Poison In The Heart (Book 2)

Chapter 19

The team emerged and found themselves just outside a cave. Optimus took a few cautious steps forward and transformed his servos into cannons. The others followed his example and pulled out their cannons. They walked into the cave ready to fire.

As they moved around a corner they spotted a few Insecticons standing in front of a cage. They could see what appeared to be a lab in a smaller room just beyond. Optimus silently motioned for them to move around. Smokescreen shrugged and yelled as he ran forward. The Insecticons roared and charged at the young bot. Bulkhead raised an optic ridge.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what Optimus meant." He muttered as his leader ran into the fight.

The wrecker ran forward and swung his mace at one Insecticons head. It hit the wall and crumpled to the floor. Bulkhead yelled and jumped onto the con as he started to punch it repeatedly. Optimus and Smokescreen were shooting the other con and after a moment it went down. The wrecker walked over and smirked.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!" the three bots looked down in surprise and saw Miko standing on a box inside the cage.

"Miko?!" Bulkhead asked surprised yet relieved to see she was unharmed.

"Bulkhead!!" She yelled as she ran between the bars. The wrecker knelt down and held his servo out. Miko hugged him tightly, and smiled as a tear ran down her face.

Optimus smiled ever so slightly and walked towards the lab with Smokescreen close behind. They aimed their guns at every corner as they entered. Optimus walked to the computer and started typing. After a moment there was a beep and he realized he had patched through.

"Rachet, we have found Arachnids lab and need help identifying the proper..." Optimus paused and looked around the lab again. "...venom to bring back." He said as he picked up a random vial and looked at it curiously.

"Alright, it should be on hand if she's been working on it. Let me think-" There was a crash and they heard Rachet yell something and his voice faded. A few more things broke and the medic started cursing.

"Report." Optimus said as he noticed an empty vial laying on the desk. It dripped a strange substance on to the floor below. He bent down and scanned it as he narrowed his optics.

"We're a little busy!" Arcee called from the background. The leader looked back up at the screen for a moment.

He suddenly heard Smokescreen cry out and he looked over his shoulder. His optics widened and he jumped to his peds. Arachnid was hanging upside down, the young bot tied by her web hung from the ceiling. She ran a finger along his face plate.

"Such a handsome bot." She purred. The young bot shuddered at her touch, which made her laugh.

The sound of heavy foot steps filled their audio receptors and the spider saw the wrecker approaching. Arachnid yanked Smokescreens helm sharply to one side and brought her fangs closer to his neck cables.

"Don't move Autobot scum. Unless you want this one to meet the same fate as the bug." She hissed. Optimus glared as he activated his face plate. He aimed his gun at the cons head.

"You wouldn't risk it Prime." She hissed angrily. They stood there in silence for a while. Smokescreen grunted as he tried to wiggle free.

"But I'm more than willing to take a risk. Besides I need another minion." She smiled wickedly and bit down hard on Smokescreens exposed cables.

He let out a cry of pain as the venom was injected into his system. Bulkhead growled and grabbed the con by the helm. The wrecker yanked her off his teammate and smashed her into the wall. Optimus pulled out his sword and cut the young bot free from the web. Smokescreen crumpled to the floor and cried out again as his body started to convulse. Optimus stepped back unsure how to help. Bulkhead smashed Arachnid into the ground and set his foot on her back to hold her down.

"Rachet we need a ground bridge." Optimus said as he grabbed a few vials. The young bot cried out again as the fire continued to spread.

"You'll have to leave the cave. I can't get through the rocks." Rachet said as he typed. Optimus confirmed and shot the computer to end the cons project.

"NO!!" Arachnid screamed as the computer exploded. Bulkhead pressed harder to keep her down.

Smokescreen cried out again as his body arched upward. He suddenly went silent as his form went limp and he closed his optics. The room was quiet as they waited for him to move, but he didn't.

"Hmm.... That may have worked better than I thought." Arachnid smirked. Bulkhead picked her up by the helm and drug her to the cage. He shoved her in roughly and locked the cage.

"Stay there." He growled angrily. Optimus walked out of the lab supporting their fallen comrade. The leader looked around.

"Where is Miko?" He asked.

"In here!" She responded somewhere inside the wrecker. "Bulkhead wouldn't let me see anything." She grumbled.

"What do we do about the spider?" Bulkhead asked as he glared at the con.

"I can fix that." She sneered and drilled into the wall.

Bulkhead growled and opened the cage door. He rushed in and managed to grab one of her spider legs. He grunted as he started pulling her back out. She hissed and stabbed a claw into his chest plate. Miko screamed as the claw drug across his chest. He let go quickly and stumbled back against the wall. He looked down at the deep cut and panted heavily.

"Miko! Miko, are you okay?" He gasped as he touched the cut. Optimus looked at the wrecker and listened for the girl, his spark beating faster in anticipation.

"Ugh....ya....just a little startled." She said quietly. The bots sighed in relief.

"Miko, are you hurt?" Optimus asked as the wrecker walked back to him.

"No... I'm fine." She whispered. Bulkhead opened his chest plate and the girl crawled out on to his servo. Her clothes and skin were covered with a blue liquid.

"Miko.... You're covered in..." Optimus muttered but trailed off.

"Energon.... I know." The girl mumbled as she looked up at her guardian.

"We need to get back to base." Bulkhead muttered as he set Miko on his shoulder plate. He helped Optimus with Smokescreen, and they made their way out of the cave.