Part 4: Black Friday

**A few months ago, Dinobots Island**

Waves were crashing on the beach like a metronome that evening, their music calming and constant. In the distance, you could still see smoke billow up in the air from Detroit where a huge battle happened just a few days ago. The island and its inhabitants, however, were as untouched and uncaring as they ever were, time passing it by like the waves of the Lake crashing along its beaches.

One of those waves left something behind it on the sand though, the unconscious form of a easily recognizable creature. Tarantulas was unconscious when he washed ashore, his organic half almost drowned by the water and his cybertronian circuitry too soaked by water and glitching badly. Time passed, and by nightfall, heavy steps approached the beach. Grimlock, in his T-Rex form, spotted the unconscious form first and roared to his brethren. Swoop glided from amongst the clouds and landed nearby and Snarl crashed through the bushes to come standing by Grimlock's side. All three of them watched the unconscious techno-organic for a while, until Grimlock walked closer and bent down to sniff him.

"What that be?" He pondered out loud. "Not smell like Dinobot or like car robots..."

"Is dead?" Asked Swoop, bending down to poke at it with a long clawed digit.

They all three jumped back with startled sounds when the creature groaned and twitched a bit. It stopped after a moment after trying without success to push itself on its hands and knees. All it ended up doing is cough up and throw up a lot of water and then falling back into unconsciousness on the beach. They waited a few minutes but it became apparent that, whatever this thing was, it wasn't going to get up anytime soon. Grimlock, always the bolder, returned to its side and pushed with his muzzle. It let out a moan but did not move. Grimlock grabbed it by the midsection and threw it onto his back.

"Me Grimlock say we take it to lair! Maybe it can help Dinobots!" He stated and the other two just shrugged. Whatever Grimlock says always happens anyways. If that thing turns out bad, they can always destroy it later...

During the following weeks, Tarantulas was in and out of consciousness. He was running a high fever and his organic half was infected with a illness due to his time spent in cold water. His Cybertronian half was no better as it was trying to purge the organic infection with little success. He had seizures often when he two halves crashed simultaneously because they just couldn't find a way to work together to cure that infection. After those seizure, he was delirious and half of the time he even transformed without even realizing. His spider self, somehow, seemed better equipped to deal with the serious organic virus that he caught and his subconscious as pushing him to stay in that form as much as possible.

The dinobots, not knowing what to do, steered clear of him during that time, only checking to see if he was still alive. Grimlock even brought him things to eat after tarantulas, in one of those more lucid moments he had, told him he needed meat to survive. Live prey were the best. Grimlock proceeded to catch him preys after that, once a week, sometimes twice. Tarantulas ate parts of what he brought him but not all. Sometimes he was just too sick to eat anything. It was only at the end of the sixth week that, one morning, he woke up feeling a whole lot better. He made a quick internal scan and his Cybertronian half reported that there was no virus infecting his systems anymore. It had finally been purged completely.

"You spiderbot feeling better?" A deep curious voice asked from somewhere to his right, and Tarantulas hissed in surprise and turned around, stinger ready to strike.

Grimlock lifted both hands in a peace gesture. he had been stung a few times already when the spiderbot was delirious and took him for someone else. An Elita something or Sentinel he wasn't sure what... They hurt and made him feel all funny for a couple hours after he was stung.

"Spiderbot calm, me Grimlock not want fight. Just checking if spiderbot need something."

Tarantulas huffed and retracted his stingers, then rubbed his forehead, only to freeze. His helmet! It was gone! Where was it?! He frantically looked around but quickly calmed down when he saw it laying close to his side. He grabbed it and put it back on quickly, feeling naked without it to hide his ugliness. Grimlock just observed him, not caring whether he had a helmet or not. He wasn't pretty, but the Dinobot couldn't care less. There was something about the spiderbot that seemed to draw the big dimwitted mechs right back at the techno-organic's side. That thing had been on and off while he was running a fever and very ill, but now that he was healed, whatever it was, seemed to have gained in strength.

Grimlock's nostrils flared as he sniffed the air and took a couple more steps closer to the spiderbot when he tried to stand, but too weak to manage just yet. He found himself at his side and offering an arm to help him straighten up and stand. Tarantulas lifted an optic ridge, not expecting the gesture, but then he saw the slightly dazed expression in the huge feral mech's optics and grinned. Oh Primus that was just too good! He knew perfectly what was happening to the big oaf. Since his transformation he had discovered that his body, when under stress or any strong emotions, exuded pheromones not unlike the ones used for attracting a member of the opposite gender for reproduction's purpose.

However, his were slightly different. Since he was only half-organic, his pheromones weren't as potent as they were in the spiders of the caverns. He had no intention of ever trying to 'mate' while in that disgusting form, anyway, but he had found out they had other functions then reproduction. To be precise, he could use them to exert some degree of mind-control, to plant suggestion and enforce them on others. Focusing while at the same time making a show of curling against the broad chest in front of him, looking faint and weak, he released more pheromones. He grinned watching the huge mech's optics get even cloudier and his arms tightened around his waist. That big oaf was going to be all heel over head for him now...

What he hadn't quite planned was seeing two more of those barging into the cavern and almost stampeding over one another to get to him. Grimlock tightened his hold on him and roared at his two just as dimwitted brothers and the flying one screeched, trying to snatch him from his 'leader's' grip from behind. Tarantulas disentangled himself and jumped back, hissing in warning and waving his stingers threateningly for them to keep their distance.

"Him spiderbot likes me Grimlock! Not you Swoop! Let go!" Grimlock had drawn his flaming sword by then and tried to slice at his brethren.

"Not true! You Grimlock always steal good things! Me Swoop wants spiderbot most!" The sleek flying dinobot screeched and dove for the T-Rex's head.

The third one seemed to jump into the fray just for the hell of it... until he too caught a whiff of the strong pheromones that the spiderbot was still releasing. His nostrils flared and he focused on him, forgetting his fighting siblings to stalk towards him, nostrils flared and a hungry look in his optics. This one was even bulkier then Grimlock, and more stupid, but probably stronger too. Tarantulas hissed in warning, still waving his stingers threateningly. This one wasn't deterred by this though and kept coming until he was backing the smaller spiderbot against the rock wall. He was sniffing him and grunting like a beast that he was, then he leaned down and buried his face in his neck taking a deep intake.

"Smells good..." He said, his weight almost crushing Tarantulas against the rock behind him. "Snarl want spiderbot..."

Tarantulas hissed and pushed at him, without much success. He felt the big mech press harder against him and yelped in outrage at what he felt. Oh Pit no! He used his stingers to make him loose his grip and then leapt back, transforming and crawling up the rock wall to settle on a ledge over the three quarrelling dinobots. In spider form he kept watching and almost laughed out loud at the disappointed look on the dinobots faces when he put himself out of reach. He looked down at them as they were looking up at him expectantly, now that they obviously were under his control, he could stop releasing that much pheromones. They all looked like kicked puppies and he laughed at the mental image.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, boys! You can look but not touch! There's enough of me for all of you!" He purred, transforming back and sitting on the edge of the ledge, looking down with a smirk. "Now, why wouldn't you show me around, hmm? I'd really like that..."

And show him around they did, through the entire island and there was nothing interesting here, until they showed him the abandoned lab hidden into a deep valley. Tarantulas wasn't very good with science, but through the vorns since his transformation, he had to make himself good at it. Especially genetics and bioengineering. Science could hold the way to revert him to his Cybertronian self... and this lab contained treasures of information's of genetic engineering and modifications researches. Pretty sound too from what he could see reading through the files. That man, Prometheus Black, was a genius in genetic researches. Maybe he could help revert him back to his former self... The only problem was that the man was currently in prison for kidnapping, attempted murder and illegal scientific researches and experiment.

"Prison hum? Not a problem." He heard Grimlock roar outside and grinned wider. "Not with my big helpers here!"

**present time**

Sari decided from the moment she and Bumblebee stepped into the prison that this place was creepy as hell. It was kind of dark and there was all sorts of unwelcoming noises like screams and barks of disturbing laughter and loud crashing noises. She walked closer to Bumblebee who was ready to protect her from any danger, stinger just begging to be released.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to come here?" Bumblebee asked, warily looking around and sounding quite uneasy.

"Relax Bumblebee. We're just here to talk to him!" Sari replied, she looked a lot less stressed then her robotic friend.

The last few months had hardened the little human girl. Losing her dad, being told she didn't exist and thrown out of her home had forced her to grow up a lot faster then she should have. She didn't look any older physically, but it was in her eyes. A maturity that wasn't there last year. Things that amused her then bored her now and she was a clever little girl too. She had come up with that idea of coming here to ask Black about what he knew on Powell and if maybe he would want to get back at the mech who stole his company as well as her dad's. She hadn't forgotten what he did to her last year, but she wasn't afraid of that guy either. She had her friend with her if anything went wrong anyway.

"If you say so. Let's just make it quick, shall we?" Bee replied as they entered the large circular room in the middle of which Black's perfectly impenetrable cell was situated.

"I know so!" She grinned at Bumblebee then returned her attention to the cell when they reached it.

Inside, the man recycling on the bed stood slowly, tall and slender but also very, very disturbing to look at since his skin was more like living acid swirling in patterns. Sari tried to not let it get to her nerves, she had seen it many times before. She didn't scare that easy! She bravely looked him square in the eyes and crossed her little arms over her chest as he walked up to the transparent wall and looked down at her. His expression was, as ever unreadable.

"Well, well, well, Sari Sumdac. To what do I owe the pleasure, my dear?" He finally said, seeming to smile coldly at her - yet it was hard to tell.

"Don't be too cocky, Black! Last time we met, you tried to turn me into a monster! I'm here because we have a common enemy now, it seems." She replied, sounding quite serious with her lips thinned and eyes slightly narrowed."Powell not only stole your company a while ago, he also did the same with my father's company and threw me out on the streets!"

"Terrible, truly terrible, my dear, but why should I care what happens to Isaac Sumdac's daughter? I hate your father with a passion, you very well know that, little Sari!" He sneered at her, crossing his own arms over his chest.

"It's not about my dad but about how you might want to get back to Powell for stealing your company! Don't you want revenge for that stunt?" She shot back, undeterred by his abrupt cold attitude.

"Aaah, but Powell is a businessman. You will NEVER catch him doing something illegal, believe me! You're wasting your time, and mine. Unless..." He grinned and Sari didn't like the creepy way he looked at her. "You can break me out of here! If you help me escape, I can make all of your problems just... melt away!"

Sari's jaw dropped a bit at what he was suggesting. She would never ask her friends to help her break a convicted criminal out of prison! Especially not if he would go kill someone - even someone she hated - once he's out! She huffed and shook her head, making to turn around and leave.

"Forget it! I don't know why I thought coming here was a good idea! Come on Bumblebee!"

"Okay... I'd have liked to teach the sleazy fragger a thing or two about politeness though." He growled out glaring down at the human for a second before following Sari as she was walking away.

"If you change your mind," Black called after them as they exited the room. "You know where to find me!"

It was only an hour later that Prometheus Black had the scare of his life when the wall behind his cell was blown apart and three huge form came lumbering in. He gasped and took a step back in reaction to seeing those beasts once more.

"You! But... it's impossible! How did you...?"

Grimlock leaned closer and looked at him in the face, snorting angrily at the puny little human. He stomped a foot and made him fall on his back on the floor of his cell.

"You coming with us! Him wants see you!" He roared and poked the cage hard, making him stumble again.

"You'll never be able to break that cage! It's completely impenetrable." He warned, wary of those brutes and not wanting to be squashed by them.

"Me Grimlock not break box! me Grimlock TAKE box!"

And with those words he proceeded to tear the whole thing off the floor and haul it on his back towards where whoever was controlling them this time waited for them. The trip was a bumpy one but soon - and with Black threatening and complaining the whole way - they reached the island and he was dropped on the ground and the three dinobots started calling and thumping their chests like they were some kind of tribal warriors. Black felt very uncomfortable with that, but his mouth dropped when he saw the creature that walked out of the bushes on top of the cliff then made his way down to them.

"Well, well, well, look at what my boys brought me!" He reached up and patted Grimlock's jaw with a long clawed hand, making the big robot look very happy as he rubbed against his palm. "Such a nice gift, thank you Grimlock!"

The big mech was just turned into a shuddering puppy begging for its master attention, it was very disturbing to watch such a huge creature absolutely worshipping another like it was a God of the old or something. Black lifted an eyebrow at this and was fascinated. Even more when the other two started to squabble and attack and beg for attention as well. They all received pats in the head and were all turned into obedient, begging little pets at their master's feet.

"Aren't they cute? They worship me you know? It gets old after a while..." The strange-looking robot said and turned his attention back to the human in his cage. "I need you help with something. I've seen your lab and your researches, and I think that you, Mr. Black, can help me achieve it! I've been fascinated with your researches on genetic modifications, and I think It is the answer I've been looking for to rid myself of that accursed organic contamination!"

The human looked up at the large spider robot and had a thoughtful look, rubbing his chin. So this mutated robot wanted something from him? He wanted to be rid of his organic half? Too bad he hadn't chosen more wisely then. His dinobots pets probably hadn't mentioned how much he hated machines. They were so dumb they probably forgot all about him anyway. But this could be interesting. This creature looked deadly and terrifying even with all the mechanical parts still within it. Rid it of all the mechanical limitation, and you'll get what he always wanted to create: a transforming organic! That was too good an opportunity to pass out! So he nodded at the gullible thing and motioned to the cage still around him.

"Get me out of here, and I'll help you rid yourself of your disgusting half." He replied finally, half-smirking. The robot had already turned into a spider and torn the door and a part of the front wall off with powerful looking claws and pinchers.

"Whoa, actually, that is a much better look for you! Why would I want to help you get rid of it?" Black asked stepping out of the cage and looking the giant spider with deep interest.

"Because," The spider said hissing at him threateningly yet his voice was sweet and purring. "If you don't, I'll be very unhappy. And when I'm unhappy, well, they are too!"

And the three Dinobots roared and stomped loudly at that, smelling the pheromones that Tarantulas had released to rile them up a little right now. Tarantulas chuckled and turned back to the now slightly shaky human, many red eyes locking into his visor ones.

"Aaah... Okay, fine, I'll help you!" he quickly replied and backed off a little from the threatening huge robots.

"I'm so glad that we agree, Mr. Black! I've read everything about your researches." Tarantulas said transforming back to bipedal mode and smirking down at the human. He started to walk towards the lab, not too far from here. "Tell me what you need to complete the work and I'll have my dinobots get it for you!"

"Of course... what is your name? How rude of me not to have asked yet!" He asked politely as they reached the lab and walked inside.

"My name is Tarantulas." He replied, staring down at the human.

"Fitting. Well, Tarantulas, let's get to work, shall we?" Black was already powering computers and looking through files and inventories.

**Meanwhile, Downtown Detroit**

"I know who's responsible for this, Captain Fanzone!"

The police officer looked down at the shorter man in a sharp suit standing next to him with his arms crossed over his chest. That man was a very annoying, very selfish and full of himself bastard, but since he owed the largest and most profitable robotic company in the country, as much as he disliked him, he still had to show respect to the sleazy bastard. Something he hated even more then machines, actually...

"Oh, and how's that, Mr. Powell?" The blonde human asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"It's Sumdac's daughter and her Autobots friends! Look!" He showed him a recording of the conversation Sari had with Black a couple hours ago.

"And might I ask how you came into possession of that recording, Mr. Powell?" The annoyance in Fanzone's tone was clear as he spoke up, arms crossed over his chest.

"It's not important how I got it! My life could be in danger! I need protection!" The man replied sounding very demanding and arrogant, two things that the police officer loathed as well as machines.

"You want protection? Get a schnauzer! I've got an investigation to get going here!" He replied and turned away from the smaller man with a huff.

Prometheus Black escaping from prison was bad enough, he didn't need someone like Powell mucking up the investigation! He was going to find out what happened without the... input... of the arrogant, full of himself CEO. He wasn't going to believe that a 8 years old, even with the help of her robotic friends, planned to bust out a known criminal from prison! Even less one that threatened her life not that long ago.

"Go home, Mr. Powell. I have it under control here." he finally said, facing the fuming man once more. "If anything pops up we'll get you informed. That's all I can promise."

"But! Aren't you going to at least detain the little brat and her friends?!" He sputters, outraged.

"On what charges? They came to talk to Black, big deal! Sari's visit is officially logged into the prison's records and unless I get actual PROOF that she has anything to do with Black's escape, I'm not gonna harass a 8 years old with this, Mr. Powell! Now go home before I ask one of my officers to escort you back!" He was fed up with that attitude. He knew how to do his job very well thank you very much!

Mr. Powell had no choice but to leave then but without threatening to make sure that the Captain lost his job in the near future.

**At the same time, Autobot's base**

"Prometheus Black broke out of prison?!"

Bumblebee stared at the TV screen with his mouth hanging open in shock, what a coincidence! he didn't like the sound of that either...

"But... We were just talking to him! Why escape now?" Sari asked, the worried expression on her face telling how much she was affected by that news. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Maybe Meltdown wants to go after your dad again! Or maybe he wants to turn more innocent humans into crab squid shark thingies!" Bumblebee said not very helpfully.

"HEY!" Sari protested, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring.

"What? I didn't mean you specifically! Though You got to admit, the guy has a thing for your family!" Bumblebee added, and Sari glared harder, until Prowl intervened.

He paused the recording on the TV and sighed, arms crossed and glaring at Bumblebee coolly.

"Bumblebee, for once, can't you keep quiet? You're upsetting Sari!"

"Hey, what do you mean? I can keep quiet anytime, anyplace!" He retorted, standing and glaring at the ninjabot.

"Really? Well, I bet you a case of axel grease that you can't keep quiet for ten cycles!" Prowl shot back with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're on!" Bumblebee replied with a smug grin, then leaned towards Bulkhead. "I'm sooo gonna win that sweet axel grease!"

Prowl cleared his throat and lifted an optic ridge with a half smirk.

"What, you mean we're starting now?" he tilted his head, blinking in surprise.

"Mhmm." Prowl just smirked.

"Oh, okay then! Not one more word! The mute button is on!" Bee made a show of pressing at the side of his helm and winked at the ninjabot.

Prowl just shook his head and turned back to the TV. The frame was frozen with Prometheus Black's cell in the middle, but there was a reflection on the cell wall, blurry and hard to make out. Prowl pressed a few buttons on the remote and the image started to clear.

"There's a reflection on the side. If we increase the resolution like this... There!"

The image had cleared enough to make the reflection on the cell clear for them to see... and recognize the form of the Dinobots clearly. Elita was the first to react and she let out a surprised huff.

"What?! But they despise Meltdown! Why would they want to spring him out?!" She asked, clearly shocked by that turn of event.

"Maybe a free get out of prison card?" Bumblebee asked and Elita smirked, sharing a look with Prowl.

"Not even half a cycle." The ninjabot said shaking his head with a crooked grin.

"Wait! Give me another chance!" Bumblebee begged, while Elita just continued with her train of thoughts.

"We need to look into this." She stated, then added, looking at Prowl seriously, a slight frown marring her soft features. "Prowl, you know Dinobot Island like the back of your servo. You and Bumblebee are coming with me!"

The two mechs nodded and they made their way to the base's entrance then drove out into the night. She had a bad feeling about all this, as I something very bad was about to happen, and she didn't like it one bit. Even worst then when Sentinel showed up last time... Once on the Island, Elita suggested that they split up to cover more ground, and Bumblebee couldn't help but put in his two credits, of course. That bot sure couldn't stay quiet for a single cycle could he? Once they separated, Elita started to feel dread creep into her spark. That island was dark and foreboding at night, but they had to find out what was going on.

Prowl was the first to stumble into some evidences, and he crouched down to examine an half-melted rock. A sure sign that their target had been around. He straightened up and looked around on full alert... until his quiet was broken by a shrill cry from Bumblebee.

"PROWL!"

The ninjabot sighed, the young bot would never win that bet at that rate! He bolted through the trees towards where the scream had come from, and as he closed by he couldn't wait but to rub the smaller bot's faceplates in it. Bumblebee was too easy to rile up, something he had to work on if he ever wanted to be seen as anything else then a hyperactive youngling.

"What is it Bumblebee? What's so important that you couldn't help but to share with the rest of the world?"

He landed lightly in front of a few trees and his mouth suddenly dropped open at the sight that greeted him. Bumblebee was caught up in a huge spider web! He seemed offline too, his optics completely dark and for once, silent and unmoving. Prowl just had time to turn around when he heard a ruffle of leaves behind him and something struck him in the chest, injecting deadly venom into his lines. Before losing consciousness he had the time to recognize the thing that attacked him.

"I think he was trying to warn you against me." Hissed a cold, amused voice in his audio as he felt himself be wrapped in a tight cocoon of web.

Tarantulas.

In the meantime, Elita had been looking through another part of the island, and soon after Prowl and Bee were attacked, she found herself face to face with a very pissed-off Grimlock who roared in her face. Startled she jumped back and unsheathed her twin daggers, ready to strike. However, the Dinobot wasn't attacking yet just... standing there looking threatening.

"Prow, Bumblebee! I need backup!" Hs shouted through her comlink but no one answered. Their lines were dead and she started to panic a little. "Fragit, what's happening?!"

"Oh, I don't think they can help you, my dear."

A cold, cruel whisper from behind her made her almost jump out of her plating and swirl around... Only to find herself face to face with Tarantulas! He was hanging upside down from a tree using his webs and smirked evilly at her, eyes narrowed.

"Tarantulas!" She gasped, starting to understands what had been happening all along.

She bellowed in anger and dove forward to attack... only to pass right through an hologram and smash her head in a tree with a loud crash. She stumbled and saw stars, shaking her head to clear it. She spun around and faced tarantulas once more, and he was still smiling coldly at her, looking devilish and cruel.

"You attacked Bumblebee and prowl!" She gasped, glaring hard at him.

"They'll suffer no permanent damage... well, if you don't take into account the deadly dose of venom I injected them when I attacked them!" He cackled, grinning at her with a disturbing look in his red eyes. "If I don't inject them the antidote in two megacycle, they'll go offline... permanently!"

That devious spider! Elita growled and tightened her fists at her sides. Her teammates were in grave danger and he was talking like it was nothing at all! She'd fallen right into a trap it seems... and the trap had just closed around her! Before she could say anything else, Tarantulas had dropped from the treetop where he was hiding the whole time and she found herself staring up into his unforgiving eyes, so cold and malevolent she couldn't believe they once belonged to one of the sweetest, kindest bot she ever knew. He took her chin into his clawed hand and lifted it to look into her optics, so close she could smell his breath and it wasn't very pleasant.

"Optimus..." She whispered, her optics filling with tears as she realized that he had been right all along. There was no going back to his old self.

"Don't you ever listen to what I say Elita?" He hissed in her audio, leaning even closer. "Optimus is dead. However..." He closed the remaining distance between them and pressed a kiss to her trembling lips, his fangs grazing her tender metal skin and leaving marks that bled energon. "I might decide to spare you a gruesome death if you do exactly as I say." He whispered the next words in her audio and they sent shivers down her spinal units. "You still taste as good as I remember, Elita..."

"O-Optimus..." She repeated, her processor going blank from all the raging emotions this mech created within her. "Please..." She had dimmed her optics and let out a whimper when he kissed her roughly. The pain though seemed to wrench her lout of the gutter he pushed her into and she shoved him back with a disgusted, terrified scream. "DON'T TOUCH ME! Don't you dare do that again without my permission, Tarantulas!"

She then found herself thrown back into a tree by a very pissed-off Grimlock and she stared up at his blazing red optics. Tarantulas laughed and she realized she'd been strung along like a fool once more! He had planned this, to humiliate her and bring her lower then dirt! She growled and touched Grimlock to borrow his own power for a moment, sending him reeling back and yelping like a kicked puppy.

"You fragging afthole! How dare you?! Give them the antidote NOW or I incinerate you, do you hear me?!" She threatened, but then he just grinned wider and another form walked out from behind a tree. Meltdown! "I knew it! You sprung him out of prison and now you're using me to do your dirty business!"

"You're right, my dear Elita. I need your help to go with Grimlock to Detroit and get me the element that is still missing to finally rid me of my organic contamination! My new friend Meltdown here had agreed to help me get rid of it!" He replied casually, patting Grimlock on the muzzle and grinning at his puppy eyes. "Isn't that right, Meltdown?"

"Oh, yes, but I need a special Genetic Modifier to complete the process. Once I have it, I can complete the conversion!" The human said with a nasty grin and Elita had a bad feeling about it.

Tarantulas walked up to her and once more leaned very close, their lips almost touching. He smiled and whispered while rubbing her cheek with a thumb, holding her chin in one large clawed palm.

"I am looking forward to being all Cybertronian again, my sweet Elita. Maybe then you won't look so disgusted when you look upon me..." He had heard the roar and the commotion of Grimlock charging forward and deftly sidestepped the big dinobot's lumbering form crashing into Elita and sending flying backward.

"You puny Elita stay away from Spiderbot! Spiderbot likes me Grimlock best!" He growled at her and she huffed in annoyance. Those mind games were tiring.

"Oh please, don't be so jealous!" Tarantulas said walking up to the dinobot and giving an extra strong dose of pheromone as he caressed his jaw gently. He melted into a puddle under his touch and let out a happy roar. "Can't you two be friend for little old me? I'm waiting forward to see you back with my present!"

Grimlock grabbed Eita by her Ponytail shaped helmet and dragged her behind him as she yelped and wiggled to get him off her. Tarantulas laughed and called after their retreating forms.

"Come back soon!" He looked at the two wrapped up forms of Bumblebee and Prowl and added darkly. "For your friend's sake, Elita."

Soon, in front of Sumdac Tower, Elita sighed and shook her head in annoyance as Grimlock fooled around scaring the humans. She put a stop to it quickly by wrapping a coil of thick wires around his mouth and pulling him backwards.

"Stop it you big oaf! We're here to get the Genetic Modifier, not scare the humans! So let's just get to it and we're done! Get it?" She hissed at him and he glared back.

All she could think off were prowl and bee and that they were dying right now. She didn't have time to fool around! She didn't let him scare her and she would kick his sorry aft if he kept being such a huge idiot. She huffed and added, as if as a second tought.

"Transform into you robot mode, it'll be less conspicuous that way."

"Okay." Grimlock did so and stood a couple heads taller than her still, he towered over her small form and huffed arrogantly, pointing out that he was still, taller than her and that was why Spiderbot liked him best. Elita just sighed and shook her head at his gullible nature.

"He's using us both, Grimlock! He doesn't care slag about you or me! Once he gets what he wants, he'll ditch us like used engine blocks! Can't you see that?" She tried to explain to him but she could tell that it was just passing right through one audio and out the other. Tarantulas really had him and his brothers under his little thumb...

"Autobot femme baaad! Me Grimlock go alone!" he stated and marched right to the building to enter. he stopped a few paces inside though and came back looking like a lost puppy, all confused. "uuuh... where do me Grimlock find genetic thingy?"

"I'll go with you." Sighed the small yellow and green femme, sighing. "I know who can get it for us."

Inside the Tower, it wasn't too long until they found Mr. Powell. In fact, he walked right out of the elevator right after they entered the Lobby and then startled back with jaw dropping, holding a suitcase like a shield. Grimlock roared and crouched right in his face to shout that he wanted the 'thingy' and to give it to him now. he then seemed to remember that he wasn't supposed to scare humans and took a step back looking confused.

"Uh, me Grimlock not supposed to scare puny humans..."

"Oh, this one you can scare all you want!" Elita said with her arms crossed, looking down coldly at the human.

She had never liked Powell, and what he did to Sari, and to see him squirm was delightful. Grimlock grabbed him by the leg of his pant and lifted him high over the ground. He squirmed and screamed in fear, and Elita just grinned back at him, her beautiful faceplates sporting a very unfriendly expression.

"What 'thingy'?! What is he talking about?!" Powell finally asked when he found his voice back, shaky and panicked.

"Prometheus Black's Genetic's modifier. Where is it?" Elita asked, face to face with the small annoying human.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Powell said and Elita didn't believe him.

"You know," ELita started, smirking a bit. "My companion's awfully hungry."

She watched as Grimlock tossed the screaming human up and trapped him into his mouth. There was shouting and banging for a while until finally, Powell seemed to realize he wasn't getting out of it without giving them what they wanted.

"Alright, alright! I'll give it to you! Just let me out!"

"You can let him out, Grimlock." Elita said and Grimlock spewed him out into the floor, covered in sticky oil and grease.

"Ewww, my suit!" The humans complained, but when Grimlock roared once more and jumped to his feet and led them towards the elevator. "That way... and keep that thing on a leash!"

They took the elevator to a higher floor and when they left it they were in a lab. Lots of lab equipment lined the tables and the ceiling was high. The room was dark and the light dimmed, probably to save energy since no one worked here anymore. Powell went to a cabinet against the far wall and took out the object they were after. It was compact and looked like a container of some sort.

"Here you go! This lab had been locked up since Mr. Black's unfortunate... accident! If you want that so badly, it must be more valuable than I thought!"He still sounded annoyed and angry, but still handed Elita the device. "And don't touch anything!"

Elita took the genetic modifier from him and gave him a narrowed optic glare. She hated that sleazy little human. He straightened up as he looked at them in turn as if waiting for something.

"Are you going to finish me up now?!" he finally blurted out, and Elita merely gave him a look over her shoulder as she walked out with Grimlock.

"As tempting as that offer is, Mr. Powell, we're a little short of time." She said coldly and a moment later, they were gone.

"Captain fanzone!" Powell barked in his cellphone after calling the police. "I've been robbed!"

**Later, Dinobot's Island**

Tarantulas squirmed a bit, the bindings that had just locked around his ankles and wrists were uncomfortable and cold. He hissed in discomfort and glared at the human tinkering at the station near the lab table he was now bound to.

"Is this really necessary?" He asked gruffly, not liking being held down.

"Not if you're willing to risk slicing you own head off with those wicked claws of yours." Meltdown answered casually, putting the last preparation to the purging machine.

A moment later the door opened and Grimlock immediately growled when he saw that Tarantulas was bound down and looking quite uncomfortable. He roared and barked threateningly at Black.

"You no hurt Spiderbot!"

Elita stepped in front of Grimlock to stop any nonsensical confrontation and held out the genetic modifier for Black to see. She was pissed and to see Op-.. No Tarantulas bound down and helpless was both a relief and made her angry. She didn't trust Meltdown to hold his end of the bargain so before handing it over, she demanded, her voice harsh and commanding.

"Before I give you that, he has to give the antidote to my teammates!"

Before she could say anything else, something wrapped around her head and torso and she screamed in surprise, being thrown out and away from the lab's door. Meltdown chuckled and took the genetic modifier, smirking at the two bots now facing down his mutated creations. They were going to be busy for a while now... He turned back to Tarantulas and the lab table and hooked the modifier into its slot.

"They're going to have their hands full for a while now. Ah, well, shall we begins then?"

"Whatever it takes to get rid of that foul half of myself!" Tarantulas replied, feeling two electrodes stick to each sides of his helmet.

The moment they made contact though, he knew something was wrong, and he turned to look harshly at his 'partner', whom smirked at him and said, casually, his voice holding a wicked evil undertone that made the spiderbot's circuits shudder.

"Ah, yes, about that... There had been a slight change of plans." He started and his smirk just widened.

"What?!" Tarantulas barked, baring fangs and mandibles at him threateningly. That only seemed to please the bastard to see more of his organic self.

"Oh, don't worry, my friend, I WILL be purging half of your techno-organic form, just... not the half that you had in mind!" He cackled and turned a few digits on the machine. Electricity already started to run over flesh and plating alike and Tarantulas squirmed, panting in pain.

"You slimy traitor!" Tarantulas roared, pulling and tearing at his bindings. "You can't do that to me! I won't let you!"

"I guess your dinobots friends failed to mention my distaste for machines?"

Tarantulas looked shocked, no, they never mentioned it! If they had he wouldn't have trusted that human to rid him of his organic half! And now he was going to become even MORE of a monster then he already was. He screeched and bared his fangs, his inner mandibles unfolding with his sudden rage and fear. His claws left deep gouges on the metal of the table and screeched horribly, grating the human's ears.

"Once I have purged you of your mechanical parts, your remaining arachnid tissues will be perfect for my genetic experiments!" meltdown continued with glee, pushing a few more buttons and controls on the machine. "Magnificent, truly magnificent!" He commented at the display the spiderbot was doing in his rage, feral instinct of preservation trying to take over. "With your invaluable help, I will finally be able to achieve my dream: creating a transforming organic being!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Tarantulas screamed, his feral nature and his cybertronian self finally finding a common ground: survival. Neither wanted to be wiped out of existence and his robotic half even less!

"It's time for your EXTEREME MAKEOVER!" Meltdown rejoiced as he pushed the lever that activated the machine.

Outside, Elita and Grimlock were fighting against the genetic mutations created by meltdown and weren't doing too good. Grimlock had already managed to put half of the forest on fire and Elita was holding back the other monster with her daggers and powers she borrowed from Grimlock when she touched him a moment ago.

"Stop that! You'll torch half of the island!" She shouted at him, managing to throw the creature off her and hearing a shout of pain from inside the lab.

"You puny femme not tell Grimlock how to fight!" He bellowed and put more trees on fire trying to fight off the bat-like mutation.

Inside the lab, energy was building faster into the machine and started to descend on the helpless spiderbot bound to it. Tarantulas could already imagine himself as a complete freak, a monster without any hope of ever going back to his former self. If Meltdown succeeded, he would be lost forever!

"You'll pay for double-crossing me, Meltdown! That I swear!" Tarantulas roared at him and fought his bindings even harder. "You disgusting human scum!"

"You're hardly in a position to make threats." Meltdown answered, not very impressed.

"Wanna bet?!" Tarantulas replied and he spewed web right into the human's face, covering it. However it just melted away in seconds.

"Why do you fight me?" He asked, genuinely surprised by such reluctance. "I'm going to free you from your crude mechanical limitations! You should be thankful!"

"You have NO IDEA how it was to live like a monster for all those vorns! I WASN'T BORN AN ORGANIC! I want my REAL LIFE back! The one those spiders STOLE from me!" He hissed at him, writhing in agony as energy started to course through him. He could feel it taking his robotic self apart slowly, and could do nothing to stop it! "STOOOP IIIT!"

"Shh, shh, poor thing. It'll all be over soon, I promise!" Meltdown said in a mock soothing tone, tuning the machine to a higher setting.

"ELIIITAAAA!" He finally screamed, knowing she wouldn't let Meltdown hurt him like that. She was his last hope, and he could very well see the irony in it.

Outside, the crab thing almost got her but suddenly, Snarl and Swoop were there as well and she was saved being ripped apart by those dinobots. She could thank them later though because she heard Tarantulas screaming in pain and calling her name. She took care of the fire and then ran into the lab.

"Tarantulas!" She saw him writhing in agony in the table, a horrible pained expression twisting his features.

"Stay back!" Meltdown warned, throwing acid at her. Elita jumped back and over him and in the same movement tore the genetic modifier off its slot. The energy stopped pouring and Tarantulas fell limp in his bindings.

"NOOO! I'm not going to be beaten by a MINDLESS MACHINE again!"

Meltdown ran at her and jumped on her back, grabbing her writs and using his acid to make her let go. Elita screamed in pain and dropped the modifier, but meltdown touched it before she could. However, since he was still seeping acid by every holes of his body, it started to melt the electronic component and his own form seemed to react badly to the energy output. He started to literally melt away until he was nothing more than a puddle of greenish shuddering goo on the floor of the lab. Elita watched that with a disgusted frown before she forgot about the human. He was dead, there was no point in lingering. Once he was gone, she turned towards the table where Tarantulas was still being held down. She broke the bindings and leaned closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him up a bit, smiling sadly at him.

"Oooh... Elita... I... You came back for me... Why?"

He was still weakened by what Meltdown had done to him and he was trying to get his bearings back. He smiled at Elita and reached up with a hand, cupping the side of her face and touching her lower lip softly with a thumb.

"I... wouldn't have come back..." He admitted, sounding a bit shameful at the realization. "Yet you... you did. Why?"

"Tarantulas... Optimus... No matter what you look like now, once we were best of friends. Even if now it means nothing to you, it still does for me, and I still feel responsible for what happened to you." Elita answered truthfully, holding his limp hand in her own tenderly. "I could never do enough to make up for my mistake. Sentinel was right, I didn't do nearly enough..."

She sobbed the last few words and tears rolled down her cheeks, her green metal skin wet with the coolant. Tarantulas squeezed back for just a second, before he suddenly let go and pulled her closer, whispering into her ear. His words, while hurtful, were true and she had no argument against them.

"You're right, Elita, you didn't do nearly enough... But thank you. For coming back today." He pressed their lips together once more, not hurting this time but quickly broke it up when Grimlock came charging in.

He almost forgot about the big oaf, but his intervention was timely. He couldn't linger here any longer.

"Hold me closer, Elita..." he whispered but loud enough so the big jealous Dinobot could hear.

"Nooooo! Spiderbot MINE!" He roared and charge Elita, sending her off Tarantulas and in a heap on the floor.

Tarantulas, with one last longing look at his former friend, transformed and disappeared through a hole in the ceiling. He made his way towards where he left Prowl and Bumblebee and dropped the anti venom there. He owed Elita that much for saving his hide today, but they were even now. It wasn't long until he had left the island completely and disappeared once more off the radars.

In the lab Elita disentangled herself from the lumbering form of Grimlock and growled in annoyance. Her slight form was dented and scratched from all the beating up Grimlock put her through today! However, Grimlock now looked dazed, his optics clouded over and he shook his head, banging the side of it as if he had something in his audio.

"Why me Grimlock on the floor?" he caught sight of her and looked even more confused. "Why you Elita with me Grimlock on the floor?"

Elita sighed and offered a hand to the big dimwitted dinobot leader. She had an idea what happened and why he seemed not to recall what had happened.

"What is the last thing you remember Grimlock?" She asked kindly, her blue optics soft and understanding.

"Uuh... Him spiderbot wakes from fever, me Grimlock checks on him... See if still alive. Then..." he frowned and tilted his head as if trying to recall something else. he then looked at her helplessly and shrugged. "Me Grimlock not remember, mind is like full of clouds."

"It's okay." Elita replied and smiled at him reassuringly. "Nothing happened. You were just not yourself for a bit. You and your brothers should return to your daily routine. thank you for helping me."

Grimlock beamed at her praise and buried a large muzzle in her neck, purring and sniffing her scent. Like a huge puppy wanting attention, Elita thought amused. She managed to push him off her and then hurried to where her teammates and friends were. They still lay there lifeless and she still didn't have the antidote. She dimmed her optics, sadness filling her once more. This was one more Autobot that she failed to save... Her optics fell on something laying at Prowl's side then and she took it.

The injector! Tarantulas left it!

Quickly she injected the antidote and her friends came back online quickly. Bumblebee was the first to speak up though and what he said made her smile.

"Hey what happened? How long was I unconscuious?"

"Almost two megacycles." Elita replied with a smile.

"Ah! Told you I could be quiet!"

"All it took was being unconscious." Prowl snorted and shook his head.

"Still, I won! Now pay up the sweet axel oil!" Bee retorted and Elita laughed with Prowl at that.

**back in detroit**

"And then you said that you and those wack-jobs dinobots were blackmailed by your spiderbot friend into stealing that genetic modifier thingy and then took a powder?"

Captain Fanzone sure didn't sound very impressed by this explanation. In fact he looked downright doubtful, arms crossed over his chest and staring up at his Autobots allies. The moment they were back in Detroit, he had to 'arrest' Elita and her team to ask them a few questions about the robbery Mr. Powell complained about. he never expected that mess of a story though!

"Well, that's about the size of it, Captain." Elita said and then she took the modifier out of her subspace pocket and put it on the ground. "Here, I don't think meltdown will be needing this anymore."

Mr. Powell looked less than impressed by the state the stolen object was in and he gasped in shocked anger. He looked back at the Autobot femme and glared heatedly.

"What did you do?! Its ruined!" he complained loudly making everyine either scowl or glare at him.

"Chin up, Mr. Powell." Fanzone said with a grin. "It'll make a dandy paperweight now!"

"They still broke into my lab, held me hostage, and threatened my life!" Powell barked and glared at the police Captain angrily. "What are you gonna do about it?!"

"I'm gonna go home and get some shut eyes." He replied calmly, unfazed by temper explosi0ons like this. "And I suggest you do the same before I haul you in for being a public nuisance!"

He then just walked away and climbed into his car, then drove away without a glance back.

"It's an outrage! The Mayor will hear about it!" Powell raged as he stomped away, robbed of his 'rightful' justice.

Sari giggled and leaned toward Bumblebee.

"I almost feel sorry for him." She commented with a amused smile, a bit pleased too. "Almost!"

She saw the faraway look in Elita's optics and she tapped her ankle to get her attention. When the femme looked down at her she saw that she was smiling a bit sadly and it made her tilt her head and ask softly, concerned.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"You know, Tarantulas didn't have to leave the antidote, but he did anyway." She replied and chuckled a bit, looking in the distance.

"Well, maybe that means he's not all that bad, hmm?" The little girl replied with a smile of her own. She hadn't forgotten her last experience with the spiderbot, but she had put it into perspective. She could think about it without the terror it first inspired her. "Despite all the threats and scary faces he made at me, last time, in the end, he didn't hurt me. This had to count for something too, didn't it?"

"yes, it does." Elita said looking down at her with a hopeful look. "There might still be hope for him then."

"That's the spirit!" The little girl giggled.

-To be continued...-