femme stopped and turned to Jack, confusion on her faceplate, "If you ever need to just...you know, talk? I'm always here for you, okay?"

Awkward delivery aside, Arcee smiled down at Jack, "I'll keep that in mind."

Jack returned the smile, the two partners sharing a brief moment of silence, of understanding. Once over though, both 'Partners' made their way through the Ground Bridge and left behind the ruins of Airachnid's ship. With it, they left behind quite a number of memories. Many that were painful and many that were best left forgotten. But with such memories gone, the two emerged from the hellish reunion with two souvenirs. The bond between the duo, now far greater than it had been mere hours ago.

And the other? It was something Jack wasn't even entirely aware of yet.

A power, rekindled by the rage he felt towards Airachnid. A righteous rage, one that hit the deepest parts of his soul. and while the flame had cooled for a time, Jack was now aware of it. He wanted to know more about it, something that could possibly help him and his friends.

But, such power was not acquired so easily.

Nor, did it come without a price.

AN:

You know when a chapter goes on a lot longer than you meant it to? Well, this chapter is perhaps one of the biggest examples of that I've ever experienced! This thing is huge! Monstrous! And it was NOT meant to be at first! I swear! I was actually thought this one was going to be short! I mean it!

Still, sorry for how long this one took I did NOT mean for it to take so long. Just a lot of stuff got in the way. Personal, school, and just how long it went onward for!

But, I'm getting off topic. Sorry for how long this one took. Didn't mean to. Hopefully the next one won't take as long.

That aside, I hope you all enjoyed this one. And if you have any concerns, PM me a question or include it in your review! See you guys next time.

RxR- Read & Review please.