Beast Wars International

Tangled Web

Season 2

Reviewed by Sapphire

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We pan in on the Predacons, who are grouping around Megatron in the Darkside's control room.

Megatron says: "Ah, my happy little band! Ready to start another glorious Predacon day, are we?"

Tarantulas gripes that he was busy doing important research on their new transmetal forms. Megatron sarcastically says he has no doubt of that, and then goes on to give orders. He tells Tarantulas and the other Predacons that he has detected a large store of energon cubes in grid Arachis. "You will build a refuelling station there," he tells Tarantulas. "Blackarachnia and Quickstrike will assist you." Blackarachnia snickers at Megatron's distrust in Tarantulas, while Quickstrike seems pleased to be going out. Inferno and Waspinator ask what they can do to help. Megatron instructs them to build a jamming station to disrupt Maximal communications. When Tarantulas asks what precisely Megatron is doing, he replies: "Planning for the future, now go!"

In the next scene, we see Tarantulas and the others collecting their equipment. Tarantulas complains about doing such a menial task. Blackarachnia states she has divided the load into equal shares, but flirtatiously suggests to Quickstrike that he probably could carry more than any of them, boosting his ego. Meanwhile, Waspinator and Inferno leave with their equipment, while Waspinator muses that they will finish their job first and Megatron will be pleased.

"And we do live to please Megatron," Tarantulas muses. "But perhaps the Maximals can throw a little hitch into Megatron's plans..." With that, he takes out and throws a little metal arachnid with a transmitter attached to it. It hits a pile of metal pillars on a trolley-ramp and hides itself within them, letting off a signal.

In the meantime, Rhinox is attempting to test the limits of the new Transmetal forms. He puts Optimus through a rather unsuccessful body agene scan, which electrocutes both of them mildly. Just then, Cheetor comes on the screens and tells Optimus that he is picking up a weird signal. "It's a Pred code but it's on a Maximal frequency," he tells him. "I can't get a fix. It keeps moving." Optimus asks who is closest. Rattrap and Silverbolt are. Cheetor passes on a message to the two of them to 'track and identify' the signal. Rattrap comments that it sounds like another wild Pred chase to him. Silverbolt says: "Perhaps so, but I'll leader has charged us to learn the truth, my friend! And Silverbolt for one shall prove worthy of his trust." Rattrap watches him move off, muttering how he hates it when Silverbolt talks like that.

On the way to the location, Quickstrike (who is in beast mode beside Blackarachnia, who is also in beast mode) offers his help to her if her load becomes too heavy. The two are pulling their own trolley-ramps of heavy equipment. She says she is managing while blinking her eyes flirtatiously. Quickstrike moves off. Blackarachnia suddenly hears Tarantulas's voice, but he is nowhere in sight. The transmetal is using his telepathic link to talk to her. He warns her that she can play whatever games she wishes with Quickstrike, (then he appears in vehicle mode from behind a tree mound) but should she dare to cross him, she will suffer for her treachery. He forces her to lose control over the load and a heavy metal pillar falls on her head. Quickstrike rushes over to her and pulls it off but she snaps at him and tells him to back off. Quickstrike his surprised and hurt. "Ain't no figurin' a female!" Quickstrike moans. "A fact of life, fuzor," Tarantulas snickers and they both head off. Blackarachnia vows under her breath that she will get herself back under control, and then he'll pay!

The next scene shows them in robot mode in a cavern, with plenty of energon hanging from the roof. While Quickstrike and Blackarachnia talk, Tarantulas walks through the cavern musing to himself. He comments to himself that Megatron chose wisely. He also decides that he won't be needing the Maximals after all, and with a stretch of his arm he beckons out the little robot arachnid transmitter, which wiggles out of the pile and comes over to him. He squashes it with his foot. "This is indeed a perfect location...for my new lair!" he cackles.

Back with the Maximals, and Rattrap, in vehicle mode, stops short. He tells Silverbolt that they've lost the signal. He then asks what they should do now? Silverbolt says: "Follow our noses, of course!" Rattrap replies with: "Well, considerin' the honkers we got...it's worth a shot!" They move off, sniffing.

Returning to the Predacons, and Quickstrike is complaining that he hasn't yet had a chance to 'club' anything. Blackarachnia thinks aloud that properly defended, this cavern would be an excellent fortress. Tarantulas coyly agrees. She notices his agreement, and asks him about it. "You're right about this place! It would be a perfect new lair...for all of us!" Blackarachnia says she knows he is upset about his old lair being destroyed in the quantum surge, but what does he mean by all of them? Tarantulas says all three of them, an arachnid trio aligned against Maximal and Predacon alike. She laughs at the idea of joining him, but he reminds her he still has control over her, so she really has no choice. "Maybe," she growls. Quickstrike butts in and asks if he has to do all the works himself. Tarantulas takes the opportunity to ask him how he feels toward Megatron. Quickstrike says he has done okay leading them so far, but his only complaint is that he doesn't have 'enough keisters to wail on regular-like'. Tarantulas advertises that if he sides with him, he'll have ample opportunity to prove how tough he is. Quickstrike likes the sound of that, but voices his concern that Megatron's still pretty tough. Tarantulas toys with Quisktrike's ego by saying: "I see. You...fear him." Quickstrike objects immediately to that, and agrees, but warns Tarantulas that if he finds out he is lying, his will be the 'first keister I drop-kick!" Tarantulas gloats that now there is nothing to stop him.

Rattrap has in the meantime sniffed some scents. Silverbolt finds tire tracks on the ground and sniffs too. He concludes that it is the spiders and Quickstrike carrying some kind of heavy equipment. "With my luck it'll be a mega-blaster," Rattrap sighs. The two of them follow the tracks.

Blackarachnia is muttering about how she will get revenge when Tarantulas interrupts her, asking her what's on her mind. She plays dumb, which irritates him. He tries to scan her mind, but is surprised to see she has blocked a segment of her circuitry to him. She pretends not to know what he is on about. He demands she open her mind to him, and she struggles against his telepathic will, managing to throw something heavy at him and knock him off his feet. She transforms to beast mode and scampers off. Tarantulas sits up and says: "Of course you realize this means...war."

Back at the Darkside and Megatron is having a bath. Waspinator's face comes up on his computer screen in front of his bath. Waspinator reports that he and Inferno have finished the job. Megatron commends them and closes the connection. He tries to open another to Tarantulas to see how they are doing. He can't get through to them. In frustration, he cries: "Blast those arachnids! What are they up to NOW?"

Tarantulas is busy hunting for Blackarachnia in the cavern. She appears in front of him and kicks and energon cube out from the wall. She places it in-between the two-prongs of a blade. She declares she is tired of being his slave and that he either terminates the link between them, or she'll crack the cube, and he knows what will happen then. He reminds her he can stop her with a single thought. She retaliates by saying the energon radiation will interfere with their link. He tries anyway and it doesn't work properly. She screams: "I warned you!" and begins to crack the cube. Her body is wracked with blue energy waves, and she screams. Tarantulas urges her to stop and throw the cube away. "Never! I will be free, one way or another!" she yells. "Fine!" he retorts. He moves closer to her, talking when suddenly a blue energy wave shoots out from her forehead and hits his. He reels back screaming in pain. "Cyberlink works...both ways... I-I share...your pain!" he gasps. She tells him to severe the link and save them both. He refuses. "Then we go offline together!" she shouts. Tarantulas cannot take the pain anymore and gives in, breaking the link. She throws away the cube and the resulting explosion knocks them both off their feet. When they both get up, Blackarachnia says: "I told you, I'd be free." She is in much pain and is holding her head. Tarantulas threatens to tear her apart, but Quickstrike comes in and stops him, alerting him to the fact that there are Maximals outside.

Silverbolt and Rattrap arrive outside. Quickstrike dives right into battle. Silverbolt warns Rattrap to be cautious as they don't know what they are getting into. Quickstrike shoots at Silverbolt and hits him. Blackarachnia attacks Rattrap, who is travelling in vehicle mode. He leaps up and transforms in mid-air to robot mode, shooting at her as he falls down. Meanwhile, Silverbolt has recovered and is shooting at Tarantulas. Rattrap tells him: "You take out da spiders, I'll handle da fuzor!" Blackarachnia tries a high-leap-and-roll-in-mid-air trick but lands funny and falls on her rear, just a few feet away from Silverbolt, who braces to shoot her. He wavers and Rattrap asks him what he's waiting for. Silverbolt sighs and tells him it is not right to strike a female, even a female Predacon. Rattrap exclaims: "That widow is about as female as a piston!" This upsets Quickstrike immensely and he shoots at Rattrap paralysing him with cyber venom for the moment. Silverbolt reels on Quickstrike, snarling: "You claim to be the toughest of us all, snake, but you have done little to prove it!" The two engage in battle and it looks as if Silverbolt is about to win as he towers over a fallen Quickstrike, when he is suddenly blasted off him by Tarantulas, who urges his fellow Predacons to keep fighting and protect the cavern at all costs. Rattrap picks up on that (having since recovered) and wonders aloud to Silverbolt about what might be in there. They decide to find out.

The Maximals move toward the cabin while the Predacons bicker over Tarantulas's mysterious absence from the most recent part of the battle. Blackarachnia points out the Maximals are getting close, when suddenly there is a big explosion. Everyone is knocked flying. Tarantulas gets up and exclaims that the Maximals must have destroyed the cavern, and they should return to base. Rattrap praises Silverbolt on a good shoot, but Silverbolt tells him he didn't do it. Rattrap wonders who did, then? The Predacons retreat, and the Maximals go home, confused.

The next scene opens to an irate Megatron, who demands of the three what took them so long. Quickstrike informs him that the Maximals 'ruined just about everything'. "Everything? The energon station?" Megatron asks in a brewing rage. "A total loss," Tarantulas says sadly. "The energon cubes as well. I'm afraid we'll just have to start over again. Somewhere...else." Megatron is furious and shouts at them all to get out of his sight before he turns them all to slag. Tarantulas leaves, giggling to himself.

The final scene shows Tarantulas in the cavern with a variety of new machines and tubes around him. He turns away from his computer. "Amazing what one well-placed charge can do, isn't it? Oh, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." He then erupts into some hysterical laughter, and the camera pans up to the energon-covered roof with eerie ending music.

Reviewed by: Sapphire