20. May.06
Beast Wars Symmetries:
By: Everblue
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.