"That's good." Scalpel finally relaxed as he saw the clarity and reason return to Blackarachnia's optics.
For months, he and Blackarachnia had been hiding beneath the surface, where he had worked tirelessly to purge her systems of the contaminated fluids.
"Blackarachnia, we should leave this planet. Let's forget about that blood-sucking freak."
Blackarachnia's four chanical spider legs shifted across the webbing before she lowered herself slowly to the cavern floor. From the front, it looked as if an invisible hand were gently guiding her down.
"That guy is definitely a problem," Blackarachnia said, her expression grim. For soone as vengeful as her, abandoning a grudge right in front of her was a bitter pill to swallow. But she knew the odds. She didn't have a hundred percent certainty that she could kill the Cybertronian who had turned into that monster.
Blackarachnia was different from other Transforrs. Her primary lethality lay in her spider legs and her webbing; she needed close-quarters combat to be truly effective.
Months ago, she had landed on this planet after following a distress signal. The mont she entered the Cybertronian Spire, she was ambushed by the husk. Caught off guard, one of her spider legs was bitten. By the ti she realized sothing was wrong, it was too late. She could only fight her way out and flee underground with Scalpel to recover.
"My energy reserves are nearly depleted. Leaving this rock is the only logical choice." After a mont of silence, she finally dismissed the idea of imdiate revenge.
"Good. I'll go prep the ship," Scalpel said, turning to leave.
At that mont, Blackarachnia noticed a chanical insect crawling past her. On its back, a device resembling a signal tracker was flashing with a piercing red light.
Before she could figure out what it was, the sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed through the tunnels, growing louder by the second.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Without a word, Blackarachnia shifted into her purple-and-black chanical spider form and scurried up to the cavern ceiling. Scalpel activated his cloak and vanished into the shadows.
A tall figure erged from one of the many branching tunnels. The mont the intruder appeared, Blackarachnia fired a massive web from her abdon.
Zip!
The half-black, half-white web dropped toward the intruder's head, only for a flash of cold steel to sever it instantly. The bisected web fell harmlessly to either side.
"What!" Blackarachnia's optics widened. Her spinneret was a specialized weapon module; her webs were designed to entangle Elite-class warriors with ease. This newcor had sliced through it with a casual flick of a blade. He was not to be trifled with.
Just as she prepared to switch to an acid attack, a voice echoed through the cave:
"Lady Blackarachnia, that's not exactly a friendly greeting..."
Skygnaw looked up with a smirk at the eight-legged spider clinging to the ceiling. Even in her beast mode, Blackarachnia retained distinct feminine Cybertronian features. If not for the cold, tallic sheen of her armor, she could have passed for a giant spider-demon from ancient myth.
"Skygnaw? Is that you?"
The familiar signal ID in the voice let her recognize the intruder imdiately. Then, the shock hit her. "Skygnaw... you've ascended to Commander-class?"
"What! A Commander!" Scalpel poked his head out from his hiding spot, his shock matching Blackarachnia's.
It was clear that they hadn't had access to any intel from Earth. Stuck in the Bripati system—several systems away from the Sol system—they were likely the last Decepticons in the galaxy to learn of Skygnaw's promotion.
"It's ," Skygnaw nodded. He was getting used to people being floored by his rapid growth. He sheathed the Black Hell Blade and scanned the cave. A giant web and dozens of chanical insects. Living like a true cave-dweller, he thought.
Blackarachnia slowly crawled down from the ceiling, and Scalpel stepped out from behind a rock. Now that they were face-to-face, the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
In the past, Scalpel might have looked down on Skygnaw because of Blackarachnia's status, but a Commander-class warrior was an equal. Neither of them knew quite how to break the silence.
Skygnaw decided to go first. "Scal—"
"Skygnaw," Scalpel interrupted. "From now on, just call Scalpel."
Blackarachnia followed suit. "Sa here. Just 'Blackarachnia' is fine." She stared directly at him, her two pairs of compound eyes fixed on his face.
Being stared down by multiple sets of chanical eyes made Skygnaw feel a brief, involuntary chill. "Alright. Scalpel. Blackarachnia."
He knew this day would co as he grew stronger, so it didn't feel particularly strange to him. Blackarachnia, unaware her "charms" were falling on deaf sensors, asked:
"Skygnaw, shouldn't you be on Earth? Why are you out here?"
"Well, about a month ago..." Skygnaw gave a brief summary of his journey. He strategically omitted any ntion of the Scepter of Retribution, simply stating he was searching for an item. You never knew if an old-school Decepticon like Blackarachnia would develop "sticky fingers" if they heard about an Iacon Relic. He wasn't afraid of her, but he hated unnecessary drama.
What Skygnaw didn't realize was that Blackarachnia's ruthlessness was mostly reserved for Autobots and her personal enemies. Her predatory nature was a result of her experiences on Cybertron, which was a far cry from the naturally twisted personalities of so other Decepticons.
"You ran into that blood-sucking monster too?" Blackarachnia frowned.
"I did," Skygnaw nodded, catching the "too." "You t him as well?"
"Yes. Scalpel and I were passing through the Bripati system..." It was her turn to tell the tale, detailing their arrival and the ambush.
So that's it, Skygnaw thought. The damage inside the spire was clearly the result of a fight between her and Cyclonus. It also confird that the fluid in the husk was infectious, considering it had taken her this long to recover from a single bite.
"...While I was purging the contamination, I ran into those 'Cephalon' creatures," she finished.
"Don't worry about them. I've already dealt with their leader," Skygnaw said dismissively. Then, his curiosity took over. "Do you know what that thing is? I an, how did he end up like that?"
Scalpel, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "He likely used Dark Energon when he was on the brink of death."
"Dark Energon?"
Skygnaw repeated the term. He knew about Energon cubes and power pillars, but this was a new one.
Seeing his confusion, Scalpel continued, "I don't know the origin of Dark Energon—hardly anyone on Cybertron does anymore. But I once saw a record of its effects in an old archive. Dark Energon can grant a mockery of life to inorganic matter, making it hyper-aggressive. It can also turn a dead Cybertronian into a mindless combat puppet. If consud directly by a living being, they beco a 'vampire,' desperately craving the Energon of others. The thing in that spire is a textbook case."
Scalpel's voice took on a hint of schadenfreude. "According to the legends, there is a counterpart called Ultra-Energon that can neutralize the corruption and restore a bot to normal. But Ultra-Energon has been extinct since the ancient eras. That guy in the tower is a lost cause."
Ultra-Energon?
Skygnaw understood imdiately—the classic dualism of light and dark.
He also realized why Skywarp was so likely to die on this planet. Running into Blackarachnia was bad enough, given her history with Starscream's crew, but with an unkillable Terrorcon in the mix and no audience to witness the cri, Blackarachnia wouldn't let a chance like that go to waste.
Even without her, Skywarp's team stood no chance against the undead Cyclonus.
The Iacon Relic was destined to be his.
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