Disclaimer: I wish they were paying me to write fan fiction. They are not.
A/N: I know, I know, I'm sorry, it's been ages. Blame the sun. It's impossible to work when your brain is melting. I'm barely managing to do my actual job and I'm constantly missing deadlines. It may sound strange but I've never been terribly fond of summer. Anyway, it's here and I'm really trying to get into regular posting again. :)
Chapter twelve
"Aww, man, I gotta be goin' nuts!" Rattrap muttered to himself as he crawled trough the tunnel, scanning three times for a trap before making a step. There had been a few traps so far but nothing really serious which was slightly disconcerting. This was one of Tarantulas' hiding spots after all; you would think it would be better protected. The lack of any real obstacles was making him even more paranoid than usual. But he didn't turn back. The reasons to try and bring Dinobot back had just gone one up. He hated to admit it even to himself but they could slaggin' well USE a good old Predacon in their ranks right now. Because Maximals obviously didn't know how to deal with Rampage. Just look at how many times they had screwed up since his very creation.
He knew he was probably just inventing stuff but he kept thinking Dinobot would have gotten Rampage away from him faster than the others did. Well, whether the raptor would have chosen to do so was another matter… Rattrap almost smirked.
The fact of the matter was… Dinobot had known they might need him again, right? That's why he had downloaded his memories, right? So you could almost say he was on a sort of a vacation just waiting to be brought back, right?
Yeah, right.
But thinking like that helped.
If he could just steal the technology from Tarantulas, he wouldn't need the slaggin' spider anymore. Rhinox was brilliant enough to figure out how to use it. They had Dinobot's memories. They had Rampage's spark to use to resurrect the raptor. And Tarantulas could just go to the Pit. He never trusted him and he was never interested in striking a deal with him but the possibility of what the treacherous arachnid suggested… if it was real, it was an opportunity he couldn't miss. The problem was, Optimus would dismiss the plan as too risky and would forbid him to even try to get a hold of Tarantulas' inventions. And Rattrap couldn't still the devices on his own. But at least he could get his paws on how exactly the technology would work and make Rhinox check if it was possible.
He realized he had reached the wide cavern that served as a lab. He sniffed the air and looked cautiously around. A few arachnids were scurrying around but other than that the place looked deserted. Rattrap frowned. His instincts were telling him that this was way too easy. He examined the ceiling, knowing that the spider liked to lurk there and surprise his victims by jumping on top of them.
But the whole cave seemed genuinely Tarantulas-free this time.
Still feeling a little nervous, he transformed, strode over to the main computer and powered it up.
Now the big challenge came along. Was he good enough to hack into the mad scientists' files? He narrowed his optics and set to work.
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Depth Charge punched the wall one final time and decided to give it up. Not only had he made a visible dent but if he kept going like that, he would seriously injure his hand. And he would have to go to Rhinox to patch him up if he wanted to use his hand in the next 12 to 15 megacycles. That would make him feel too stupid.
It had helped though. Banging on something hard. He would have rather punched X but the wall had the advantage of not returning his punches and failing to invent smart retorts to his cursing.
The frustration hadn't exactly passed but it had exhausted itself for the time being, leaving room for his rational processor to shyly attempt to do its job.
He sat on the recharge platform and stared thoughtfully at a random spot on the floor.
He was tempted to give Rampage's spark to Megtron for what the crab had done to Rattrap. But handing weapons to the enemy wasn't the smartest thing to do. Not to mention Megatron was barking mad right now, there was no telling what he would do if he got his hands on such a psychotic killer again. Plus…
There was the promise. Which he had been exceptionally stupid to make in the first place. What had possessed him anyway?
He could break it. Of course he could. If it came to that. If that was the only way to save Blackarachnia. It's not like it meant much. He had mostly made it because he needed to get Rampage to follow, right? Right? And it's not like Rampage would beli-
But he had, hadn't he?
There had even been a bit of humor in the conversation.
Yeah, and a megacycle later Rattrap was lying on the floor in pieces in a puddle of his own mech-fluid.
Enough moral reasoning. This was what they had to do:
They would just have to keep Rampage contained while they attempted a rescue mission and use him as a last resort if they didn't manage to get the spider out. If they did manage however, he would go back to his original plan and destroy the killer's spark.
Nice and simple.
He ignored his common sense telling him that things were never as simple as he planned them.
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Rattrap managed to finish way before dawn and slipped back out the way he had come. Easy as a piece of energon crystal. Of course, there had been a lot of protection on the files but nothing impossible for him to break. The spider was evidently dumber than he had given him credit for. He rode off happily back towards the base before anyone could notice his absence.
Someone waited for the noise of tires to fade into the distance before finally beginning to cackle. It started as a small laugh. Then another one. And in the space of a few kliks the owner of the voice was in hysterics.
Back in the Maximal base Rattrap pretended to just have come out of the CR when Optimus entered the control room. Then downloaded the files to his own computer and after debating with himself for a bit decided they would have to wait for a more suitable moment. They were all busy with Rampage and the hostage situation. He would have to wait until his comrades were more willing to help him with the last parts of his plan.
But now that he had the know-how, he felt much better. It was possible. The information he had stolen was proof that it was possible, he was sure of it.
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"So let me get this." Megatron leaned threateningly forward in his throne. "The reason I was locked outside my own command room was because Blackarachnia somehow got loose, took control of the main computer and started shooting at you with our own guns. Then she shot Inferno." He glanced at the pile of ant parts at his feet. "But the two of you managed to get her."
Quickstrike and Waspinator nodded fast.
The spider was back in her cage, unconscious.
Megatron considered this. It sounded ridiculous but then again, his troops were quite stupid enough to have let the spider get loose somehow. And considering that they were three against one, it wasn't completely implausible that they had caught her afterwards.
"Then what?"
"Then two-head and Wazzpinator tortured zpider-bot and sent the video to maximals!" Waspinator said as evilly as it was possible to say something with a voice like his.
"We knew you were meaning to do that anyway, boss." Quicktrike joined in.
"And I was planning on enjoying every minute of it, yesss! You've deprived me of one of life's little pleasures. However, considering that you were not quite idiotic enough to let her escape, there will be no punishment this time."
The two heaved a sigh of relief. Their leader was in a better mood today.
"Now get Inferno repaired. As for the widow, shoot her as soon as she comes back online. If she got out once, she could do it again. Take no chances. And I want no other disturbances! Tarantulas and I are working on something important!"
The T-Rex left the room. A few kliks passed without anyone moving. Then the femme in the cage powered one optic.
"Is Purple-face gone?" she asked in a hiss.
"Wazzzpinator think so." The bug nodded.
"Then you'd better make sure Inferno doesn't wake up anytime soon."
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Sometime around midday, the Maximals had received a recording from the Predacon base. The recording featured Blackarachnia, Quicktrike, Waspinator and a lot of screams.
It was followed by a message from Quickstrike, stating that if the Predacon's didn't get Rampage's spark by sunset, there would be Consequences.
That sped things up quite a bit. They had almost gotten to the point when they had had to shoot Silverbolt to prevent him from flying off immediately to rescue his beloved. Optimus had finally managed to reason with him that it was pointless to attack the predacons on his own and that it was more likely to prompt Megatron into killing his prisoner. They would have to go ahead with the rescue plan Optimus and Rhinox had been working on the previous night and that morning.
It was an extremely risky plan but it just might work.
Cheetor attempted to whine about not being included but Optimus cut him off pretty quickly. Depth Charge had to come with them with Rampage's spark so he could exchange it for Blackarachnia if everything else failed. Optimus refused to let anyone else lead the mission and they needed Rattrap to infiltrate the Predacon ship and Silverbolt to help him (both because they might have to face a few of the predacons and because the fuzor was adamant about going. The problem however was that the Predacon base was not quite as easy to infiltrate as it had been in the past. They had had to go quite inventive this time.
"Buddy, are ya SURE sure this thing will hold?" Rattrap looked doubtfully at a bigger, stranger and way more advanced version of the little submarine Blackarachnia had designed once to send him underwater. This one didn't have any windows and it was covered in armor taken from an empty stasis pod and had equipment suitable for digging.
"Would I wish you dead?" Rhinox asked matter-of-factly.
Rattrap's gut instinct was to whine to the skies. This LOOKED more like a suicide than most of the things he had whined about in the past. But he trusted Rhinox and he had seen the tape. And he was also seeing Silverbolt's face. There were times when a rat had to shut up.
"I guess it's gonna be the ride of my life…" he sighed.
"I would go trough fire and water to save my lady!" Silverbolt declared with every bit of seriousness.
"Well, lava's kinda like liquid fire, so I guess ya get both." The rat muttered unhappily.
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A/N: First of all, PLEASE comment because as you can see I sort of need a kick to get writing in this hot weather.
Second of all, in case you were wondering, it's possible to dig trough lava. I checked.
And for those of you who are missing Rampage, don't worry he'll be back. Obviously, since this whole thing is sort of centered on him. But we need to advance the plot too, not just have him and DC exchange meaningful dialogue.
And I have no idea why DC is always overloading his processor in this fic. He just does it; it's out of my control. Maybe he's compensating for years of not thinking. Next thing in the list of things he hasn't done enough: get wasted and order a prostitute. ;P
