"What did you do to her?" Barricade growled, spying the limp body in Black Arachnia's servo. 

         "Oh," her smaller sister cooed, "the vessel of pure loathing finds a thread of compassion in his spark?"

The Decepticon only growled, taking a step back as Optimus came forward.

         "Let the human go, and we will give you Vector Sigma." He offered, to which Lennox procured a briefcase at the Prime's pedes.

     Opening the case, a rounded metal bracelet sat comfortably amongst black foam. It was a convincing replica, to the human group, but the Cybertronians aware of the fake were skeptical. Lennox closed the briefcase quickly in an attempt to keep the three bugs from scanning the trinket. They, however, never looked down at the human.

     Waspinator looked excitedly between the two femmes, glancing at the enemy team every other second just waiting for the word to attack. Arachnid was suddenly bored as she stared at the group in front of her, noting that Black Arachnia was fiddling with the fake body in her fist.

         Were they waiting for something?

No one was sure, but whatever they wanted, the three were sure they'd get it the longer they waited.

         "I'm tired of this-" Ironhide growled, his canons beginning to warm as they rotated. "They're too quiet, Prime."

         "Where's the other six?" Arachnid rolled her optics, noting that of the twelve enemies Waspinator had counted, there were only six present. "Barricade knows well what will happen to your precious human if you attempt any kind of ambush."

     The Autobots and two tagalongs (that being Barricade and Knockout), appeared rather confused. Optimus was the most stoic about the strange question, as they were only missing Blurr, Starscream and the three teenagers. No one thought they were worth fretting over (except Starscream and Blurr, of course).

         "There are only two of us missing, not including the three humans-"

         "Lies." Arachnid hissed, anger beginning to boil. "I see six of you out of twelve. Do you think Waspinator would count your puny human pets?"

     The green bug behind the femme flinched, feeling rather small as the bigger spider-lady glared at him. He chuckled pitiably, earning the other sister's attention. Tapping two digits together, the mech mumbled something in their native tongue, making both Arachnicons growl with rage. Arachnid was the one to lash out at the smaller being, forcing the bot to the ground before turning back to the Autobots and pointing a sizzling digit,

         "Who is missing?" She hissed, but Optimus was hesitant to answer. Yes, two missing was less than six, but they clearly wanted to know who they may be up against.

         "Blurr is taking care of the three humans." Ratchet answered first. "They are far from this clearing you sent the coordinates of."

     It wasn't much of a clearing, but the three 'Cons chose the strangely open surrounding for some unknown reason. They wouldn't choose it unless it allowed them an advantage and despite being in the middle of nowhere, with sparse, thick trunked, tall trees, there didn't seem to be any advantage for the three. 

         "The second is retrieving supplies for the humans." Barricade stated before the yellow and red medic could tell the truth.

         "And we should believe you?" Black Arachnia glared at the other quad-opticced Decepticon.

         "You're holding my human pet." He played into their taunts from earlier. "I know what the both of you are capable of if you don't get your way."

     Bumblebee played some theme song quietly behind the group. The only one who would have understood the joke wasn't there, so it was only an annoyance to everyone else. Barricade glared at the Camaro regardless of getting the joke or not, which forced the younger bot to quiet himself. The only sound came from the moaning Waspinator, who cradled his acid covered mandible. Black Arachnia was the most stoic as her sister seethed. 

         "Give us the trinket, then." Arachnid hissed. "The longer you wait, the worse your pet's condition will become." Her sneer slid into a sick, excited smile. The thinner femme was always known for her quickly changing mood. No one was sure how the femme could change from one feeling to another so quickly. "I always wanted to find out what Black Arachnia's toxins could do to an organic."

     The threat of Black Arachnia's poison wasn't a forgotten factor. An antidote had been procured long before, though the correct ingredients would be difficult to find on Earth that could work on a human. Ratchet had already begun his own research on human medicines, so had a rough idea of what could work, if Marissa didn't have any allergies. The idea that the Arachnicons had poisoned the human femme was the Autobot's first guess when they scanned the apparently lifeless being in their enemy's servo. 

     There was no sign of life except for the last pulsing of an unidentifiable means. It was as if Marissa's internal functions had stopped completely or disappeared. Not suspecting a trick, the Autobots did not take into consideration that these three could procure a fake of their own. Saying the female was under the effects of toxins was enough to convince the team that the wooden structure in Black Arachnia's servo was merely the unknown product of poisoning.

         'Autobots,' Arachnid's smile melted into a confident smirk, 'so naive.'

         "Colonel Lennox," Optimus's armor settled as he sighed, "the briefcase, please."

     Looking unsure, the older man placed the black case on the Prime's digit. Arachnid was the one to offer a servo in order to take the container as the Autobot leader neared them, frowning when he did not place the thing in her palm. Instead, he held it closer to his spark as he neared.

         "Give the woman to Ratchet," he demanded sternly, "so that he can properly care for her."

         "The trinket first." Arachnid demanded; servo still stretched out for her prize. "I said the trinket for the girl. Do I go back on my word?"

     Such a sweet sentence, filled with the sugar of a liar and cheat. In truth, the two sisters didn't plan on keeping the woman anyway. They had left her in the middle of nowhere, to begin with, but even the replica they had created was going to be left behind. On the ground of course before the Autobot buffoons caught on to their wooden doll trick. 

         No one said a word to Arachnid's baited question. 

     Slowly, Optimus pretended to comply. His servo began to extend away from his spark at a pace that made Knockout's pede tap, and Black Arachnia snarl. The strange trinket was clearly more important than they thought if the Prime was so hesitant to offer it for the life of the human. It made the three 'Cons wonder what exactly it was; what was it capable of? And what could they possibly do with it afterward? The tiny briefcase held their stares, mesmerizing them as Optimus finally opened his servo to drop it in Arachnid's palm. 

     That was when the bigger bot tucked and rolled back, making both spider-femmes lunge after him, barely missed by the free-falling Starscream who appeared out of the black ink above. Looking back through the dust, they found Waspinator actively beheaded by the Seeker's clenched claws. Sneering at the two, the ruby optics of the Decepticon dared them to move. 

         "About time you showed up." Barricade had crept behind Arachnid and threw the femme by a splayed-out appendage, forcing her into a nearby tree. 

         "I wasn't exactly invited to the party." Starscream rolled his optics, watching Black Arachnia jump from the ground to a tree before Ironhide could punch her helm in. "I thought you Autobots were all about teamwork and communication, hmm?"

         "You're risking Marissa's life, how's that for communication?" Ratchet glared at the taller mech as he attempted to scan the supposed captured human. Black Arachnia's servo was in the way, so he was unsuccessful. "Your previous colleague has poisoned the poor woman-"

         "Yes, I'm sure all that is supposed to concern me." Starscream waved the medic off as he tossed Waspinator's helm up and down in the other servo, taking note of his target's movements. "For now, how about you shut up and let us Decepticons handle these pipe sucking glitches."

     With a well-aimed lob, the lifeless helm of the sister's lackey hit Black Arachnia in the servo, forcing the doll out of her grasp. It hit the ground with a concerning crunch as the carefully carved joints broke and scattered across the ground. Bumblebee was the first to cuss Starscream out in broken radio dramas and whatever song he could find, though Knockout was the one to actually inspect the body once the bigger Arachnicon had jumped to another tree. 

         "We were being duped." The red medic grimaced, hating the fact he too was fooled, though only because they had no idea what Black Arachnia's toxins would do to a human being.

     The other Autobots had Black Arachnia cornered in a tree, Arachnid having been knocked unconscious from being thrown by Barricade. It was a quick tussle, only lengthened by the stalemate of the nonexistent trade.

         "Then where's Marissa?" Lennox questioned, having followed the racer to look over the human replica. 

         "Bumblebee watch yourself!" Ironhide ordered, to which the younger bot failed to react as Black Arachnia pounced on him. 

     She transformed over the bot into a hideous spider-like form, piercing the mech's armor with one of her eight, armored legs. Bee cried as his shoulder felt an inferno of pain, the appendage dragging itself out of his fresh wound in favor of lunging towards the unconscious Arachnid. Barricade, being the closest, attempted to stop the spider, but Black Arachnia's bulkier form forced him back before she transformed again to lift Arachnid from the ground.

         "You'll pay for this!" She spat lividly before bolting from the area.

     Ironhide and Barricade were charging after the femmes, but Starscream barred their way after leaping from his perch on Waspinator's corpse. Both attempted to barge passed him, but the Seeker was quick to grab the Decepticon by the neck cables and trip the Autobot into faceplanting on the ground.

         "Fragging 'Con- they're getting away!" Ironhide attempted to get back up and transform, but the police car was thrown into his side, effectively halting the chase completely. 

         "They aren't a problem anymore." Starscream stated flatly.

         "No, but finding Marissa is!" Lennox glared at the Commander, hands on his hips. "You've cost us a hostage and finding out where they may be keeping her."

     Rolling his ruby optics, Starscream ignored the human mech in favor of glaring at Optimus as he stared sternly. Clearly everyone else was livid with the Seeker, except Knockout who only found the entire debacle a threat to his finish. Said cherry red racer rolled his own maroon optics with a dramatic sigh.

         "Honestly, if they didn't have the real human, then more than likely she's already dead." Bumblebee was about to argue, despite the testy Ratchet attending to his wound, but Knockout continued. "Miss Faireborn is apparently clever, sure, but that can only get her so far. Arachnid is unpredictable and probably dismantled her the minute our little chosen one was uncooperative."

         "Then we have to find Vector Sigma." Barricade groaned, not sure if he should hold his aching neck cables or his screaming spinal strut from landing on Ironhide's tire.

         "Wouldn't he be calling to your sparks by now?" Lennox questioned.

         "If he felt he wasn't where he was supposed to be, yes." Optimus nodded. "It is difficult to tell what his plans may be, and where he may deem himself safe."

     Starscream huffed his amusement, earning a few glares and the curious optic of the Autobot leader. 

         "You find something amusing, Starscream?"

         "Just the usual Autobot stupidity." He shrugged, crossing his arms. "I found the woman a while ago. It's the only reason why I flew back here. No thanks to Barricade's vague messages I was able to find you before those three imbeciles could bury you alive."

     This earned the silent question of 'what are you talking about?', to which the Seeker smirked and shooed what Autobots were still in danger away from the clearing. He then flew up into the still dark sky, only to drop like he had before. The impact resulted in the entire ground giving way into a sinkhole. Dust wafted through everyone's vents, and Ratchet cursed the Seeker in his native language as he tried to cover Bumblebee's wound more effectively. Lennox commented about coughing up a lung through his wheezes once the rumbling of caving Earth eased to the clunking of falling rock.

     Starscream could be seen hovering over the crater once the dust settled enough, clearly proud of himself as he smirked at his audience. 

         "Arachnid hides her traps well." He set his pedes down at the edge of the hole, a well-made trap only further hidden by the low light from sparse stars.

         "You've ruined the landscape and my gloss!" Knockout lamented. 

         "I've saved someone else from being swallowed by this idiotic mud ball." Starscream shrugged, kicking Waspinator's helm into the hole with the rest of his body.