"What's going on inside you, Optimus Primal?" "I wonder if Megatron wouldn't mind if I cut you open and see what's inside?"
You could call it an experiment, something you'd be quite familiar with, he thought angrily as he recalled the touch of her sharp pincher slicing into his chest and dragging it, drawing a large scratch across his paint that was already peeling and flaking from the bonds' contorting his armor.
"Keep fighting it, Maximal. You are just making this all-too-fun for us and all-too-harder on you. But that's fine. I like dumb, tough guys sometimes. It's amusing." "Spill it out, Optimus. If you give us the codes, I will fetch you a banana!"
"Release me from these bonds and we'll see if you'd be wise to revise your rather inaccurate statement!" Primal managed to growl loudly without stuttering as he brought his leg down on her abdomen again when the widow's words re-surfaced in his mind. He almost ignored her screams of pain as they had ignored his. Rage was overwhelming his logic and once-peaceful nature. He completely ignored the banana remark. Optimus was tempted to slip Blackarachnia's neck between his knees and use her as a hostage but he doubted it would have worked in his favor at all. First of all, she was expendable to Tarantulas and Megatron, so they wouldn't care if her life was in danger. She did know this, right? Secondly, Tarantulas would still be in control of the situation; a simple flick of that remote and Optimus would continue to writhe in pain on the floor which in turn would force him to release the black widow.
"Optimus! Stop!"
The Maximal Commander did in fact stop when he heard Arachnitron's plea. With his leg in the air ready to drop down on Blackarachnia again, he hesitated as his orange optics studied her's and her weapon that was targeting him.
"YOU DARE ASK ME TO GRANT HER MERCY WHEN IT HAS NOT BEEN GRANTED TO ME?!" he hollered at her. It was pure anger, not necessarily directed at her but rather all of them for what they had done and said to him, however, he quickly realized that her hesitation to shoot him was an act of mercy. Maybe. Maybe she just didn't want to fire at him in fear of Megatron punishing her for her action. But there was something in her voice that told him there was a little compassion in her after all. In any case, the mangled Maximal slowly lowered his leg away from Blackarachnia to let her alone because Arachnitron was right; he was merciful. Always. Was it a weakness or a strength? Optimus continued to lay there on his back, his arms forced at his sides by the energy bonds, constricted and beaten, his TransMetal body weakening more and more by every squeeze. He tried to slow his breathing from his recent aggression while Arachnitron went on to speak more, observing her optics changing colors and hues.
"Let me just make one thing clear," "I am technically the one on guard duty here," "If I feel like I need to shoot you I will, but I will more than likely be punished for that so don't make me do it. You will let Blackarachnia up and then you will stand up nice and slow. No more of this funny stuff. Just answer Tarantulas' questions."
"No," he told her firmly, maintaining his defiance, and used the fluid from his cut lip to spit it on the floor as a physical act to show his determination. It stung greatly and his crooked teeth ached. They just didn't get it, did they?
"...Your sense of humor needs work Primal"
True, but he wasn't the comedian of the group. He wasn't looking to be funny, he was looking for a distraction, and it had worked. Unfortunately, it cost him the pain he was expecting. Optimus suddenly gagged, coughing, and cried out,
"AAAAARRRRRGGH!" His back arched from the floor as he clenched his jaws, baring his teeth despite their pain from Megatron's earlier punch, and with what exhaling he could manage bits of saliva and fluid from the gash on his bottom lip sprayed into the air with each puff, decorating himself and the floor as gravity pulled the tiny droplets back down. He rolled onto his side again and pulled his legs up toward his chest as if the fetal position would somehow comfort him in this horrible anguish. He couldn't stop the tears of torment and pain from escaping his optics again.
"For Spark's sake compose yourself Widow, you can get out from under him now" "I appreciate your efforts my dear, but the ape is subdued, no need to trouble yourself"
Although it was extremely difficult for Primal to concentrate, he was certain he recognized some suspicion or concern way in the back of the tarantula's voice toward Arachnitron. Should he have cared? Perhaps not. The she-spider had made her choice and this was what she wanted. And yet, Optimus couldn't help feel that this was not everything Arachnitron had hoped it would be with Tarantulas's help.
"Help Blackarachnia up and prep Primal, its been fun, but we're running out of time and I'm done playing games. It is time to extract the information direct from the source"
Primal knew what that meant but he had to keep delaying them somehow. He could feel some of his joints and bearings popping and snapping under the pressure now. It was so much pain. Incredible pain. But he refused to give up because he knew his Maximals would be coming for him. He remembered how sad, disappointed and angry Aurora was when she turned away and left him. He never had a chance to say anything to her or even hug her. So he was determined to make it back to her, to all of them. But this pain was tremendous. Optimus gathered enough strength to see Tarantulas slip on a visor over his head and pull out some cables. It seemed as though he was finally intending on invading the Maximal's privacy. Despite his efforts of securing the information as well as he could in his processor with encrypt coding and the like, he was tempted to erase all of it because he knew how intelligent and handy Tarantulas was with data and overriding obstacles. Where was Megatron? He would sooner suffer the tyrant's physical abuse than let this invasive spider get inside of him.
"Stay... out of my... head," the leader struggled to say in a much softer voice now that he could barely speak. And before Arachnitron and Blackarachnia could put their hands on him in order to "prep him", he ignited the thrusts in both of his feet this time and blew himself across the floor, the loud sound of his metallic body scraping and creating some sparks echoing around in his cell. He didn't care where he went so long as he was further away from them, so he ended up driving himself right into a wall, slamming into it with his back. He deactivated his thrusts as his make-shift bonds flickered, probably from the dramatic force of being squished between his body and the unbreakable wall, but they remained intact and functional. Unfortunately. He laid there on his side with his back against the wall while his mind wandered to Whitegrazer.
"Optimus is attempting to escape."
Escape wasn't the word he would have used to describe it. He had been in a fit of rage, after all the pain and bullying from the three spiders, Optimus simply just needed to exert the fury and resentment that had been building up inside of him. He had no intention of escaping because he couldn't, not while he was outnumbered and wrapped up tightly in these bonds. At the time of his little attack on Blackarachnia, he almost couldn't control himself. Had the nanogel helped peak his aggression? He didn't know. What was Nemesis's warning about the nanites again...?
Breathe. Breathe.
It felt as though Whitegrazer was panicking, unstable from everything she had been feeling from Primal as of recently. Didn't he cut off their connection? It must have been re-established under all the excitement. He could sense her spark pulsating erratically like his while he gasped for air and searched for some comfort in his forced confinement. He stretched his fingers and moved his hands as though he was feeling for Whitegrazer who was just out of his reach. There was someone else with her... TyCross? It had to have been. If things had been getting that far out of control for her, then Optimus wanted to stop it. Her panicking made things even more difficult for him causing frustration, anxiety and grave concern.
With a gasp and his optics closed, the Commander suddenly envisioned the green meadow again. There was a warmth and calmness that settled over his spark that was nearly sputtering under the constrictions of the bonds as they closed in on crushing his spark's chamber. He swore he felt Whitegrazer right beside him but when he turned to look in his mind, she wasn't there. Still, he knew it was her, and as her hand caressed her own spark, he could sense them sharing his suffering and distress. Even though he despised allowing her to feel his discomfort, he had to admit that it helped greatly if he shared his torturing with her. There was a sigh of relief that Primal sent her and a slight replenish to his mind and strength thanks to Whitegrazer. But just as quickly as this transpired, he realized that he was letting his guard down in his cell, so Optimus immediately pulled himself further away from the mare when he opened his optics to make sure the arachnids were still keeping their distance from him. His TransMetal body frame was continuing to buckle under his restraints but it appeared as though he wasn't succumbing to as much pain as he previously was now that Whitegrazer was absorbing some of it with him, but he couldn't let it go on for too long because she needed to concentrate on the other Maximals. Quickly, he sent her his knowledge of the two new Predacon arrivals and that they had been pardoned by Megatron, that he still hadn't seen Nexus, and that there was a ruckus going on judging by the faint gunfire beyond his walls although he did not know who it concerned.
-----
"Rhinox... I know you don't trust me as far you can throw... Me..." "But... I ask that you let go of my arm as..."
Rhinox blinked and looked at Sonar beside him. He studied him carefully, searching for any sort of trickery or doubt with the bat. He hesitated to let go.
"I feel another episode coming... Not the main event, but it's still going to be pretty bad. Again, I ask," "Please let go... of my arm, I'd rather not claw out your optics due to some illusion. Not when I'm trying to help cure this..."
The engineer shifted his crimson gaze from the Predacon to the badger.
"Ironclaw, secure the exit. Hurry!" Rhinox demanded. The TransMetal badger would get there faster than he could since Big R would likely trip over his own feet because of his warped visionary state.
"From the outside! I don't want to risk you getting infected or Sonar getting accidentally shot down while he can still help us." Big Green would remain in the lab with Sonar since he was already subjected to the virus and take the precautions needed to calming Sonar down, whether it was verbally or physically. He was just afraid that Ironclaw's trigger finger might render Sonar for repairs and they could not afford that right now.
Rhinox had no choice but to release the bat and see what would happen.
"Aurora, Sonar has warned me of another episode coming," he called her over his comm. link.
"We must secure the medical bay in fear of him escaping."
-----
"Just an experiment of mine," "I've been working on this healing gel to assist us on the battlefield and Optimus volunteered to be a test subject."
Rattrap still peered at Aurora quizzically but didn't dwell on the subject, although it sounded intriguing to him. It probably wouldn't have had the same effect if he had known she had used some nanotech that had come from Nemesis. So very dangerous. It didn't surprise him, however, that Optimus would have volunteered himself. If it was working, he hoped it was helping him now under his circumstances.
"I.. actually have no idea," "It's a possibility I certainly can't rule out, and a very intriguing idea to boot! There's so much we still don't know about this virus, so much we have yet to understand. We don't even know where it came from, for instance, did this Darkwind guy make it himself?"
"I know our first priority is the cure. We must do what is best to minimize the risks for both Optimus and Nexus as well as those we send in to rescue them to the best of our abilities."
"No."
The rodent's optics zipped from the ermine Fuzor, to the mare and straight to Nemesis.
"He didn't make it. What he did was improve on a technology that already existed, one that he himself had been exposed to. As a result of this exposure we are both immune to it."
"You know that but you don't know who he is?" He sighed with some annoyance on the matter until his mind backtracked to what she said last. Immune? His eyes brightened at the same time Aurora's mouth fell agape.
"I.. I think I need to confer with Rhinox. Nemesis, please meet us in the lab as soon as you can,"
"Fascinating,"
"I think we just found our cure!" Rattrap announced with more excitement than Dinobot. He certainly hoped so because then it would be one less thing to worry about, and a huge step forward in helping their own comrades.
"Overconfidence breeds recklessness. That's our advantage."
"Ain't that what we always use against Megajerk and his goons?" the rat smirked until he watched her having trouble breathing for a moment.
"There is no concept of time. I can only deduce what I feel and judge based on how Optimus is doing. If it gets too much, too dangerous, I will know, but that can be any time. I do know that they need Optimus alive for now."
Rattrap's face held some disappointment but he understood. As long as they knew Optimus was alive, there was still a chance of getting him back.
"Something tells me we better follow her."
"Yeah, Whitegrazer. You go with Nemesis and Aurora," Rattrap agreed with the white mare. That was, until the Maximal equine doubled over. Grabbing his gun from his lap, he jumped up out of his chair and rushed to her side.
"Whitegrazer! Are you okay? What's happening?"
"Optimus is attempting to escape."
"He's crazy," he said as he placed his free hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as he watched the mare tremble and appear to be in sheer agony even though no one was harming her. It was the oddest sight Rattrap had seen in a long time. It was like she was suffocating or drowning. He didn't quite understand what she was going through.
"But sometimes crazy works," he finally added, remembering the crazy stunts Optimus would pull but would almost always turn out all right.
"Hang in dere, 'Grazer," he told her although he wasn't sure she could hear him, and he didn't know what else they could do for her. For the time being, he remained at her side while the rest of them conversed.
"What is he hoping to acheive?!" "He is outnumbered!! He would be killed!"
"Yeah," Rattrap semi-agreed with Dinobot.
"You sure you're readin' 'im right? I don't think he'd do anythin' that drastic until he knew we were on our way."
"And I would have," "But I don't recall anyone asking for the disks before now!"
Rattrap found that to be irrelevant. Dinobot should have told them about the disks as soon as he had them in his possession because the Predacons were bound to start searching for them sooner or later if they wanted them back, and he was sure they knew it was Dinobot who stole them.
"Agreed. Had he really wanted the disks, Megatron most certainly would have asked for them as ransom."
The Spy wasn't so sure. Maybe Megadump was going to get around to asking for them later.
"Well, it certainly seems that this Nexus is our prime suspect," "Who else was out of the base at the time? Perhaps we can narrow down the list of suspects...."
"You an' yer team," Rattrap answered as he recalled the list from memory even though it was still up on the monitor,
"if dat's what you really wanted ta know."
"Prisoner..of war?! Since when did the exploration expedition became a war?!"
"Perhaps I can answer that one," "The Predacons stole an important artifact from the Great War....it was the golden disk. The Axalon pursued Megatron's ship in order to get it back. Both factions' ships crash landed here. We have been at war ever since."
"Now, let's have a brief introduction from me before we discuss about our rescue mission. I am Doctor Xychona but you can call me Banshee since that was a name given to me by my old colleagues. I'm a previous soldier of the Cybertronian Army, a qualified psychologist and a Predacon but a crew member of the Axalon,"
Rattrap threw up his arms in air for a moment at the Predacon part but refrained himself from actually saying something insulting or offensive. After all, they just gained a new recruit. Still, what was this place coming to?! Although, he had to admit that her other name, her real name Dr. Xychona, sounded much more familiar to him than her alias. They could probably look up her name in the
Axalon's roster and find it just verify her story. Optimus must have known both names if he knew her by Banshee. She was lucky that that subdued any further suspicions he would have had about her. In fact, they were all lucky for that.
"That is what we have just been discussing and it concerns the golden disks that Megatron stole and I subsequently stole from him," "The alien disk is the one I kept. I meant to have Rhinox study it with me. He would be able to decipher some of the symbols on the disk and may even have access to certain files that tell of the original disk's origins,"
"Hm...I suggest not to trade the golden disks,"
"Agreed!" Rattrap jumped in.
"Well, at least not actually hand them over," he added.
"there is no need to. If Megatron's going to be a stubborn fool. I can be stubborn as well...My plan is we form two teams. The first team will be for diversion, any of you sharpshooters must take out their ship's autoguns while the rest focus on taking them out. The second team will sneak in to their base while the Megatron's lackeys are distracted by our attack but one of you must know the ship's layout inside out and quick on his feet," "If they realize what we're up to, diversion team will have to move in to keep them busy but becareful of the 'polite one',"
"Look, either way, as soon as we show up, dey're gonna know we're up to somethin' and the only thing we want is Optimus. ...And maybe Nexus so he can answer some questions. So matter what, we're not gonna be able ta catch 'em by surprise," the Spy-turned-Commander explained.
"I think we're all on de same page with ya, Banshee, but we gotta find out if the disks got any value to the Preds, specifically Megatron. If so, maybe we can draw some of 'em away from the Darksyde ta meet for a trade in neutral territory or even at our base since we got our autoguns and shields to help us out. I'd hate ta give them the actual disks without us studying them first or make copies of 'em. If we can't get Optimus back with just the golden disks, then I say we use the virus, infect a few Preds with it, and offer the antidote."
"By the way, who's 'the polite one'?" Rattrap asked Banshee.
"'Cause I ain't aware of any polite Preds."
(( OOC: I have to stop here. I have been writing this for almost four hours straight and I need a break. Thanks for reading!
))
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