I'M NOT DEAD!

Sorry for not posting last week, but between schoolwork and church, I was tied up! Sorry about that.

I'm also trying my hand at my first original chapter, which is another reason this took so long. This happens during the events of 'Stronger, Faster.'

One more thing, a reader asked if the rats mentioned last chapter have anything to do with Argit. Answer: No. Different alien species.

I don't own Ben 10 or Transformers Prime.

Prime 10: Mystery

Ratchet poured a glowing orange liquid into a small container. This was a batch of synthetic Energon Ratchet had made up from the formula that Bulkhead had written down. The last few batches had… less than stellar results.

Ratchet took a look at the latest batch through his microscope. "Surprisingly stable," he said, as he remembered that the last time he had ended up with soot covering his faceplates. "Maybe it needs a quickening agent," he said, pulling out a small vial of a light magenta liquid.

He added one small drop to the mixture. It released a small puff of smoke, before turning a steady green.

"Almost done," said Ratchet to himself. "Now, we have to test it."

"Mind if we watch?" someone asked from the entryway.

Ratchet looked up as Ship and Raf came into the lab along with a yellow-skinned alien with a lighter yellow underbelly. It had green eyes all over its body, except, ironically, on his face, which was covered by a pair of bat-like ears. He was dressed in a pair of black pants with green stripes as well as green cuffs. The Ultimatrix dial was on a green belt.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge and smiled. "Well, since you've got protective goggles, you can come in," he said. "Although… I don't know where we can get Jack some."

Jack rolled all of his eyes. "Hardy, hardy, har," he said. "Very funny."

"So, what's this alien called?" Raf asked as Ratchet went into the back room to get some equipment.

Jack grew embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. "Eye Guy," he said.

Raf stared. "Seriously?" he asked.

Jack tapped the Ultimatrix dial and returned to his human form. "Yeah. As great as a job my dad did in naming all my other aliens, he really dropped the ball with that one."

Before they could continue that discussion, Ratchet reappeared, carrying a small test engine. He placed it on the table and said, "Now we load some into this test engine and see if it works." He then proceeded to do so.

When the sample was injected, everyone held their breath and watched the engine intently to see if it worked… or to start running at the first sign of an explosion.

Fortunately it didn't explode this time. The blue lines on it turned green and the wheels started turning.

"It works!" said Raf. "Hey Bumblebee!"

"Ep, ep, ep!" said Ratchet. "This stage of the formula requires further testing before we can begin to use it for fuel, ammunition, or first aid."

Perceptor transformed from where he had been doing duty as the microscope and took over the explanation. "Which is rather unfortunate, since our own Energon reserves are decreasing rapidly. Our severely outnumbered warriors have been burning through our stockpiles as of late as the Decepticon army continues to grind us down."

"Natural Energon is in short supply on your world, and Megatron seems to have his oily claws in all of Earth's deposits." Ratchet then grew hopeful. "But if we can figure out how to successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all of the Energon we would need!"

Just then, a ringing sounded. "That would be me," said Ship, pulling out his badge. Flipping it open like a cellphone, he put it up beside his head and said, "Hello."

Then, an alarm came up. Ratchet ran over to the computer. "Energon on the move," he said.

"Ugh… again," said Bulkhead.

"These incidents lead to a familiar pattern," Optimus said. "The Decepticons are desperate to find new places to mine. Autobots…"

"Optimus," said Ratchet. "If one of you comes back wounded this time… well… our Energon reserves will be at an all-time low."

"Understood," said Optimus. "Autobots, roll out!"

After the Autobots left, Ship came back into the main area.

"Now, I'm not disagreeing with your intel," said Ship, "but you also have to consider the source. And how many times has this particular source double-crossed us?"

Ship put a hand over his face at the answer he must have gotten. "Okay. Just tell Kevin that one of these days, his old friend is going to get us all killed."

Closing his badge, he turned to Ratchet. "Can I borrow the groundbridge?" he asked. "I need to get somewhere fast."

The medic grunted an affirmative.

Ship typed in a set of coordinates. "Thanks," he said.

The medic waved a servo as he looked over the data from the synthetic Energon test.

Ship activated the groundbridge and ran into it, putting on his I.D. mask as he ran into the tunnel.

The groundbridge portal opened up in an alleyway and Ship in his human disguise leapt out of it. He looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He scowled and kicked at the ground.

"Should have known better than to listen to a tip from Argit…" he muttered.

That was the last thing he said before he was hit with an electrical shock and he blacked out.

Jack watched as the groundbridge started back up. Just earlier, he and Raf ran into the medbay after hearing a crash. They had found Ratchet lying flat on the floor, an empty vial beside him. When the medic had gotten back online, he had green optics. That was when they had received a transmission from Optimus, and the medic had raced out to help. Now the two humans were awaiting the return of the Autobots along with Perceptor.

They then stepped through the vortex, with Ratchet in the lead. "What happened?" asked Raf.

"I only saw the gory aftermath," said Bulkhead. "But from what I heard, the doc was a one-bot wrecking machine!"

Raf yelped as Ratchet picked him off of the ground. "Hey there, little fella," he said, putting him on the human platform.

"Alright, what's your secret?" asked Arcee.

The medic smirked. "No secret," he said, picking up a vial from the table. "Just a little thing I call 'Synth-En.'"

Arcee looked at the liquid, then passed it to Bumblebee. She then asked, "From the data Bulkhead transcribed? But I thought that it was incomplete."

"Not anymore," Ratchet said with a hint of a smirk on his faceplate.

Bumblebee beeped as he passed the vial to Bulkhead, who said, "So Ratchet makes a better tough gut, than I do a smart guy?" he asked.

"I still question the wisdom of using yourself as the first test subject," Perceptor said as the vial was passed to Optimus.

"I'd have to agree with Perceptor," the Prime said.

"Optimus," said Arcee. "You didn't see Ratchet out there. He was in overdrive! We should all try this stuff!"

"Or give Ratchet more, so that we can take a vacation!" Bulkhead suggested with a grin.

Preceptor and Optimus exchanged a glance. "The initial results seem promising…" said the scientist.

"However, I recommend that further testing be restricted to machines," said the Prime. "Outnumbered we may be, we need a warrior in the laboratory right now, more than we need one in the field." Ratchet nodded in acknowledgment.

That was when Yuki phased into the base. Turning tangible, she folded her wings and looked around.

"Hey, has anyone seen Ship?" she asked.

Static filled Ship's vision as his optical sensors came back online. He groaned and felt the back of his head, gingerly fingering some burnt circuitry. "I'm going to feel that in the morning," he groaned.

He sat up and took in his surroundings. He was in a glass jar, with smooth sides and a power disrupter at the opening. It was big enough for a medium-sized Cybertronian.

Ship sighed. "And, I'm in a glass jar again. Just great," he said.

"How have you been in this situation before?" someone asked.

Ship looked to his right. In the jar next to him, was a Cybetronian. It was sitting in the shadows, so he couldn't see its frame. Judging by its voice, however, it was a femme.

He saw no harm in answering. "I was taken by a group of bad men when I was young so that I could produce heavily armed spaceships for them."

"That's not a bad fate," said the mystery voice.

Ship snorted. "I was treated as a tool," he said. "They took away my free will and made me attack my friends. What could be worse than that?"

"I would have been shunned by my fellow Autobots and locked up to be experimented on," she shot back as she approached the side of her jar and into the light.

She was a femme. However, she looked like she was partially organic, this being most obvious in her helm, with part of the metal being replaced with skin and some of her circuitry being exposed. There were also a couple of pincers on her helm. Her coloring was mainly purple and black, with just a hint of gold. She had two extra legs above her shoulders, and a pair of spikes on her arms. But, what was the most striking thing about her was her optics. She had four of them, with the bigger ones being normal Autobot blue. Her upper pair were Decepticon red, but the pupils were the same blue as her main eyes.

Ship tilted his head. "Why would that happen?" he asked as she put on a black and yellow helmet that covered all her helm except her optics and mouth.

"Because I'm a technorganic freak!" she shrieked.

That struck a nerve in Ship. "I could take exception to that," he said, "considering that I AM a technorganic being!"

That shut up the femme. "Really?" she asked. "I have never met another one like you before."

Ship snorted. "Big surprise," he said. "Your people have been too busy fighting your war."

"What war?"

Ship spun around at the femme's question. "What war?" he repeated. "The war that has spanned millennia! The war that has rendered Cybertron lifeless!"

The femme shook her helm. "Where I come from, the war has been over for some time, and has only started back up recently."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Huh," said Ship. He began pacing along the floor of his cell. "There are two possibilities here. One, you are from the future. Or, two-"

Before Ship could continue, a door slammed open, and something walked in.

Ship's eye widened at who he saw. "Oh, scrap."

"There's still no sign of Ship?" asked Jack.

It was the next day. He and Yuki were in the Autobot base, discussing the possible whereabouts of the missing Plumber.

"Nope," said Yuki. "He's not answering his calls either. I'm starting to get worried about him."

"Shouldn't he be able to take care of himself?"

"Yes, he should, but if he's going to be away for more than a day, he usually tells someone."

They rounded the corner, and Jack saw the big hole in the wall. He whistled. "Who did this?" he asked.

"Ratchet. He threw Bulkhead through it."

"No way."

"Yep. And then he challenged Bumblebee to a race, and hit on Arcee."

"Is he still functioning?"

"Yes, I think she was too shocked to do anything about it."

The duo came back into the main room to watch the rest of the Autobots go through the groundbridge, even Ratchet, leaving Perceptor to work the controls.

Yuki turned to Jack. "I'm tired of hanging around," she said. "I'm going to go look for Ship."

"I'm coming with you." Yuki shot Jack a look. "He's my partner too. And you'll probably need backup too. Besides, even if you leave me behind, I'll just pull a Miko."

Yuki sighed. "Very well," she said.

The groundbridge opened and Jack and Yuki jumped out, Yuki holding out her Plumbers badge.

She checked a display on it. "According to his badge, Ship should be right… here," she said.

There was no sign of the techno-organic alien. Yuki took another look. "This thing must be on the fritz," she said. "That happens every once in a while."

"Or there is another reason," said Jack. He held up Ship's badge from where he had found it on the ground. "We found the badge, but we've lost the agent."

Yuki's own foot nudged against something. She knelt and picked up the object. "Ship's I.D. mask," she said. "Something must have knocked it off."

"So, we can assume that whoever did this knows about aliens." After getting a look from Yuki, he continued, "If our assailant knocked off the mask, he would have seen Ship's true form. Since they didn't freak out and leave him here, they must be an alien or know about them."

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "You're really good at this," she said.

"I read a lot of detective novels," was the reply. "So what do we do now?"

"What else, Dr. Watson?" said Yuki. "We ask around."

"A bar?" Jack asked.

Yuki gave him a look. "No, a diner," she said. "An alien diner. No humans allowed."

"Still, I can't go in?" asked Jack.

"Nope, they really don't appreciate humans coming in," continued Yuki. "Now, wait here, I won't be long." With that, she went inside.

Jack stayed there for about fifteen minutes before he got bored. He then shook his head. "Forget this," he said and activated the Ultimatrix.

The Cybertronian watched Ship as he leaned against the wall of his jar. "How can you be so relaxed?" she asked.

"I'm waiting," Ship said. "When my team gets here, they'll bust us out of here in no time."

"If you say so."

"Hey, I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't say it."

"So, what's your name?"

"Call me Blackarachnia."

There was quiet conversation in the diner, the practitioners trying to keep it down at the request of the owner. They didn't notice the four-armed, red-skinned alien that entered in. If they did, they would have noticed that he had green eyes.

Jack, as Four Arms, breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that he had discovered a disguise option on the Ultimatrix that replaced the green and black uniforms his aliens usually wore with clothes that most of their species did. And he was glad to see that a dark brown tunic with black pants and a black cloak didn't stand out too much in this crowd.

As he was thinking about that, a robot with a female build came over to him. "Welcome to Dexter's Diner, do you wish to be seated?" she said.

Jack blinked for a moment, them said, "No thanks, I'm looking for a friend."

"Can you tell me who you are looking for?"

"Well, she's a Necrofriggan…"

The robot put her hands on her hips. "You're going to have to be more specific, mister," she said. "We have about a dozen Necrofriggans in here."

"She calls herself Yuki."

The robot shuttered her optics. "Oh, her!" she said. "She's right this way. Please follow me."

She led him to Yuki, who was talking to another alien of the same species that Jack currently was, except this one was getting along in years and projected an air of cheerfulness.

The robot approached Yuki. "Someone to see you, miss," she said.

Yuki turned and saw Jack. Her eyes narrowed. "Dexter," she said. "Is there someplace quiet were we can talk?"

He nodded. "Just a moment," he said. "Hey, Swift!"

Another alien looked up. She also had red skin, but lack additional arms and eyes. She had a golden trident-like horn on her head that acted as a headpiece to hold back her short black hair. She also had a short tail that peeked out from under her waitressing uniform.

"Yes, boss?" she asked.

"Can you manage the counter for a while? I've got some business in the back."

"About the sink?"

"Yeah, that."

"On it," she said, and Dexter led them to a back room, on their way passing another alien pushing a mop. He was in grey body armor, with three slits that glowed orange.

Once they were away from the rest of the patrons, Dexter turned around and asked, "So, this is the Jack you've told me about?"

Jack jumped a bit, startled. "You've heard of me?" he asked.

Dexter chuckled. "Of course I do," he said. "As an undercover Plumber, I know all of the agents."

Jack thought of something. "And your employees…?"

"Agents also. Although, I have to wonder, what brings you two to my base? Last I heard, you two were stationed in in Nevada."

"My partner's gone missing and his last known location was in this area," Yuki said.

Dexter scratched his head. "Wish I could help you," he said. "But I'm busy on another case… oh no."

"What?"

"I've been having my team following a black- market auction lately, and if what I fear is true, your partner has just become the latest commodity available."

"Then we need a way into there," said Jack.

Dexter pulled out a card out from somewhere. "This will get you in," he said. But, you will need a disguise that no one will question."

Jack grinned as he remembered a certain alien in the Ultimatrix.

The place where the auction was held was packed with all different kinds of aliens, some of them the most villainous slime in the universe. However, heads still turned when the Vladat walked into the room, with a Necrofriggian on his arm. He was dressed in a grey tux, with a sweeping black cape, and a dark hood. Glaring at the crowd from behind the grey domino mask that he was wearing, the crowd quickly got the message and turned away from the alien vampire.

Jack, in the form of Whampire, whispered to Yuki, "How am I doing?"

"You're doing great so far," she said.

"So, vhen is the mastermind behind this going to show up?"

"There he is now," said Yuki.

An armored jeep pulled up and screeched to a halt and out stepped a human. He looked every inch a con-man, with slick greasy hair, pressed coat, and beady eyes.

"Hello!" he said. "And welcome! Thank you all for coming!"

He smiled, revealing pearly white teeth. "I'm sure you all want to get on with the auction, but first, since all of you have revealed your true faces, I must return the favor."

With that, he blinked out of existence.

Jack blinked. "Vhat?" he said.

Then the armored car began breaking apart and reforming. When it was done, it was a mech standing thirty feet tall. His helm was the same oily-black as his hologram's hair, and he had the same shifting look reflected in his optics.

"Now, allow me to introduce myself," he said. "My name is Swindle."

Yuki muttered something under her breath that probably wasn't complimentary.

"Vhat's the scoop on this guy?" asked Jack in a sub-vocal tone that only insects and other Vladats could pick up on.

"Swindle is a Combaticon," she replied in the same tone. "If he gets with the rest of his team, they can combine into Bruticus, a powerhouse of a Cybertronian. On his own however, he relies on his silver tongue to talk his way out of trouble. He's a con artist, knows every trick in the book. Probably wrote some of it himself," she added as an afterthought.

"Vhat's his fighting style?" Jack asked.

"Hand-to-hand, he's pretty lousy. However, he has a supply of exotic weaponry that would make Deadpool jealous."

"Ain't that the truth!" a guy dressed in a red and black bodysuit shouted from the front row, drawing angry looks from those sitting right beside him.

"Vhat's he selling?" Jack asked.

Before Yuki could answer, Swindle said, "If there are no more interruptions," he said shooting a pointed look at the guy who spoke up, "let us begin the main event!"

Then the curtain rose, revealing ten glass jars, each filled with a different alien creature.

"If the price is right," said Swindle, "any one of these could be yours! The perfect pet, or the next weapon of mass destruction! What do ya say? Bidding starts now!"

"Okay, don't answer that," said Jack.

Yuki nodded. "Time to clean house," she said, all sense of joviality gone from her voice.

Unaware of what was happening, Swindle kept asking for bids. "Come on!" he said. "Who takes the first bid?"

"I vill." Everyone turned to see a Vladat come walking up to the stage, followed by a Necrofriggan. "And I say, this party's over!"

Yuki held out her badge. "Someone call for a Plumber?" she said.

"You sure took your sweet time!" shouted Ship from his jar. "What did you do, get a smoothy?"

Yuki couldn't help it upon seeing her partner was alright. "Yep!" she said, smiling. "Would have gotten you one, but they were out of silicon!"

Ship groaned and slammed his head against the side of the jar. Blackarachnia wasn't amused. "That's your backup?" she asked. "Dracula and the Moth-Man?"

Yuki bristled. "I AM A GIRL!" she shouted.

Jack grinned. "Vell, I have one thing to say. It's Hero Time!" With that, he opened a compartment on his belt and hit the Ultimatrix symbol.

When the green flash had died down, standing in his place was a seven-foot tall metal suit. It looked like an old stove oven, complete with three slits in the faceplate that glowed an ominous orange. The Ultimatrix dial was on a lock encasing the armor.

"NRG!" Jack cried out in a Russian accent.

At the sight of his transformation, most of the crowd bolted, most of them crying out "Tennyson!" Showing that there's something to be said for legacies.

Meanwhile on stage, Swindle was backing up with his servos in the air. "Can't we talk about this?" he asked.

Yuki smiled "Of course we can," she said, her voice dripping sweetness. Then her tone hardened. "You are under arrest on charges of illegally transporting alien creatures between worlds, kidnapping, assaulting a Plumber agent, various war crimes the Autobots have against you and, depending on how you do this, resisting arrest."

Swindle cocked an optic brow. "If those are my choices, then I'll just… blast you to the Pit!" he said, as weapons popped out of hidden compartments on his body, until he was bristling with them.

Yuki and Jack just leapt at the con-bot.

At first, it seemed that they had the advantage. Sure, Swindle was firing all his weapons in every direction, but with NRG's indestructible suit and Yuki's intangibility, they had little effect on them. And NRG's radiation blasts and Yuki's ice breath didn't help.

However, Swindle had a few tricks left up his sleeve. He focused, and soon he was completely covered in a red forcefield.

"What?" asked Jack, seeing that his shots were bouncing off of it.

"Oh, this?" said Swindle. "Just something I got off of the Vok of Nexus Zero, nice folks. They make the best forcefields around. Nothing can get through these babies."

"Well, that's just prime."

"But wait, there's more!" He focused again, and soon there was a duplicate of himself standing next to him! "Hard light hologram generator! Picked up this from Prysmos. Able to make unlimited copies of any template downloaded in its program."

"Well, we still take the two of you down!"

Just then, hundreds of Swindle copies appeared, surrounding the Plumbers.

"Oh joy," Yuki deadpanned.

Swindle was about bouncing on his heels with glee. "So, will you be negotiating the terms of your surrender?" he asked.

Jack looked from Swindle to the jars, and then smirked inside his suit. "I think we'll get our own reinforcements," he said, touching the Ultimatrix dial.

With a flash of green light, he transformed into Starstriker. "Let's try this," he said, the tip of his wing off and it extended into an Energon blade. Grabbing the hilt in both servos, he swung it, releasing an energy wave… and missing all the Swindle clones.

The real Swindle laughed. "You have the worst aim ever!"

Jack smirked behind his faceplates. "Depends on what I was aiming for," he said.

Swindle's optics widened, and he turned to face his merchandise. Jack's sword swing had cut off the lids off of two of the jars, and Ship and Blackarachnia were getting out.

"Let's do this!" said Ship, turning into a blob… and reforming as a spacecraft loaded with a lot of weapons!

"Now, that's cool!" said Yuki.

"Yeah," said Ship. If I had meant to do it, he thought to himself.

Still, even with the additional firepower, the fight was still in Swindle's favor, because for every hologram they took down, another one took its place. The clones couldn't shoot, but the original was able to, and he kept taking potshots at them.

"There's too many of them!" cried Yuki.

"Well, let's get more of us!" answered Jack. But before he could activate the Ultimatrix, Swindle pulled out a bauble and activated that.

Jack slapped the dial… and nothing happened. "What?" he asked.

Swindle shook the gadget he was holding. "Knock-off of the Sonic Jammer 3000," he said. "Jams all incoming frequencies, including the one your Ultimatrix uses to transform."

Jack bit back a curse. "Anyone got any other ideas?" he asked.

"I'm out," said Ship, doing a barrel roll.

"I've got an idea," said Blackarachnia.

"Then do it!"

"This might sting."

"Wait, what-AHH!" Blackarachnia had driven her stingers into Jack's shoulders. Then, she pulled them out as quickly as she had used them. "What was that for?" he asked.

"It was…," she ground out, "so that… I could… use your… powers…"

Ship and Yuki stared at her. "That's not good," the spaceship said.

Everyone stopped and watched as Blackarachnia began to change. Her right arm turned into a bluish-green crystal, and her forearm grew slightly bigger. Her right stinger turned into a magenta crystal, while the left one turned into a yellow and black spike. Her left arm sprouted orange fur and bulked up as a single black claw grew out of her hand. Her chestplate turned a dark grey, while three orange slits opened up, while several eyes opened up on her bared midriff. Two more arms sprouted, these belonging to an orange-fur beast, as the rest of her body turned into an indigo material. A pair of jet wings pushed themselves out of her back. Finally, her helm erupted into flames.

Blackarachnia screeched, and then started attacking the holograms, utilizing a mixture of fire, radiation, sonic, and melee attacks. The three Plumbers stopped fighting and watched as the mutated spider tore through the holograms, literally ripping them to pixels. Soon there was only the original Swindle left.

He looked shaken, but he quickly regained his composure. "You can't hurt me while I'm in my forcefield."

Blackarachnia narrowed her optics and eyes, then simply put all four hands together and the forcefield vanished, and then launched herself at him.

Swindle watched as Blackarachnia came flying toward him. "Scrap," he said weakly before her fist connected with his helm.

Swindle fell down on the ground, out cold. That was also the time that Blackarachnia's borrowed powers also gave out and she returned to her normal techno-organic state and she fell to her knees. The Ultimatrix also ran out of power, and Jack returned to human. "What do we do now?" he asked.

Just then, a green truck pulled up, and out stepped a cat-like alien. "Agent Ship," he said. "Magister Levin said that you were in trouble."

Ship waved a hand. "Not anymore, Rook," he said. "Everything's taken care off."

"Is there anything I can do?" the Plumber asked.

"You can take Swindle into custody and return all these aliens to their rightful places."

Rook saluted. "It shall be done right away, sir," he said.

"Sure thing. You coming, Black… where did she go?"

For the spider-con was nowhere in sight.

Ratchet gasped as he woke up on a med berth, but Optimus gently pushed him back down. "Easy old friend," he said. "You've lost a lot of Energon… both good and bad."

Ratchet hung his helm and covered his faceplates with his servos. "I didn't want to hurt anyone," he said. "I just wanted to help so badly.

Optimus nodded. "I can't blame you, old friend. But, in your rashness to do so, you almost caused us to lose something else, our friend and trusted medic.

"That being said, you did lead us to a new supply of Energon." Optimus indicated the other four Autobots who were bringing in the last of the Energon.

Ratchet managed a small smile. "The synthetic Energon still needs more testing… on machines, not Autobots."

Optimus managed a small smile. But before he could say anything else, Yuki's voice came over the comm. "Can someone send a groundbridge?"

Perceptor complied, and the vortex opened again. Out of the vortex came Jack, Yuki, and Ship, all looking tired.

"What happened?" asked Arcee.

All three looked at each other and said, "Long story."

"And that's all there is to say," said Ship.

It had been two days since they had busted up Swindle's operation, and Ship had finally gotten around to delivering his report on the incident. When he had finished, he leaned back with a sigh, rubbing the back of his head.

"So," said Max. "We know that Swindle is on Earth, as well as this 'Blackarachnia' that you had mentioned. Any idea who she is?"

"Not a clue," said Ship. Changing the subject, he said, "Did we ever get that spy on the Nemesis?"

Max nodded. "Yes we did, just yesterday." Looking over the written report, he said, "I'm sending you to get a checkup on Galvan Prime, I don't like how you said your systems were acting up."

"Sure thing," said Ship. "When do I leave?"

"I'm sending you tomorrow."

"One more thing," said Ship. "The next time anyone sees Paradox, could they tell him that I need to speak to him?"

Blackarachnia stood in spider form, on a hill overlooking the house where the Ultimatrix bearer lived. She could see him, Jack, sitting at the table with his mother. She was planning out how to best rush down and get the device, when someone behind her said, "Hello!"

She jumped and turned to see one of the humans standing behind her. He was dressed in a white lab coat, with a brown vest and green goggles around his neck. He then spoke. "Good to see you again, Blackarachnia. Or is this the first time we have met? Time travel makes things so confusing."

Blackarachnia cocked her helm. "Do I know you?" she asked.

"Yes we have! Remember Archa 7?"

The femme gasped as the memory replayed in her processor.

In a cavern, a femme was sobbing. This femme was formerly Elita-1, Elite guard trainee, and friend of Sentinel and Optimus Prime. Although with the other, she wished that it could have been more…

But that dream, like all her others, were ashes. Destroyed by her own ability to adapt. In taking on the characteristics of the spiders that had hunted her down here, she was partially transformed into one.

She pulled her knees closer to her and wept some more. "Cursed organics," she gasped. "What did I do to deserve this nightmare? To be stuck this way forever?"

"Oh, being organic isn't all that bad," a new voice said. "I survived as one for at least twelve hundred years."

She jumped and saw another figure standing beside her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I've had many names, but for now, call me Paradox."

Blackarachnia narrowed her optics. "You told me that I would be rid of my organic side if I went to Earth," she accused.

"I did not say that," said Paradox. "I said that you would gain your true self on Earth. I didn't say what it was."

Blackarachnia grabbed the time traveler. "Listen here," she said. "For once, I want a straight answer out of you! No riddles, no mystic sayings, and above all, no paradoxes!"

Paradox chuckled. "You do realize who you are talking to?" he asked.

The spider femme thought back on her statement. "Touché," she said.

She set the human down. He dusted off his coat and said, "However, sometimes the answers are convoluted. If one knows about the future, one would act to change it. For example, if you'd know about the danger of Archa 7, would you have gone there?"

Blackarachnia shook her helm.

"But if that had happened, Optimus Prime wouldn't have been kicked out of the Elite Guard, and wouldn't have been assigned to that repair ship. The All-Spark would have fallen into Decepticon servos, and Megatron would have conquered your Cybertron."

Blackarachia took a step back, processing this new information. "So in a way," she said, "I helped save Cybertron." Her optics then narrowed. "Still, doesn't mean I had to go through this!"

Paradox nodded his head. "Yes, it could have gone another way," he said. "However, your timeline has to follow a pattern. In order for the integrity to be kept constant, certain events must happen. Someone has to be left on Archa 7, someone has to keep the All-Spark out of Megatron's clutches, and you and Optimus… wait, I said too much."

"What about me and Optimus?"

"Spoilers. I can't tell you. Anyway, you are currently in a new dimension, as Ship summarized."

"You know Ship?"

"Yes, he is a crucial part of this timeline. Anyway, I usually try to prevent the alternate timelines and dimensions from crossing, but I don't think you would be welcome in your home dimension for some time. In this one, the Great War is still going on. You could join either side, or you could remain neutral."

Blackarachnia thought for a moment. "Wouldn't they be turned off by my… condition?"

"Arcee has a thing against spiders, but that's only because she had a bad experience with one."

"I think I would like to join the Autobots at some time, but for now, I want to remain neutral."

"Good choice!" said Paradox. "Then I would suggest that you join the Plumbers."

"You want me to clean human's drainage systems?"

"Of course not! The Plumbers are an intergalactic police force. You already know one of them."

"I do?"

"In fact, here he comes now."

"What?" But when she turned around, the time traveler was gone. She was about to leave, when she heard the whine of engines. She looked up to see a black and green spaceship flying close to the ground. As it came closer, it began to shrink and shifted into a familiar figure.

Ship looked up from where he landed. "I was told you'd be in the area," he said. "So, what do you think?"

Blackarachnia looked up at the stars, and then back at Ship. "Are you accepting applicants?" she asked.

And there we are.

And we have two new Cybertronians: Swindle and Blackarachnia.

Swindle in this one is based off of his Animated self, except he has the combiner abilities.

And as for Blackarachnia, she is actually from the Animated universe. I figure that Starstriker would have Codon energy (what the Ultimatrix runs on) in his mods, and that she trying to download it would be like what Kevin would do in the TV series. Only it doesn't last as long and she is still in control.

And Paradox sure gets around.

Anyone see the cameo? Imaginary cookies for those who do!

As always, review! Those are appreciated.

Also, check out my new story, 'Transformers Starcrossed.'

-Bibliothekar of the LibraryNexus