Ch. 48
He was late. He was beyond late. He was out of time.
Starscream ran as hard as he could through the forest. He nearly tripped jumping over a fallen tree and rolled hard, still going. He slid down an embankment and followed the river before jumping back into the trees. He maybe had minutes, MINUTES, before it would be all over.
A rough cry from the distance made his energon run cold. He couldn't be that far off, but to him it felt like a million miles away. He knew what he had told him. He recited it in his helm and hoped that the other mech remembered.
Don't let her goad you.
Don't let her intimidate you.
Don't let her anger you.
And for Primus' sake, don't let her separate you from Dreadwing, Breakdown.
The seeker heard a mech growling from up ahead and realized it was in struggle more than pain. It had to be Dreadwing, caught under a mat of webbing against a tree. But if he was there, where was Breakdown?
Starscream almost sent out a COMM, then stopped himself. He didn't want to give away the blue mech's position, especially with Airachnid around. The seeker decided to take a risk and slipped passed Dreadwing's trapped form, running after where the spider was supposed to have retreated. And where Breakdown was supposed to have died.
Starscream cursed everything as he ran. He cursed his exhaustion, which had claimed him so readily and made him recharge longer than he was supposed to. He cursed his ground bridge remote, which had begun to act funny and turn on and off when he didn't want it to. He cursed Airachnid, for being such a glitch. He cursed Breakdown, for accepting this mission a second time. And he cursed himself, for having the precognitive knowledge of the outcome of this event if it did indeed go horribly wrong.
The seeker heard a loud roar in front of him, like the kind of guttural noise one makes when pushing forth all their strength, then the wispy sounds of webbing being shot. He was nearly on top of them. He was so close.
Breakdown stepped back and fired a blast from his shoulder cannon. Airachnid easily dodged, lunging at him again. She was leaking energon from a shot Dreadwing had made earlier, but that made her all the more dangerous. And it did almost nothing to stop her quick and agile assault.
"What a thrill it would be," she cackled, "to send news of your death to that little red motormouth back on the Nemesis!"
Breakdown growled and roared again, charging. He knew the rules he had been given and he didn't care. He lunged with his hammer, missing and stumbling to the side as he felt a thread of webbing catch him around his weapon, then wrench him back.
The spider pulled harder and strung him up, the tips of the mech's peds barely reaching the ground, "I'll be generous, Breakdown, since I know you care for him quite a bit, and I'll let you pick how I send you back to him: in pieces, or missing that pretty little mug of yours..."
Breakdown struggled to pull his arm free as Airachnid drew closer, the mech wincing when a blur of silver rushed passed him and kicked the femme away.
The blue mech let out a small intake, "Scream!"
The seeker growled, his blasters aimed at the spider, "Back off, Airachnid, he's not going anywhere!"
Airachnid purred and circled them, "Starscream, my favorite fortune teller. Did precognition lead you here?"
Starscream scowled, "Your sanity is slipping. I was in the area and heard the fight, you thought I wouldn't come to investigate?!"
"You can lie all you want," she hissed, sneering, "I know the truth. Megatron suspects more of you, though he won't tell me what. He had us searching for you relentlessly. You! Starscream! And yet you keep claiming that you've nothing special to offer him," her optics narrowed, "to offer me."
The seeker kept his blasters aimed at her, "You're as delusional as he is! Megatron's encounter with Unicron changed him-"
"Stop LYING to me!" Airachnid shouted, firing her blasters.
Starscream dodged and shoved Breakdown hard to swing him out of the way. The spider lunged at the seeker, who dove and fired back at her. Breakdown came back from his swing and slammed his servo as hard as he could into Airachnid, throwing her back.
"Cut me down!"
Starscream quickly looked up and saw how thick the web line was; he growled, "Not so easy-" he slid to the side to avoid one of the spider's web shots, "It'll take time!"
Breakdown swung himself wide as another blaster shot whistled passed, "Well, MAKE time!"
The seeker scowled, jumping back to get more range as he shot one of his missiles. MAKE time?! He wasn't a magician! Starscream saw Airachnid dive to the side behind Breakdown and the silver mech jumped, slicing his claws through part of the webbing as he tackled the spider away.
"Pull!" he ordered, scratching and slashing at the hissing femme.
Breakdown pulled hard and snarled, "It's not working!"
Starscream growled. Couldn't the blue mech see he was busy?! It was hard enough trying to protect his own life, let alone the other mech's. The seeker threw Airachnid's spider legs back with his claws when she attempted to strike them down on him. He swung and kicked at her, missing when she jumped high and held onto a tree branch.
She chuckled from her perch, "For being precognitive, you do fight very poorly!" Airachnid jumped down and pinned Starscream into the ground, "But that's fine by me."
The seeker punched hard into her chest plate to shove her off, "That's only a matter of perspective!" he aimed a missile at her and fired, the spider dodging the projectile and riding the blow back up onto a boulder.
Starscream saw his chance and took it, running to Breakdown and using his claws to cut more tendrils, "Pull while I cut, PULL!"
The blue mech complied, more strings from the webbing snapping loudly as he began to break free, "Almost-"
Airachnid roared as she jumped forward. Starscream looked back and smirked, expecting to feel the beginnings of one of his hiccups start to charge through him. But he didn't. With a confused glare, he felt a hard slam into his side that knocked him back and Starscream's optics widened when he saw Airachnid's spider legs come down onto Breakdown's chassis, the sharp edges piercing into his chest plate.
The seeker fell hard to the ground, the blue mech groaning as his legs buckled underneath him. He glanced over at Starscream for a moment then fell, the webbing holding him up finally snapping.
Airachnid hissed, pulling her spider legs free, "What a generous fool, giving his life to save yours," she flicked fresh energon from the limbs, turning them on the seeker, "It's a shame it's such a waste. It didn't do you any good, now did it?!"
Starscream's faceplates couldn't hide his shock, his horror. His anger. He snarled as he pulled himself to his peds, his wings high and vibrating violently in rage. Gold static ran between his wings as he lunged and grappled with the femme, slashing and cutting with everything he had. Breakdown didn't have to save him. The mech never had to do anything. And yet he did.
The seeker's rushed attack was making him sloppy. His emotions were making him lose focus. He lashed out wherever he thought he saw the spider until he was abruptly stopped, Airachnid's spider legs pinning him against a rock and her claws wrapping around his throat.
"Aw, what's wrong, little moth?" she purred, "Did I take away one of your friends?"
Starscream panted angrily, feeling lubricant well in his optics. No! He couldn't be this upset, he couldn't! ... But he was. He couldn't believe it.
Airachnid chuckled softly, "Well, perhaps I'll do you a favor," she leaned in close, "Tell me the future. Tell me what I want to know. Then I can reunite you with Breakdown."
The seeker shook in anger but he couldn't move. He felt sharp digits dig in and he growled, keeping his mouth shut.
The spider hissed into his audials, "Speak, seeker."
Starscream leaned his faceplates away, snarling, "I'll never tell you anything. I'd-"
"What?! You'd rather die?!" Airachnid cackled, "You'd never admit to such a thing!"
The seeker shuttered his optics tightly when he heard a blaster power up. No, he didn't want to die. But it didn't look like he had a choice now.
The blaster fired and he heard Airachnid cry out, her claws and spider legs suddenly removed from his chassis. Starcream dropped and gasped, watching as Breakdown struggled to pull himself up. The seeker scrambled up and ran to his side, pulling the mech to his peds the best he could, and cringed when he heard Airachnid scream loudly in anger.
This time, Starscream didn't hesitate. He leaned Breakdown's leaking and damaged form against him as he pulled out his ground bridge remote from under his thigh plating, desperately pressing buttons to get the remote to work. The spider stalked closer, wincing in pain at the damage she had sustained.
"You think he'll survive?!" she taunted, "You may as well drop him now and leave him to his fate!"
The seeker snarled, looking back in relief when he saw a bridge finally open; he glared at Airachnid, "Arcee made it through, and so will he!"
The spider lunged, reaching for them, "NO!"
Starscream pushed Breakdown's weakening form into the bridge, then jumped backwards after him, the bridge closing before Airachnid could yell again after them.