3.Aug.2006

 Spiders In Love

Part Four

By: Syntia13

Tarantulas powered up his visor reluctantly. He was uncomfortable. What was he doing lying on the floor? Oh, right, he'd fallen off his chair.
Maybe he should get up?
What for?
I had her, I HAD her, whatever possessed me to leave her there?
And now she knows what I want and will never trust me again.
Why should she? I've forced an operation on her. She probably hates me...
He banged his head against the floor, but the headache reminded him he'd already tried that, and it didn't help any. So he just laid there, in the darkness, listening to the soft humming of his lair's machineries.
___________________________________________________________________________

"Yo, anybody home?"
Taraxa stirred and looked at Rattrap, blinking. "What?"
"What's wrong wit' ya, sista? Ya haven't 'eard a word I was sayin' "
"I-I'm sorry, it's nothing, really..."
Rattrap snorted. They were doing one of long range patrols, and if she thought he didn't notice how tired and distracted she was...
"Come on, I can see somethin's buggin' ya..."
"No, I'm fine, really." She desperately tried to think of something else to talk about, but there was only one thing she could think of... "Um, say, when the Predacons attacked last time, there were only four of them, right? Rampage, QuickStrike, Waspinator and Inferno?"

Rattrap frowned a little. "Yea...?"
"And before it was Megatron, Rampage--"
Rattrap's frown deepened. "Don't," he said sharply.
She looked at him with wide, innocent optics. "What?"
"Ya are, in fact, askin', if I have seen da spider lately. No, I haven't. An it's a freakin' good news, cause chances are, Megs finally scrapped 'im."
"NO!" she stopped dead in her tracks.
"I knew it! Get real, sista! Dat guy is a twisted psycho, not some dark hero! 'as Cheetor ever told ya--"
"He did," she interrupted hotly. "And he said he just wanted to scare him, he wouldn't really eat him!" and she slapped a hand across her mouth, horrified. What had she done!?
"Wha-? Da kiddo would... never... say..." his voice trailed off, as a terrified look on her face made the sentence clear.

His first impulse was to disarm her and bring her back to base at a gun point. But this was Taraxa, for Primus sake. A cute kid who hated war, fighting, plotting and all that dirt. So instead he shut his optics. He took a deep breath. He put a hand to his face. He opened his optics.

"Taraxa," he said very, very calmly. "Is dere anythin' ya wanna tell me before I go to Optimus?"
She shook her head, hand still on her mouth. On her stupid, blabbing, big mouth.
He made a gesture somewhere between shrugging and wringing his hands. "Fine." He started back toward the base. Taraxa stared at his back, and suddenly she noticed that she was holding her launcher, poison dart loaded already.
I could hide him here somewhere and tell we got separated and no one would ever know...
WHAT am I thinking of?!!!

Maybe he saw the movement, or maybe it was just his usual paranoia, but he whirled suddenly, blaster ready, and she didn't even know how did it happen that she pulled the trigger.

Rattrap stared down at the dart sticking from his chestplate, then he glared at her, and only then she realized... With a yelp she dropped the gun and jumped back as if it stung her. It hit the ground the same moment Rattrap did.

___________________________________________________________________________

A big transmetal tarantula crept to one of its webs to find a harassed zebra in it. It bit the animal, and the struggling stopped. Zebra was then wrapped in a webbing and dragged into the cave, where the tarantula feasted. Then the spider climbed up the wall to yet another web, where it settled. In its head there was a dim feeling that it should do something more, but then there came feeling that doing it would hurt, and so it ignored the first urge, and snoozed.

___________________________________________________________________________

Every circuit in his body ached. Rattrap groaned and tried to touch his head. He couldn't.
"Rattrap?"
"And to think I trusted you," he growled, looking down at himself. Just as he thought, he was tied up with spider webs.
"Rattrap, I'm really sorry--"
He shot her a hateful glance.
"The Pit ya are. So what am I now, yer midnight snack? Or da gift for yer boyfriend?" 
"Rattrap, please hear me out!"
"I'm sure he'll be delighted, guess he told ya how much he hates me." His voice was of pure hatred, low and passionate.

He wasn't even listening to her, how could she explain this to him? In despair she grabbed his arms and shook him. "Listen to me!"
"Don't ya touch me, Pred!" With a swish two long blades shot out of Rattrap's arms, cutting the webbing and before she knew, she was lying on her back, two nastily sharp knifes crossed over her throat.
"Any last word?"
"Rattrap, please!"
"Not very good one!"

It was a butterfly that saved her life. Not by disturbing any cosmic harmony or creating a raging storm, but by a simple act of flying nearby. Rattrap's optics automatically flickered towards the movement, and the sight cut through his blind rage. They were just half a mile from Axalon, hidden among the boulders.
He looked down at Taraxa's scared face.
"Why are we here, spider?"

"Optimus called us back to base, so I carried you back," she whispered meekly. "I just wanted to wait till you wake up to explain--" she paused as the blades pressed at her metal harder.
"Ya expect me to believe dat?"
"It's true! I don't know why I shot you, I was so tired, it was an accident, I'm sorry!"
"I might just believe dat, sista, if I didn't wake up wrapped up like a weddin' gift," Rattrap growled.
"It was the only way I could carry you," Taraxa wailed. She should have untie him the moment she got here, but she was afraid he'd attack her again before she could explain, and look what happened! Why was everything she did today turning against her?

"I just can't wait ta hear what excuse ya'll come up wit' for yer sweet talk wit' Tarantulas." And when he spat out the last word, his face was so terrifying, that for a moment she was certain he'll just off her, never waiting for an answer.

"We were just talking," she whispered. "I'm not a spy, we were just talking..."
The look in his optics told her it wasn't the smartest thing to say. "...just talkin'..." he repeated, voice dripping with sarcasm. "An when an where, may I ask, did dis 'just talking' take place? Cause I'm sure like da Pit it wasn't in our Rec Room."

So, with her voice trembling, she told him the whole story. How she pushed Tarantulas into his own web. How he came to apologize for scaring her. How he then always sought her out, and how she never let him come close, and how they where talking from the distance, about this planet, and Cybertron, and her work, but never, ever, about Axalon or Maximals... Her voice trailed off. Would she dare to tell Rattrap, this strange, hateful Rattrap, that Ranty actually managed to get inside the Axalon?

A sudden metallic noise made her gasp. I took her a  moment to realize that the rat-bot had just sheathed his blades. He was now staring at her with so strange, unreadable expression, that she got even more scared.

Rattrap was gaping at her incredulously. And that was all there was to it? A silly little brat with a crush on the wrong bot? Primus, he'd almost scrapped her! Why kids had to be so stupid? To fall for a smooth talk of that creep... And now he disappeared, and she was probably crying her spark out all nights lately. No wonder she's so tired and didn't know what was she doing!

"Let me put it gently," he said as calmly as he could manage. "Yer da stupidest little femme I've ever met, and yer lucky dat creep never had a chance to lay his hands on ya. We're goin' back ta base now, an if ya ever try to leave it alone again, I'll slaggin' well send all Maximals after ya, an after whoever ya might be 'just talkin' wit'. Is dat clear?"

She nodded timidly, and he let her get up.

"Transform," he ordered curtly, and she beastmoded immediately.

He scowled. "No. Vehicle mode. Yer givin' me a ride home."

"Wha-? Why?"

"Cause I don't feel like walkin'," he snarled, settling on her back. "GO."

She only understood when they reached the Axalon, and Cheetor greeted Rattrap with a friendly pat on the shoulder. Rattrap doubled over in pain, with a few well chosen words which immediately drew everyone's attention to him.
Cheetor froze with his hand in the air. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," was the answer, and the small bot walked away stiffly.
Rhinox blocked his way. "What happened?" he demanded.
Rattrap made some incoherent, angry noises. "I've crashed, awright? Now let me pass," he snarled finally.

"Crashed? What do you mean, crashed?" "You should use CR-chamber," Cheetor and Rhinox said together.

"Drop it, Kiddo! An I don't need CR-Chamber."
I do. I slaggin' well do. But it would show them that I'm so full of cyber-venom I'm barely walking. Primus, I'm supposed to be resistant. How much of this stuff did she pump in me?
He turned in the door. "An you," he said threateningly, pointing at Taraxa, "ask Rhinox for some drug an go recharge, slaggit!" With that he left, leaving her to deal with sudden attention from all the others.
She waited through the storm of questions, making up a lie that would sound convincing.
"I, I haven't had much sleep lately... and I blacked out and... I crashed into Rattrap and he crashed into a boulder," she managed.
That of course, led straight to inquiry why didn't she recharge properly, which, to her relief, was cut off by Rhinox, who administered her something disgusting and sent her to bed. Only when she started to drift away she realized how much she really needed it.

___________________________________________________________________________

Something was making weird noises. The spider moved restlessly in its sleep.

**This is covert agent Ravage, calling lieutenant Speedwheel. Lieutenant Speedwheel, come in!** 
**I'm here by the order of Tripredicus Council, Lieutenant Speedwheel, are you receiving?**

**Lieutenant Speedwheel, ARE YOU THERE?!** 

"Blargh!" Tarantulas woke with a start, and fall off his web, landing in a pile of... very much dead animal remains. "Eww," he scowled, but didn't stop to wonder where did it come from.
He hit the button.
"Lieutenant Tarantulas here."

___________________________________________________________________________

Taraxa was feeling awfully uncertain and unhappy.

When Ravage had said about their 'other advantage', and Tarantulas's face appeared on the screen, she almost screamed with joy. He was all right! And on their side! She beamed at Rattrap, who scowled in exchange. "Ya have any idea what PSP is?" he murmured quietly, so that only she could hear. "If he's deir officer, dat's just one more reason for ya to keep away from 'im. And just because we have a common goal at da moment does not mean he's on our side."

"Can't you just admit you were wrong?"
"I can bet I wasn't."

And now she was beginning to think he was right. Because she'd only seen Tarantulas for half a nano, when after the battle he boarded Ravage's ship. Ravage took off almost immediately, heading back towards Axalon. When she tried to radio them, Ravage's accented voice informed her very politely that lieutenant Tarantulas was 'unavailable'. He remained 'unavailable' since then.

Rattrap watched a hunched figure sitting on a rock outside.

Wake up, girl! We're going home, he doesn't need you anymore! Stop sitting out there like some abandoned puppy!
He sighed. Poor kid...

___________________________________________________________________________

Tarantulas watched the screen full of letters and numbers, all his mind set at breaking codes. He never let his visor weaved to the side, where other screen was showing ship's surroundings.

Someone else was watching it.

"I must say, that femme is definitely good looking one," accented voice stated. "Who is she?"

Tarantulas's visor stayed fixed firmly on the codes.

"Experiment gone wrong."

"Wrong?"

"She was supposed to be a Predacon."

"Ah, I can see how disappointing the result may be, then."

Yeah. Disappointing. That's the word. He was disappointed. Right.
"I've decoded the location of Megatron's energon cache."
"That's good. I'll have the Maximals retrieve it right away."

Tarantulas just nodded and continued typing, not even noticing when Ravage left the room. Some time passed. He still didn't glance at that particular monitor even once.

"Ah, lieutenant Tarantulas," came from behind him, and spider's visor went wide. "How delightful to see you again." He whirled around, raising his gun.
Megatron smiled politely down at him.
"That will not be necessary, lieutenant. The situation has... changed."

The floor shook as ship's engines roared to life. Ravage's face appeared on the screen. "Your troops have arrived, Megatron."
"Excellent, yess."
The purple bot opened the hatch and peeked outside.
"We may as well begin, can we not?" and with that he raised his weapon. Tarantulas moved to see who he was aiming at, and his vision turned red.

___________________________________________________________________________

A hand touched her shoulder gently.
"Tara, come back inside."
"Why won't he even talk to me, Rattrap? What have I done so bad that he--"
"Stop dat! Da only thing ya did wrong was to care for 'im!"
Her shoulders shook and Rattrap groaned inwardly. He scrapped it...
"Look," he started, but before he could say anything more, engines' roar filled the air. "Whatta-?" he jerked his head up and managed to register a purple figure in ship's door before a blast hit the ground between him and Taraxa, and they both were sent tumbling to the ground.

"What da slag?!" He shook his head trying to clear it. What the slag was going on? Something hit the ground nearby. He looked up straight into a yellow visor. That slaggin' spider!

Rattrap promptly reached for his gun, but Tarantulas only had to push up and aim his spider legs. The rat-bot had just enough time to yelp before he fired.
The bullets swished above his head and--
"Ya'll pay me for this!" someone shouted behind him.

Rattrap rolled to his back, saw Waspinator and QuickStrike, and continued rolling until he was safe behind the rock.
Holy slag!
He started shooting at two Predacons, while at the same time Tarantulas opened fire at Megatron.
Holy slag! He is on our side!

Then Ravage's ship raised to the air and started firing, and somewhere between dodging shots, firing back and seeking cover, Rattrap found himself next to Tarantulas, and they leaned against each other, firing in opposite directions.
I'm fighting back to back with a Pred. I can't believe I'm doing it!
His comlink beeped, and Rattrap didn't even let Optimus finish the first word.
"Move yer flyin' skidplate back here NOW!"

Or even faster, he mentally added, when explosions on the other side of Axalon told him that Rampage had arrived and was having fun.

***

The first thing Optimus saw upon arrival was a black ship hovering above his base. The second was Megatron, hovering above the ship. And the third were two bots, standing back to back in the middle of the Pit, but as soon as he spotted them they ducked to the sides to avoid a powerful blast, and Optimus blinked.
I can't believe I saw that...
He dived toward Rattrap.

The rat yelped when a hand grabbed him and raised him to the air.
"Rattrap, take over the ship!"
"WHAT?!"
And he was tossed in the general direction of ship's open door.
"YEEEEEOOOWWW!" *Thump* "ooooph!"

He scrambled madly for a handhold.

The first of Megatron's shots had tossed Taraxa in a convenient crack in the ground, and she remained there, only poking her machine guns out to shoot at the Predacons. But then the gunfire intensified, the ground shook, and she realized that remaining here would result with being buried alive. She peeked out, crawled out of the crack and rushed for the nearest cover. She didn't notice a ship, turning to face her. Someone else did.

"LOOK OUT, YOU FOOL!" Tarantulas screamed at the top of his voice box, and lunged for her. He grabbed her just as Ravage pulled the trigger. The blast hit them both.

Engage in an aerial fight with Megatron, Optimus shouted in shock. Two transmetal spiders fell to the ground, and for a moment he was sure they would not move again. To his vague shock they not only moved, but actually got to their feet, and then Tarantulas pushed Taraxa back to the ground behind him and opened a futile fire at the ship. The next two shots hit him square in the chestplate. He went out as a candle. A split nano later, the ship danced wildly in the air.

***

Rattrap pushed a headless, black and silver body to the side and grabbed the rudders. He was cursing like he'd never been cursing before in his life.
One nano. ONE SLAGGIN' NANO!

___________________________________________________________________________

The fight was over. Rattrap relived his frustration ramming Megatron out of the air and practically frying Rampage with all ship's firepower. The Maximals still standing were helping up the others. Rhinox and Dinobot were debating over the charred form of the transmetal crab. Optimus was handcuffing unconscious Megatron. But while doing it, they were all looking in one direction. Rattrap landed and got out, afraid of what he might see.
He looked and his throat closed up.
Oh, Primus.

Taraxa was kneeling on the ground, rocking back and forth with limp form of Tarantulas in her arms, begging him to wake up, to not do this to her, she'll do anything he wants, she'll let him reprogram her, only please wake up...

Rattrap swallowed.
One nano. If I'd only got there one nano earlier. Whatever will I  tell her now?
He forced himself to start toward her.

"Stop that, you're making me dizzy."
Rattrap stopped dead in his tracks. The voice was unmistakable.
Taraxa gasped. "Ranty! You're alive!"
Her gaze slid over terrible wounds in his chestplate, and for the first time she noticed...
"Your implants," she breathed.
"You thought I'd put them into you without testing them first?"
Well, that actually was his initial plan, but then it somehow turned topsy-turvy. All his plans tended to go haywire around her. He'd better stay away...
She was making it difficult at the moment.
"You're strangling me, female!"
She released him hastily. "I'm sorry!"
He grumbled something and started to get up, only to collapse back almost immediately.

Rattrap blinked.
Is it just me, or did he do this only to make himself more comfortable on her lap?

Both spiders looked up as a shadow fall over them.
"I'll take you to the CR-chamber, Tarantulas," Optimus offered. The Predacon shot him so hostile glance, that he took a step back.
"I'm perfectly fine just where I am," the spider grumbled.

Rattrap blinked again.
Yep. He did.
"Hey, ah, I think ya should leave 'im fer a while, Fearless Leader. He might 'ave some internals damaged or somethin'."
Optimus looked back at him.
"What?"
Rattrap sighed and made a small beckoning gesture. When Optimus came closer, he asked very quietly, "Are ya blind?"

Tarantulas busied himself watching Raxa's face. She was looking at Optimus and Rattrap at the moment. She was probably worried about something, because she bit her lip. Hmmm...
He let his hand slid to the ground.
"Raxa..." he whispered weakly.
 

Taraxa looked down in alarm. His voice was so weak all of a sudden, something was wrong...
"What's wrong?!" she asked in panic, leaning close to hear him better.

And her face was now exactly where he wanted it.
"Nothing," he said in normal voice and kissed her.
She straitened up with wide optics. That insolent Pred! Should she scold him or should she kiss him? She settled for doing both.

"You *kiss* are *kiss* the worst *kiss* cunning, *kiss* manipulating, *kiss* sneaky, *kiss* cruel, *kiss* sly, *kiss* evil, *kiss* stinking *kiss* Pred *kiss* I've ever known! *kiss* "

He chuckled. "And proud of it!"
She started kissing him all over his face.
By that time everyone was openly gaping at them, and Rattrap was making gagging noises in the background, but none of them cared.
Because why should they?
Really.

_________

The (happy) End