Transformers Animated: Little Spider

Chapter 8

Darkness...

Nothing but darkness...

It was all Arachnia could see for miles. No outlines of shapes, no borders. Below her peds, she stood on a form of liquid metal resembling mercury. The goopy substance was like jelly and very reflective. But, it did not puncture, it held itself and supported Arachnia. She was not afraid, though, but confused and bewildered of how she came to be there.

"Hello?"

Her voice sounded so small within the vast emptiness. There was no response. Of course there was none. There was nothing else there. Arachnia turned down to the mercury again and gasped.
In her reflection, she saw herself, she saw Elita 1. She carefully rubbed her cheek as she continued to stare, her mind so shocked as it struggled to process what she was seeing.

She was...beautiful.

"Elita."

A voice called to her. That voice...she knew it so well. She turned and there stood Optimus, smiling warmly, his optics holding love. "Elita, I missed you."

"Optimus?" Arachnia whispered, uncertain about believing what she was seeing.

Optimus closed the distance, his smile never once faltering. He stood before Arachnia for a moment, both of them staring deep into the other's optics, before he took Arachnia into his arms, smiling with the love she had missed for so long, that she thought she would never see or feel again.

Suddenly, the love and adoration on Optimus is face transitioned to fear and disgust. He hastily broke out of her arms, repulsed. The action bemused Arachnia. "Optimus? What's wrong?" She asked.

Optimus continued to put distance between them. "Get away from me freak!" Was the only response he gave.

Hurt and confused, Arachnia looked down to the mercury like substance they stood on and a cold lump of fear and dread settled in her tanks. She saw her own reflection, deformed and hideous, like she was undergoing the same metamorphosis that changed her into a techno organic the first time. "No..." She delicately held her face with trembling servos. "No! No! NO!" She screeched, digits digging into a mesh of metal and flesh.

"Optimus!" Arachnia screamed as she looked up, only to find that he was gone, vanished. Still, she refused to let him go. "Optimus please! Come back to me! Help me!"

The flesh fused with her metal further, causing tumours with bulging veins to puff up like balloons. She fell to her knees, clawing at her chassis in agony as her organic half began to combine with her spark. Her screams echoed across the vast dark plain, but there was no one to hear. Energon fell as her clawing dug deeper and deeper.

Something about this transformation felt different, more painful and intense than before. She felt extra limbs sprout out of her back, felt her jaw rip apart as it painfully unhinged, felt as fangs protruded, venom dripping from the tips, felt as she doubled in size.

Arachnia knew she should not have looked, should not have opened her optics, but she did. What she saw was far worse than she had ever imagined; a large disgusting bloated abomination with multiple appendages sticking out and venom dripping from her grotesque fangs.

At the sight of herself she let out a loud feral scream, and as she screamed the mercury began to devour her like quick sand. She didn't care if she was swallowed alive, as long as she never had to see that revolting face again...

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Arachnia awoke in a start, immediately sitting up, hyperventilating, red optics wild with hysteria. She looked around expecting to see the inky blackness and the mercury floor, but she was only met with the cave walls and dirty ground. Her servos reached her face; nothing, no bloated tumours, no unhinged jaw and no enormous fangs.

The last thing she saw was Kelly, sleeping soundly on her silk bed, clutching her dolly close and sucking her thumb. Arachnia sighed, her nerves calming as her mind descended back to reality.

A dream... it was all a dream.

No...not a dream.

A nightmare....

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Splinters of wood were sent showering as Arachnia viciously punched a chunk out of a tree. She continued this action, repeatedly punching, letting out all of her frustration, sending more bits flying. The tree would be lucky to still be standing after she was through.

Arachnia couldn't go back to recharge, not after what she experienced. It had been dark when she first came out, now dawn was arriving. Her mind was deeply troubled. Letting out a feral snarl, she shot her metal fist once more, her arm shooting straight through the tree and appearing on the other side. Arachnia panted, her cooling systems whirring. With a weary sigh, she removed her servo from the hole she had created. The poor beaten tree could no longer hold itself and with a buckle came tumbling down. Seeing this, Arachnia felt a strange sense of guilt and regret. Funny, before she would not have bothered to care as much, glad to have used something, or someone, to aggressively vent her anger and pain onto. It seems that Kelly is having an even bigger impact on her than she previously had thought.

Arachnia watched as the sun slowly ascended, a blank countenance on her face. She could remember all too well every aspect of the nightmare. What bothered her the most was not the disgusting transformation she had undergone but how Optimus had recoiled from her. That inexpressibly hurt her.

Remembering that seemed to reignite her anguish.

She let out a blood curdling scream, tears beginning to fall.
Months of stability and security, months of happiness, was being destroyed by one stupid nightmare. Once her screaming ceased, Arachnia fell onto her servos and knees, sobbing hysterically.

Oh looks like someone is on the verge of losing it again...

The voices were coming back.

Arachnia shook her helm in denial. "No I'm NOT!"

STOP FOOLING YOURSELF!!! The kid might accept you sure, but that doesn't mean the rest of this universe is going to see you any different. To them, you're still the freak you always were...

Arachnia gripped the sides of her helm. "Get out of my helm!"

Deny, deny, deny, that's all you ever do. Wake up and start living in the real world...

That damn conniving voice lowered to a whisper.

You know there is a way to make yourself whole again...

Arachnia shook her helm again. "The Key didn't work! You heard what Optimus said, my spark can't survive without my organic half!"

I'm not talking about that stupid key, I'm talking about something much, much more powerful. The Allspark itself...

Arachnia opened her teary optics, gasping. "The...Allspark?"

Yes, the Allspark. You know its powers are limitless. It can make you whole again. It can make you beautiful again...

The prospect was so enticing, Arachnia for a moment was completely sold on this but caught herself as one person floated into her mind; Kelly. "I can't. If I do this I'm only being selfish. I need to get it together for Kelly, my little Sunshine..."

You're not thinking straight. Think about it, you look more friendly equals you have less enemies. You'd actually be doing the kid a favour. You don't want her to get hurt because of you do you?

The voice had Arachnia now, the voice had played its Trump card. Arachnia more than anything wanted to keep Kelly safe, and she couldn't bare even the thought of the child being hurt because of her.

So? What will it be? Will you be Elita 1 and give Kelly the safety that she deserves or will you remain a freak and let the little tyke take the fall? If it's the latter than its a shame, I was beginning to grow attached-

"I'll do it," Arachnia interrupted.

Do what?...

After a tense moment of silence, Arachnia turned her helm up, resolve and determination set in her features.

"I'm going to be Elita 1 again."