CHAPTER FIVE
--Outpost One--
Hubcap heard the sound of engines coming from down the hall.
That struck him as intensely wrong. As far as he knew, everyone on this station -- besides himself, of course -- had a beast mode. Sure, there were those "Monstercons" Gigatron had brought with him from Garrus-16, but they were all supposed to be on the surface. Beyond them, there wasn't anyone with a vehicle form, save for--
His optics went wide as the sounds came closer to where he was. He looked around for a spot to hide. Unfortunately the only thing in the room was the arch which he was guiding. Perhaps if he activated the portal quickly enough....
"Hubcap?"
The yellow Autobot froze in place before slowly turning around. The blue clone of Optimus Prime known as Convoy stood in the doorway, with the other called Toxitron close behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Convoy asked, looking around the room. "Have you seen Prowl or any of the Wreckers?"
Hubcap did not answer, his mouth hanging open in silence. What was he supposed to say? He didn't have any sort of alibi ready. Did Convoy even suspect him of wrongdoing? Did he not remember Hubcap knocking him out?
Convoy stared at him, still waiting for an answer. "Well? What's going on?"
Without even thinking, Hubcap pressed a nearby control panel, causing a portal to materialize in the arch behind him. As he began to slowly walk backwards into the portal, Convoy's optics went wide.
"What in the Great Smelter...?"
Not wasting any time, Hubcap transformed and drove into the portal, praying it would close in time....
* * *
Prowl awoke to find himself in motion.
Blue optics blinking, he took a moment to assess his surroundings. He was in a dark corridor, moving somehow he was laying down and in robot mode. Meaning something was carrying him.
The next thing he deduced was that his entire body, save for his head, was wrapped in a web-made cocoon. That helped him immensly in figuring out what -- or rather who -- was carrying him.
Without lifting his head, Prowl said, "Mesothulas? Are you there?"
"Yes, Prowl," answered the giant spider which carried him. "And it's Tarantulas now."
"Right. My mistake."
"I'm glad you're awake now, Prowl. We were just getting to the best part."
"The best part?" Prowl asked.
At that moment, the corridor emptied into a large chamber. Tarantulas climbed the wall onto the ceiling, providing Prowl with a better view. The room was decorated with cylindral containers of green liquid, all holding organic creatures of various origins.
"As you can see," Tarantulas said, taking his time as he walked across the ceiling, "I've been very busy."
"Are those...." Prowl squinted his optics. "Are those Earth creatures?"
"I take it you've been there? It's certainly a fascinating world. Not to mention resourceful."
"But... how? How did you--?"
"Ah, ah. Save your questions for after the tour. I still have more to show you."
Tarantulas continued to carry Prowl through his twisted lair. One room after the other had some horrific imagery of some sort, from visceral autopsies of organics to torturous entrapments, usually involving lots of needles. It shook Prowl to the very core.
"You're insane," he murmured as they exited yet another slaughterhouse of a room.
"If that were truly the case, I don't think I'd be able to put any of this together," Tarantulas replied. "I will accept the term 'twisted' though. It has a nice ring to it."
They carried on in silence for several minutes, winding down a long corridor. As they went further and further down, Prowl began to hear the faint sound of voices.
"...killed them all I killed..."
"...tried to stop him I had every chance..."
"...let them all down I could have saved..."
"...all my fault all my fault..."
Prowl frowned as the voices grew louder, closer. He recognized them as belonging to the Wreckers: Impactor, Springer, Rotorstorm... after what Tarantulas had already shown him, he didn't want to even think of what the spider had done to them.
"I swear to Primus, if you've done anything to them..." he murmured.
"Relax. I haven't done much." Coming to a stop before a door, Tarantulas gently shook the bound Prowl off of him before cutting him out of his web entrapment. As Prowl stood up, the giant spider changed shape, assuming the form of a monstrous robot.
"After you," Tarantulas said, gesturing to the door.
Prowl shook his head. "No. Not until I get some answers first."
Tarantulas' claws flexed slightly, half-forming fists. "I said after the to--"
"No. Now."
The spider bot glared at him furiously before waving his hand sharply. "Fine. Be quick."
"How did you get out of the Noisemaze?"
Tarantulas clicked his mandibles. "So it was you who broke into my lab on that day."
Prowl sighed. "I... yes. Yes, it was me. After you showed me the Noisemaze, I... I couldn't in good conscious allow you to continue your deranged experiments. I had to do something about it."
"I see," Tarantulas muttered. "Well, your first mistake was assuming I wasn't prepared for being imprisoned in my own prison. Granted, it took me centuries to even remember I had it, but I was able to use a personal jump-gate to get out of the Noisemaze.
"When I came back, I found my lab empty... save for a message left by a certain cyclopian Decepticon."
"Shockwave?" Prowl asked.
"Yes, apparently he had somehow sent an encrypted message to my transceiver. On it was a very tempting offer." Tarantulas clicked his mandibles again, gleefully. "You know how much I love science, Prowl. Even though I wasn't much one for allegiances, I had to side with the faction with the most... audacity towards experimenting. Not to mention the fact Shockwave was taught by Jhiaxus himself...."
"So Shockwave was the one who sent you to Earth?"
"It was his newfound curiosity at the time, being one of the worlds he had seeded with his Regenesis ore. He gave me the task of monitoring the ore, making sure it was developing properly. However, being the kind of bot I am, I couldn't help but... make my own adjustments to it.
"With this new super-fuel, which I dubbed Obtenteum, I was able to develop the next step in beast forms: bio-disguises." Tarantulas gestured to his monstrous form. "Now, not only can my Chimeracons and I adopt beast mode, but we can alter our mass and mask our energy signatures so that we are virtually identical to the genuine article. The perfect disguise."
Prowl could find no words, utterly awed (and terrified) by what he was hearing.
"I'll take your silence for wonderment." Tarantulas motioned again to the door. "Now, enough about me. I want to hear from you now."
"What do you mean?" Prowl asked.
Tarantulas huffed as he opened the door himself and guided Prowl inside. "I want to hear your thoughts on my newest invention."
Reluctantly, Prowl stepped inside... and immediately froze in shock. Within the chamber, strapped to various chairs, were the Wreckers. Impactor, Springer, Roadbuster... all were speaking in a dull monotone, speaking terrible things.
"I killed Squadron X."
"I didn't stop him."
"I let them all die."
From behind him, Tarantulas gently pushed Prowl towards the one vacant chair. "Come on, Prowl. Take a seat. I want you to show me something naughty."
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