Beast Wars: Symmetries
Black Rose
Tarantulas sat buoyantly at his desk, in his secret base located far in the outskirts of the city. His surroundings were humble, characterized by mostly computers and other high tech equipment given to him by Megatron. To the far end of a wall, a picture of the Predacon leader riddled with darts hung proudly.
What contributed to his good mood was his recent ascension. Weeks ago, he had contacted the Disciples of the Watch and requested membership. Several tests were presented to him and he had passed them all. Now, in a matter of minutes, he would become a card-carrying member of their society.
The Disciples of the Watch were a world-wide organization of assassins, hidden for the most part from the world. Every time their name was brought up, they were quickly dismissed as an urban myth.
Tarantulas, however, knew better than 99 percent of the Earth's population.
Not only were they were assassins, they were the world's greatest assassins who had never failed once in their missions. With the Disciples on his side, Tarantulas realized that almost nothing would stand in his way.
Soon enough, as expected, his com-link came to life. Pressing a button on his computer, Tarantulas turned to face the screen.
"Greetings, Brother Amin!"
"Greetings to you, Brother Tarantulas."
The man on the screen faced Tarantulas evenly. Most of his features were hidden in the shadows although the Predacon scientist could make out a few physical characteristics such as his bald head and the cybernetic eye implanted on the right side of his head.
"The Disciples are most thankful for your contributions," Brother Amin began. "Without your donations, we would not have progressed so much in our scientific branch."
"The pleasure's all mine, Brother Amin," Tarantulas replied. "Membership to your esteemed society will have its benefits as well."
Amin's features were not readable. "Yes, it's still hard to believe that a highly advanced being such as yourself would seek to benefit us with otherworldly technology."
"The benefits will be mutual," Tarantulas chuckled. "I will offer you information to help enhance your operations and your men will help me on endeavors of my choosing."
"That sounds good, yes. Speaking of which, five of our best warriors will be at your coordinates at the exact time and location you have specified."
"Thank you, Brother Amin."
"It is an honor working with you, Brother Tarantulas. Farewell for now."
"That's it, Cheetor!" Optimus encouraged. "Keep the attack up."
Cheetor fired off a few rapid punches which Optimus summarily blocked. The two of them were sparring in the combat training room. Rattrap sat to the side and watched with amusement.
"Keep your arms up, kid!" Rattrap shouted. "You ain't gonna last long against Pop Op without protectin' yourself!"
"Pipe down, rat face!" Cheetor growled. "I know what I'm doing!"
"Do you?" asked Optimus as he grabbed the younger Maximal by the arm and swung him to the ground.
"Ouch…" Cheetor groaned. "Why do we gotta do this? I mean, if I'm in a bind, all I gotta do is use my quasar cannon or just transform to beast mode and let my teeth do the talking!"
Optimus helped Cheetor up.
"We have to learn how to fight without any weapons. Otherwise, we'd rely too much on our weapons and in certain situations, it could prove deadly."
"Yeah," Rattrap chimed. "Just face it kid. You can't fight."
"I'll show you a thing or two about fighting!" Cheetor growled.
"Let's see what you're made of then, spots," taunted Rattrap.
"I'm going to referee this," Optimus broke in. "I can't let you two go all out, especially when tensions are high."
"Don't worry about me, Optimus," Rattrap waved dismissively. "I'm a combat veteran wit' years of experience! I can handle myself!"
Optimus glared down at Rattrap and crossed his arms.
"I'm still moderating this sparring session, Rattrap."
Cheetor and Rattrap stared each other down. As soon as Optimus gave the signal, they attacked.
Cheetor was the first to strike, throwing several punches aimed at Rattrap's head. The older Maximal dodged all the blows and quickly dropped to the floor, taking Cheetor down with a sweep kick.
Quickly, Cheetor leaped back to his feet and attacked again. This time, Rattrap side stepped Cheetor and tripped him, causing the younger Maximal to crash head first into the floor.
"Admit it kid, you're outta 'yer league!" Rattrap gloated.
"Fat chance, cheese breath!" Cheetor snarled. "Beast mode!"
As soon as Cheetor had transformed into the golden cheetah he was known for in his alternate form, he slammed into Rattrap, knocking the crafty old Maximal down.
"You really asked for it this time, kid!"
Cheetor attempted to pounce on his opponent but Rattrap raised his knee rapidly and slammed it into Cheetor's face. Enraged and in pain, Cheetor raised his paws and with claws extended, slashed Rattrap across the chest.
Rattrap looked down at the three claw marks made across his chest. Since the claws of a cheetah were not that powerful, the slash did not hurt him much. Still, he was a bit surprised with Cheetor's temerity. Quickly, Optimus got in between the two.
"Okay, that's enough! Sparring session is over."
"Consider yourself lucky, kid!" Rattrap smirked. "I would've had you tappin' out in no time!"
"Doesn't look like it to me," Cheetor glared. "I would've made mincemeat out of you in less than a few nano-kliks."
"That's enough," Optimus sighed. "Have the two of you cooled down yet?"
Finally, after a few cycles, both Cheetor and Rattrap conceded to Optimus.
"Sorry for losing my temper, Big Bot."
"Yeah, same here, Donkey Kong."
"Anyways, since Rhinox is going to be out documenting the fauna in the Malachite Caves tomorrow night, he wants the two of you to go to the woods in the outskirts of the city to study the night life there in his place."
"What's to see besides a buncha hootin' owls?" Rattrap muttered.
"Trust me," Optimus smiled. "Nocturnal species are much more diverse than you think. Now go get some rest. We'll have a busy night tomorrow."
"You've done well," Tarantulas praised as he ran one claw smoothly down the stasis pod before him.
Five assassins, dressed in black, stood before the rogue Predacon scientist. What was distinct about them were the large insect-like eyes that adorned their masks. Other than that, their choice of clothing resembled that of modern ninjas.
They had come from the Disciples of the Watch to aid Tarantulas.
"The spark in question is distinctly female," explained the super computer behind Tarantulas.
"Female, eh?" Tarantulas chuckled. "This is better than I had hoped!"
"Brother Tarantulas," one of the assassins finally spoke. "Will you require any further assistance?"
"Not tonight," Tarantulas told him. "You've performed your jobs as specified. The rest of the night belongs to you."
Immediately, all five black-clad assassins bowed and left the room.
"Time for a field test," Tarantulas said, turning his attention back to the computer to run a scan. "There must be some beast mode in this forsaken wasteland worth my efforts."
After several field scans, Tarantulas had found a beast mode most suitable for the protoform. It was a black widow spider, lurking just outside of his lair. He prided himself on being able to maintain a spacious base and yet, still have the company of other creatures like him literally hanging around.
After inserting a Predacon chip within the pod and installing several chips within, Tarantulas switched on the machines to activate the dormant protoform. A severe flash blinded Tarantulas temporarily before he could raise his head again. Finally, the stasis pod's latch opened as four slender legs appeared.
Tarantulas watched in amazement as a black widow spider whose size was comparable to his emerged from the pod.
"Blackarachnia, Terrorize!"
Before Tarantulas stood a slender femme-bot with numerous features that caught his optics. While she was gold-plated, she had many characteristics that resembled him from the machine gun legs mounted on her shoulders to the razor-sharp claws that were in place of her hands. In short, she was a striking sight to the Predacon scientist.
"I- I am Tarantulas, your creator," Tarantulas stuttered, unable to find the right words. "I assume you understand your programming."
"No need to be shy around me, tall, dark, and gruesome," the new Predacon smiled. "I get what you're saying."
Tarantulas snapped out of his stupor. "Do you remember anything about your previous life before being integrated as a protoform inside that stasis pod?"
"Not a thing," Blackarachnia replied as she walked slowly towards the nervous Tarantulas. "Maybe you can help me…"
"I-I can do that," Tarantulas managed to say. "However, my services do not come free!"
"I figured as much," Blackarachnia grinned, placing a claw on Tarantulas' trembling shoulder. "Besides, I don't particularly care about the past. I won't mind… starting fresh."
"In that case, I should probably explain to you everything that is going on here."
"You do that, legs."
"We are Predacons, caught in a small-scale war on a planet outside the universe where we originated," Tarantulas explained. "The Maximals, our sworn enemies, have taken a vow to annihilate us completely! Although in the case of a femme-bot such as yourself, they would have a fate worse than death in store…"
Blackarachnia glared at him. "Don't patronize me, Tarantulas. I know what the Maximals are and what they stand for. They couldn't hurt a cyber-fly under extreme duress, let alone lay a hand on me."
"Nevertheless, they represent the greatest threat to us," Tarantulas stammered, trying to exercise damage control. "They will no doubt attempt to stop us from conquering Earth."
"Where?" Blackarachnia asked as she raised an eyebrow.
Tarantulas explained, huffing himself up. "The planet Earth is where we are at. For centuries, this planet has been unknown to our race… until now. It is infested by biped creatures known as humans… loathsome creatures at best, fit only to serve us."
"You're making my head spin," Blackarachnia groaned. "Just get to the juicy details of this conversations already."
"Direct as well as lovely," Tarantulas chuckled with his confidence boosted. "Tomorrow night, I have a task that I may not complete without someone as bold and as proficient as you…"
For Tarantulas, the night seemed to have passed much more quickly than he would have liked it to.
"Rattrap?"
"Yeah?"
The two comrades were in the woods near the outskirts of the city as specified by Optimus. They were documenting and studying nocturnal specimen for Rhinox, who had gone to the Malachite Caves along with Optimus. So far, they, in their beast modes, had seen a deer mouse, a raccoon, and an owl.
"You really think we're gonna survive this war?" asked Cheetor.
"I dunno," Rattrap answered.
"Come on, you've seen combat before!"
"Yeah, and it wasn't pretty! I was lucky 'ta get out of it alive."
"Wanna tell me about it?"
"You know why we ain't finding much animals?" Rattrap replied. "It's 'cause you're makin' too much noise!"
"Maybe they're just scared away by your smell!" Cheetor retorted angrily.
"Don't push it, kid!" Rattrap warned. "I'd hate to kick your furry butt again like I did last night!"
"Try me, garbage muncher!"
The truth was, they had encountered few nocturnal animals due to most species recognizing that a cheetah and an oversized rodent were far from natural. Now, the bickering between the two was a sure-fire way of insuring failure in documenting the animals in the environment.
Before either Cheetor or Rattrap could continue, an explosion in the distance reached their ears immediately.
"This ain't good," both Maximals said to each other simultaneously.
Immediately, they ceased their arguments and headed towards the direction of the detonation.
Staghorn Cybernetics, located at the edge of town, was a robotics firm, responsible for producing many advanced robots of monstrous proportions. Most of its robots were used in the arena of construction, although some of its projects went towards the military as well. Most famously, however, Staghorn Cybernetics was known as a competitor to its more famous business rival, Megatron Industries.
Tonight, in particular, was the first time in many years that Staghorn Cybernetics had experienced corporate sabotage.
"You idiot!" Tarantulas yelled angrily as he grabbed his henchman by the collar. "The detonation wasn't supposed to be that loud!"
The other four assassins from the Disciples of the Watch watched fearfully as Tarantulas raged on. Blackarachnia crossed her arms and looked on from a distance, uninterested in what was going on.
Finally Tarantulas threw the ninja down and glared at the other four.
"And they say you're the world's greatest assassins," he muttered scornfully.
"Believe me, sir, we try," the leader of the five Disciples offered weakly.
"Never mind that," Tarantulas sighed. "Let's just retrieve what we came for and be gone from this place!"
"I don't think so, web breath!" a voice rang from the far end of the rubble that the detonation had consumed.
"You!" Tarantulas growled as he saw Rattrap and Cheetor appearing from the smoke.
"Where'd your new dame come from?" asked Rattrap snidely.
"Blackarachnia, you come with me!" Tarantulas ordered. "As for the rest of you, annihilate the cat and the rodent!"
As the five ninjas surrounded Cheetor and Rattrap, Tarantulas and Blackarachnia fled down the halls of the building.
Wordlessly, one pair of assassins attacked Cheetor while the other pair attacked Rattrap. Their leader, on the other hand, chose to stand aside and watch, scrutinizing the battle closely.
The two assassins that attacked Cheetor revealed their weapons, one with a dagger in one hand and another dagger in the other. His partner simply unsheathed a katana blade.
The warrior with the twin daggers attacked first, attempting to slash Cheetor across the face. Cheetor quickly avoided his strikes, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him against the wall, knocking him out.
His opponent, seeing how his partner had fallen, attacked from a distance, swinging at Cheetor viciously, but with more control.
Suddenly, Cheetor yelped in surprise as the katana wielding ninja succeeded in slashing him viciously across the arm, making a small mark. Cheetor roared in anger and before the ninja knew it, the sword in his hand went flying into the air. One direct punch from the young Maximal was all it took to send the assassin into unconsciousness.
Rattrap, in the meantime, was dodging numerous blows from a pair of nunchucks and a large metal staff. Finally, he dropped down and knocked both attackers off their feet with a sweep kick. As they landed, their heads struck the ground, subsequently taking them out as well.
Before either Maximal could breathe easily, a red laser beam struck Rattrap from behind and floored him. Next to him, the leader of the ninjas stood triumphantly, wielding a powerful laser rifle.
Seeing the odds, Cheetor quickly grabbed Rattrap while dodging several more shots and hid behind several metal crates as the assassin fired mercilessly.
"You okay, Rattrap?" Cheetor asked.
"I'm fine," Rattrap replied. "He just caught me off guard, 'dat's all."
"You stay here," Cheetor told him. "I'll handle the leader."
Before Rattrap could protest, Cheetor transformed to beast mode and leaped out from behind. The leader of the assassins fired several more shots but could not hit Cheetor due to his speed and his reaction time. Finally, after more laser beams were blasted, Cheetor smashed into him from the side, knocking the gun out of his hands. As the assassin took out his sword, Cheetor pounced on top of him, slamming his head against the floor to knock him unconscious along with the rest of his teammates.
"Well, that's finished," Cheetor congratulated himself. "Let's see what Tarantulas and his new girlfriend's up to."
"Right behind ya, kid!"
The cybernetics room looked almost completely empty to Cheetor and Rattrap. So far, there was little evidence of anyone breaking in.
"Where are they?" asked Cheetor.
He and Rattrap surveyed their surroundings carefully. Before long, the sound of a grappling hook alerted them. Unfortunately, by the time they turned around, it was too late.
Blackarachnia swung gracefully through her web lining and kicked Rattrap and Cheetor in the face, knocking both Maximals down on their backs.
As Blackarachnia leaped gracefully to the floor, Cheetor was the first to get up.
"Alright, spider woman," Cheetor growled. "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you're not gonna get what you came for."
"Don't flatter yourself, golden boy," Blackarachnia sneered. "The name's Blackarachnia and I think it's time you learned some manners in how to treat a lady!"
"You're no lady!" Cheetor growled as he raised his quasar gun and fired several shots.
Blackarachnia ducked and weaved gracefully through the shots and somersaulted into the air, coming down on Cheetor with a powerful flying sidekick. The force of that kick was enough to knock the gun out of Cheetor's hand, as well as taking down the hapless Maximal.
Cheetor quickly got up again, but Blackarachnia struck him viciously across the face with one arm and floored him with a powerful spinning wheel kick.
She walked over to Cheetor's fallen body and grabbed him by the neck with one claw, lifting him up. As Cheetor regained his consciousness, he threw a punch aimed at the side of her head which Blackarachnia caught with relative easey. Mercilessly, she drove her knee into Cheetor's gut and threw him to the floor.
"How droll," she muttered as she aimed her gun at her fallen opponent. "I never did like kids."
"See how ya like 'dis, sister!" came a voice from behind her.
Before Blackarachnia could respond, Rattrap slammed into her and tackled her to the floor. Reacting immediately, Blackarachnia flipped the diminutive Maximal off.
"Alright, Blackarachnia," Rattrap glared at her. "Just who the heck are ya?"
"My, my," she smiled. "You should know better than to treat one of your former comrades this rudely."
In a few nano-kliks, it all made sense of Rattrap. She was one of the protoforms from the stasis pods that had been launched from the Axalon! How Tarantulas managed to secure her pod without the Maximals finding out was still a mystery.
Blackarachnia didn't give Rattrap much more time to think as she launched herself towards him with a barrage of kicks. Swiftly, Rattrap blocked all of them, although it was no easy task. Only his years of experience gave him the fortitude to fight against such a skilled opponent.
Crying out in frustration at fighting someone who was not easily taken down with a few kicks, Blackarachnia lunged at Rattrap, who immediately grabbed her head for leverage and flipped over her.
However, as Rattrap spun around, Blackarachnia clasped both of his hands with her vice-like claws and pulled him closer to her.
"Have you ever experienced a widow's bite?" Blackarachnia smiled suggestively as Rattrap struggled. "My fangs here are filled with cyber venom that can take down a gestalt. Although in your case, a simple kiss should be enough to do you in."
Rattrap's eyes widened as he realized that danger he was in.
"Pucker up, mighty mouse…"
Rattrap swung his head back as a last resort and when Blackarachnia's face was close enough, he slammed his forehead into her jaw, forcing the black widow to let go of him and fall back.
Visibly surprised, Blackarachnia soon spit out a broken fang and glared at Rattrap.
"You'll pay for that, rodent!" she hissed angrily.
"Oh yeah?" Rattrap sneered. "Who's gonna make me?"
The answer came soon enough as a missile struck him from behind and blasted him into stasis lock.
"What was that for?" Blackarachnia demanded. "I had him!"
"I don't want to prolong this conflict any longer!" Tarantulas shot back. "During your little fight, the Disciples have gathered themselves up and gotten what we've all come for. It's time to retreat!"
Blackarachnia looked as if she had something particularly nasty and biting to say to Tarantulas but after a few kliks, decided not to.
"What'll we do with them?" she asked, gesturing towards the unconscious bodies of Cheetor and Rattrap.
"We'll take them with us," Tarantulas grinned maliciously. "They will make useful bargaining chips."
It had taken her a few hours, but Airazor finally arrived on time at the coordinates Optimus requested her to be at. She could tell something big was up since the other Maximals normally contacted her for casual banter. This time, they needed her presence to deal with something.
"What's the situation?" asked Airazor as she landed on top of the tall building where Rhinox and Optimus stood.
"Three giant robots have escaped from this company called Staghorn Cybertronics and are now rampaging through the city," Optimus explained. "The owner of the company said on the news that it was corporate sabotage. Those three robots are being manned by the saboteurs inside."
"Guess this means we'll have to take 'em down," Airazor glanced around. "Say, where are Cheetor and Rattrap?"
"They haven't returned since last night," Rhinox replied with more than a hint of worry in his voice.
"I hate to do this when two of our friends are missing," Optimus sighed. "But right now, we need to take out those renegade drones before they hurt anymore people. We'll start the search for Rattrap and Cheetor immediately afterwards."
A loud explosion was heard in the distance.
"Time to head out!" Optimus declared with more decisiveness in his voice.
Rhinox latched on to Optimus and they, along with Airazor, flew off towards the direction of the explosion.
The Wind Raptor was an aviary nightmare to anything that could be considered a ground target. The massive robot helicopter was armed with the most powerful of weaponry from heat-seeking missiles to machine guns that fired explosive shells strong enough to tear through titanium armor. More fiendishly, it had two outstretched arms with sharp, dagger-like claws that could be used to tear apart and destroy other airborne targets without having to waste ammo.
The two pilots within included the ninjas who had allied themselves with Tarantulas and right now, they were having a field day blasting apart portions of the city with the Wind Raptor's fearsome weaponry.
Having become so complacent in riding a large metal robot that could carpet bomb entire city blocks, the two pilots jerked violently as the Wind Raptor shook from two missile blasts that rocked the ship.
"What was that!" demanded the main pilot.
"I don't know," his partner replied. "But rest assured, the Wind Raptor will shred it to pieces!"
As they turned the Raptor around, they saw what was attacking them. It was a feathery robot that looked almost like some sort of Valkyrie from Norse mythology. Unbeknownst to them, it was Airazor, firing her wrist mounted missiles towards their aircraft.
Airazor cried out as one of the machine gun blasts from the Wind Raptor struck her and knocked her off balance momentarily. As soon as she regained her balance, Airazor looked up and saw a large missile being fired at her.
Reacting quickly, Airazor dodged the missile and fired at it, causing it to explode in mid-air before it could hit any part of the city. Before she knew it, however, one of the arms from the Wind Raptor grabbed her and started squeezing.
Without any hesitation, Airazor fired into the Wind Raptor's chopper, destroying it completely. The two assassins inside, seeing their defeat, quickly leaped out of the Wind Raptor and dispatched the parachutes they had on their backpacks.
Airazor grabbed the Wind Raptor by its tail and spun it a few times before hurling it into the river where it would cause no collateral damage.
Turning her attention back to her quarry, Airazor grabbed both ninjas mid-air and flew off with them in toll to drop them off in a place where the police would easily find them without finding her.
Rhinox looked on incredulously as the Mega Taurus smashed through a building with ease. It was a large mechanical bull standing up to fifteen feet tall. So far, most of the people in the neighborhood had fled from its rampage.
"Looks like it's clobberin' time!" Rhinox shouted as he slammed into the Mega Taurus from the side to knock it down.
Swiftly, the Mega Taurus got up and turned towards Rhinox. Smoke flared out from its nostrils as it charged towards the large, green Maximal.
Rhinox quickly avoided the intended gore and grabbed the Mega Taurus by the neck, putting it in a tightly held chokehold. Before long, the Mega Taurus strained under the pressure and grinded its heels into the ground but Rhinox would still not release his grip.
Finally, with a sickening twist, Rhinox snapped off the head of the powerful Mega Taurus and threw it several kilometers away from its base. Before Rhinox could catch his breath, the powerful hooves of the Mega Taurus struck him across the face and knocked him into a small flight of cement stairs next to an apartment that had been evacuated in the wake of the devastation caused by the giant robot.
In mere seconds, the Mega Taurus finally collapsed and short-circuited soon after its decapitation. As expected, its two pilots crawled out from the wreckage and stared at the downed Rhinox.
"Tarantulas told us to destroy these so-called Maximals that he rightfully predicted would attack us," said one of the ninjas.
"So?" his partner grunted. "You do it. You have the laser rifle."
The two of them walked towards the fallen body of Rhinox as the assassin with the gun took aim at his chest level.
"Why not just blow off his head?"
"Tarantulas told us to destroy their sparks that he said would be somewhere around their chests… whatever the heck sparks are."
Before they knew it, Rhinox's optics sprang back to life as he grabbed them both by their shirts and lifted them up like dolls, forcing them to drop their rifle.
"Believe me," Rhinox groaned, still throbbing from where he had been kicked. "You don't wanna tick me off any further."
Before long, Airazor and Rhinox convened at the location of Optimus Primal who had just finished up his battle with the dreaded Lio Convoy, a massive robot that resembled a lion. The battle had been tough with Optimus being on the receiving end of a mega-blaster playfully planted within Lio Convoy's jaws but in the end, Optimus had emerged victorious as evidenced by the smoking rubble that was once Lio Convoy.
With him, Optimus held the pilot who had been controlling the Lio Convoy. It was none other than the leader of the ninja commandos who had infiltrated Staghorn Cybertronics under the orders of Tarantulas.
"I don't suppose we could ask this guy where Cheetor and Rattrap are," Airazor offered weakly, hoping to brighten their situation.
"You mean the cat and that oversized rat?" sneered the ninja. "The spiders are gonna make mincemeat out of them soon enough."
"Where are they!" Optimus demanded furiously.
"Wouldn't you like to know," the ninja commando replied sardonically.
"Let me handle this, Optimus," said Airazor as she walked over to their captive.
Without warning, she grabbed him by the foot and flew up several hundred feet into the air, waving him around as a warning. The assassin's eyes widened as he realized how precarious his situation had become with his well being dangling by a mere molecule of a thread.
Airazor smiled sweetly as she stared down at his terrified face.
"You going to tell me now?"
"The Disciples of the Watch have failed," Tarantulas mused. "Nevertheless, their failure can be rectified!"
He and Blackarachnia stood on top of a skyscraper, watching the events unfold below through tiny spider drones planted carefully throughout the city to monitor the progress of the Disciples. Behind Tarantulas, Cheetor and Rattrap were being held prisoner by energy bonds that chained their hands behind their backs. Blackarachnia stood besides them with her gun carefully trained on their heads.
"So what now?" Blackarachnia asked. "Your little Power Rangers didn't do the job. I think it's all the better if you just call it a day for now."
"Not just yet," Tarantulas hissed. "I still have one more ace up my proverbial sleeve!"
Blackarachnia rolled her optics. Oh boy. Is he that desperate to try to impress me?
"The spider drones I have deposited throughout the city contain fatal nerve agents known as GB, otherwise known as Sarin," explained Tarantulas. "Once my drones unleash their toxic vapors into the air, this city's inhabitants will suffer!"
Failing to realize what her captives were up to, Blackarachnia did not see Rattrap with a lock pick in his hands working furiously to open the bolt that generated the energy bonds.
Finally, he managed to unlatch the energy bonds behind his hand and quietly scooted closer to Cheetor to hand the pick to him.
"Here, Cheets," he whispered. "Knock 'yerself out. I'm gonna stop the spiders!"
"So how are you going to release those vapors?" asked Blackarachnia, unaware that Rattrap was sneaking up from behind her.
"With a special device I have in my hands," Tarantulas revealed as he took out a small remote control from his sub-space compartment.
"You really get off on playing the mad scientist, don't you?" Blackarachnia sighed.
"Blackarachnia… behind you!" Tarantulas shouted, his optics widening.
Before Blackarachnia could respond properly, Rattrap grasped the gun in her hand and drove his other fist into her jaw to knock her down. Immediately, he used the gun to blast Tarantulas square in the chest with a cyber venom-laden missile.
Tarantulas convulsed and seethed violently before falling prey to the Cybertronian toxins within. After Rattrap was sure the Predacon was down for the count, he walked over and picked up the remote control from the ground. After rewiring it through deliberate and careful tinkering, he disabled it.
"Whew, that should do it," he breathed more calmly.
Cheetor, who had just picked open the locks behind his hands, looked up and gasped.
"Rattrap, watch out!" he cried, but it was too late.
Blackarachnia seized Rattrap from behind and sank her fangs into his neck. Rattrap cried out and struggled as best as he could but soon, the cyber venom in her fangs had done its job.
"No!" Cheetor yelled as he attacked Blackarachnia viciously.
Blackarachnia easily blocked his first punch and sent him staggering back with a flying knee strike to his forehead.
Keep your arms up, kid!
It was here and now, that Cheetor finally recognized the wisdom in Rattrap's advice.
The female Predacon's next kick came towards the right side of his head in the form of a roundhouse. Cheetor quickly raised his arms and blocked the kick. He glared at Blackarachnia with both his arms up.
"Guess you aren't such a slow learner," Blackarachnia commented, somewhat surprised by Cheetor's quick adaptability.
"Cheetahs aren't the fastest land animals for nothing," Cheetor replied, flashing a large smile.
"Don't get cocky, junior," Blackarachnia snapped. "I'm still light years ahead of you!"
Cheetor quickly dodged a spinning side kick from the femme-bot and continued blocking her attacks, though he himself was not able to mount any offenses. Blackarachnia took a step back, surprised yet again at the younger Transformer's speed.
"Guess I'll need to take you more seriously now," she remarked.
Cheetor blinked and a split second later, the heel of Blackarachnia's boot connected with his chin, knocking him on his back. She slammed her foot down on his chest, hammering the breath out of him.
Despite his injuries, Cheetor fought back, raising his open leg and kicking her in the stomach to push her away. As he got up, Blackarachnia only came back with a devastating kick to his head that took the fight out of him for good.
"Too bad you won't get to live up to your full potential," Blackarachnia told him as she grabbed her gun that lay on the ground and pointed it towards his neck.
"Lay off him, ugly!"
Airazor flew down at full speed, slamming her fist into Blackarachnia's face, generating enough power from her airborne momentum to knock the black widow spider off the building.
Blackarachnia screamed as she plummeted but aimed carefully with her gun and fired a grappling hook from it to swing away to safety.
Airazor quickly helped Cheetor up.
"No…" he protested. "We can't let Tarantulas or Blackarachnia get away…"
Airazor looked around. So far, the only 'bots she saw around the building were Cheetor and the fallen Rattrap. If Tarantulas had been there, he had certainly pulled a quick disappearing act.
"Sorry, Cheetor, but he's nowhere to be found" she said soothingly. "I gotta get you and Rattrap back to base."
Though the injuries he had received were not grievous, Cheetor still found himself spending well over a mega-cycle in the CR chamber.
The rest of the Maximals were there to greet him when he woke up.
"You feeling alright, Cheetor?" asked Airazor.
"My pride's a bit injured, but otherwise, yeah, I feel okay."
"This new femme-bot," Optimus asked. "Is she a new protoform from a fallen stasis pod reprogrammed by Tarantulas?"
"I'd say so, yeah," Cheetor replied, holding his jaw for emphasis. "If she were just another other sparkless robot, I don't think she would've whooped my spotted butt as badly as she did…"
"That's just Prime," Optimus muttered. "But it's good that at least you and Rattrap got back safely."
"The Preds have a new recruit," said Airazor. "Guess this means the Beast Wars have just gotten larger."
"We should be able to deal with it," Rhinox replied, putting a hand on shoulder. "After all, we still have several comrades out there who haven't been reprogrammed yet. If we can just defeat Megatron beforehand…"
"Knowing Tarantulas, he most likely built a jamming device to prevent us from finding her pod," Optimus agreed.
"Hey Rattrap," Cheetor turned to the older Maximal. "Thanks for your advice from yesterday."
Wistfully, Cheetor turned away before Rattrap could respond. What if Rattrap was still upset at him over their arguments previously? Then what would he say?
"Don't mention it, kiddo. I gotta say, you put up a pretty good fight against that dame!"
"But… you were unconscious!"
"Yeah, but Airazor told me about 'yer little fight while she saw it from long distance."
"Well," Cheetor replied more confidently. "I did keep my hands up!"
"Don't get too cocky," Rattrap. "You still got a long way to go. Bein' the nice guy I am, I can help you learn the chops!"
"Really?" Cheetor asked.
"Sure thing. Tomorrow, we're hittin' the training room together," Rattrap replied as he slung his arm over Cheetor.
"Wait up," Airazor followed them. "I'm free for the next few days so I think I'll hang around and see what you boys do all day."
"Sure thing bird lady, I'll show both you and spots here a trick or two while we're at it."
"Why did you not keep more careful guard over the Maximals?" Tarantulas yelled angrily.
"If you hadn't been droning on and on about your new plans, I probably would have," Blackarachnia replied with equal amounts of venom to her voice.
"I should have known better than to reprogram you to my likeliness!" Tarantulas ranted angrily. "The beast mode of a cockroach would have been sufficient for the likes of you!"
During Tarantulas' diatribe, Blackarachnia's anger had been building slowly as well. It was now at its boiling point.
"I know what this is about," she said calmly underneath the boiling anger. "I appreciate the fact that you're doing everything in your eight-legged power to impress me, but I'm simply not into you like that!"
Before either of them could continue their tirades, the deep face of Megatron appeared on the screen.
"Tarantulas! You are needed back at base this instant!"
Suddenly, Megatron gave pause. His features widened in surprise as he glanced over at Blackarachnia with interest.
"I… assume this is a new Predacon recruit you ascertained from one of the Maximal stasis pods?" he asked.
"Yes, Megatron," Tarantulas said. "Her Maximal programming has been completely submerged in favor of her new life… as one of us."
"Excellent!" Megatron boomed. "Would you be so kind as to escort our new recruit to our abode? I am sure that I, along with the other Predacons, would be honored to greet our guest!"
Tarantulas quickly concealed the frustration he felt at having Blackarachnia being discovered by the other Predacons and responded accordingly.
"Very well, Megatron," he said with no visible sign of displease. "I will bring Blackarachnia with me."
"See that you do," Megatron replied and cut the connection.
"So…" Blackarachnia whispered behind Tarantulas. "Why didn't you tell me about the other Predacons?"
"They are unimportant!" Tarantulas barked. "I am your creator! You serve me!"
"I think not," Blackarachnia replied smoothly. "I think I like this Megatron. After all, who can resist that deep, baritone voice with that large, commanding presence? I can think of a lot of girls who'd kill to be with an assertive alpha male like him."
"You'd better not be one of them," Tarantulas muttered bitterly.
"Cool it, legs," she snickered. "Who said I was into grape face like that either? You really are insecure!"
The only sound that emanated from Tarantulas was further grumbling. Blackarachnia took notice of this and blinked innocently in his presence.
"Well, we don't want to keep our leader waiting," she said, heading towards the exit. "Aren't you going to open the door for me?"
"I've created a monster…" Tarantulas moaned as he followed her.
"While you're at it, you can prep up a good CR bath for me when we get there? I soiled my hands too much today with the Maximals."
Tarantulas glared at her from behind as she was walking. He then glanced down at his own gun.
Should I?
He put away his weapon. Maybe later…
The End.