Blackarachnia's History
Blackarachnia was a Predacon soldier that eventually defected to the Maximal side during the Beast Wars.
Blackarachnia was born from one of the Maximals' fallen stasis pods. Tarantulas, watching a black widow fight and devour another spider, was inspired. Megatron, observing the slim and attractive Blackarachnia transform and strike a few poses, suggested that he had ulterior motives behind her beast form selection but she was a Predacon, and that was what was important. In the battle with the Maximals that followed, she easily defeated Cheetor with a well-placed kick. She was later reported as "missing," though the reasons why and how were never addressed.
She was soon assigned to a mission with Terrorsaur and Waspinator to dig under the Maximal base and use a sonic emitter she had invented to blow a hole into the bottom. She didn't get on well with either of them, but they managed to eventually get to the point where they were ready to trigger the emitter... only for Tigatron to steal it. By the time they caught up with the Maximal, the emitter was ready to explode, and they could only flee the blast area. When Scorponok's virus turned Optimus Primal into a berserker and he invaded the Predacon base, Blackarachnia and Terrorsaur battled the other Maximals as they also tried to gain entry. Unfortunately Cheetor slipped past them and was able to rescue Primal, however at least the other Maximals were held off.
Blackarachnia was present during the interrogation of Cheetor when the Predacons discovered that a Maximal probe was flying past the planet, and took part in the battle to destroy the signal array which the Maximals were building. Once Dinobot was locked into his dino-mode by Tarantualas's transformation lock lens, Blackarachnia delivered the coup de grâce to his pride with several kicks to the face, only to be subsequently blasted off a cliff by Rattrap. he Predacons staged a deception, faking their own destruction and using signal dampeners invented by Blackarachnia to hide while the Maximals use parts from their ship to repair the Axalon. After being discovered by Dinobot, they pursued him. During an attempt to rush the Axalon, Blackarachnia was blasted by the ship's defenses.
After Megatron turned Rhinox into a Predacon using a Transmuter, Blackarachnia and Megatron were startled by Waspinator's impression of Shrapnel. The brainwashed Maximal proceeded to string Blackarachnia and Tarantulas up with their own webs. Blackarachnia and Scorponok were dispatched to retrieve the latest crashed stasis pod. They encountered Tigatron, who disabled Scorponok, but was himself paralyzed by Blackarachnia's venom. At the pod, she fought Cheetor at length, but he caught her venom dart and used it to knock her out.
The discovery of a mysterious flying island led to Megatron dispatching Blackarachnia and Scorponok to investigate it. Blackarachnia, when she saw the power wielded by the island, resolved to herself that she would take control of it. As the pair reached the obelisk in the center of the island, Waspinator and Terrorsaur arrived, and Blackarachnia tricked them into using their weapons, causing the island defenses to blast them. She then got rid of Scorponok using one of the island's traps, and took control of the island's power herself. Though she started piloting the island toward the Axalon, Tigatron was able to destroy its energy supply, and the whole thing crashed to the ground.
She soon attempted to forge an alliance with Tarantulas, flattering him and accompanying him on a mission to secure the latest stasis pod to crash. Unfortunately they were too late to ensure the protoform obtained an arachnid beast mode, and Inferno was born. While Blackarachnia was trying to get the new Predacon under control, Tarantulas made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. After the pod was destroyed, Tarantulas revealed to her that the planet was doomed, and she realised he'd intended to use the pod to build an escape ship, but he rebuffed her offer of further help and threw her out of his lair.
A Predacon plan to steal the rectifier coil from the Axalon resulted in the Maximals going feral, and Blackarachnia was part of the hunting party which pursued them into the jungle. She was defeated by Dinobot after the Maximals overcame their little problem. When Starscream took control of Waspinator's body and the Predacons were able to conquer the Axalon, the Decepticon took Blackarachnia under his wing as a student and revealed his true intent to overthrow Megatron. After he abandoned her in the Maximal base, leaving her to escape Primal and Dinobot on her own, she took that as a hint to return the favour, and later shot a cluster of energon crystals, blasting Starscream free from Waspinator. She then engaged in some quick talking to get herself out of trouble with Megatron.
Tarantulas infected Rhinox with an energon discharge virus, and was later himself incapacitated, leading the Predacons to investigate his lair to see if they could dig up any more of the virus. Blackarachnia was able to find a counter-virus, but while Megatron was attempting a brilliant gambit against the attacking Maximals, Rhinox countered with an energon discharge which left the Predacon forces hanging from a tree. Some time later, Megatron called a truce when signs pointed to the aliens returning. Tarantulas stole a transwarp cell from the Darksyde, leading Megatron to assign Blackarachnia to keep an eye on him. The two spiders attempted to stop Tigatron escaping the Predacon base, but were tricked into being flattened by a boulder by Dinobot. They were the least damaged, however, and dragged the rest of the Predacons back to base.
Blackarachnia offered to help Tarantulas break into the Maximal base to steal a stasis pod. They were able to use one of Blackarachnia's inventions to penetrate the Axalon shields and overcome Rhinox and Dinobot. As Tarantulas worked to turn the stasis pod into an escape ship, Blackarachnia turned on him, intending to use the pod herself. They were interrupted by Inferno, who slagged Tarantulas, but Blackarachnia was easily able to defeat him in return. She linked to Tarantulas's mind to obtain the necessary information, and successfully completed modifying the pod only to be captured by the Maximals. Optimus forced her to change the control codes to respond to him, so he could pilot the pod himself and destroy the Planet Buster weapon threatening the planet. But as she badmouthed the Maximals' good-byes, she was subsequently knocked temporarily off-line by Airazor, but as it happened, Megatron had sabotaged the transwarp cell, and Optimus was unable to eject before impact.
While attempting to escape from the Maximal base, Blackarachnia was shocked to discover that her earlier interfacing with Taratulas had resulted in a permanent mind-link between the two of them. Tarantulas was able to force her to take his body with her as she left the base. Though she was intercepted by Tigatron and Airazor, Megatron happened to turn up at that point. He threatened to terminate Blackarachnia, but she talked her way out of it by pointing out the simple fact that Megatron's stock of troops was sorely depleted. Of course, during the inevitable battle, Tarantulas forced Blackarachnia to retreat with his body.
Returning to the Predacon base, Blackarachnia interrupted Dinobot stealing the Golden Disks, but refused Tarantulas's order that she should try to get them back. Instead she repaired him, but discovered that the mind link persisted. While Tarantulas went to help Megatron's latest battle, Blackarachnia dug through the base's computer for information on the Golden Disks and discovered important data, including the access codes to the Ark. she was able to download it while Tarantulas was unconscious, and destroyed the computer. She later told Megatron and Tarantulas that Dinobot had destroyed the computer and the data lost.
The two spiders were later sent with new recruit Quickstrike to build a refueling station in a cave full of energon. Tarantulas schemed to take over the cave himself and attempted to persuade Blackarachnia to join him, but soon realised she was hiding something from him. When he tried to rip the information from her mind, she cracked an energon cube, the radiation causing them both pain and forcing him to sever the mental link. He threatened to tear her apart, but was interrupted when Rattrap and Silverbolt arrived to fight. Silverbolt, much to Rattrap's annoyance, refused to strike Blackarachnia because she was female. In the end, Tarantulas used the battle as cover to fake the destruction of the cave, and the trio had to report their failure to Megatron.
When Dinobot attempted to defect back to the Predacons, Blackarachnia suggested he prove himself by fighting with Quickstrike. During another alien incursion, Megatron took Blackarachnia and Inferno to the Maximal base, where they were able to overcome Rhinox, the sole Maximal there. Blackarachnia grabbed the alien Golden Disk. Megatron and Tarantulas colluded to work against the aliens, and when Megatron questioned why, Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned from the mind link that Tarantulas hated the aliens and wanted to destroy them. Though Blackarachnia was rendered unconscious by a blast from the alien construct that appeared, she was reactivated when Megatron took control of the construct and brought the other Predacons aboard. She was one of the Predacons sent out to defend the construct against the Maximals, but Tarantulas managed to infiltrate and destroy it anyway.
When an energon blast sent her and Silverbolt into the middle of the dense jungles, they were forced to work together. Though attracted to the Fuzor, Blackarachnia was endlessly frustrated by his seemingly idiotic chivalry and need to treat her specially. Megatron, listening in via a synch-pulse transmitter he'd planted on her, was disgusted by the obvious romance going on. Still Silverbolt and Blackarachnia worked together surprisingly well, saving each other's life in turns, and eventually defeating Rampage with the help of Optimus and Cheetor. When the Predacons attacked the valley of proto-humans, Blackarachnia was teamed with Inferno. She did considerable damage to Dinobot before being blasted herself.
Blackarachnia took advantage of Silverbolt's obvious interest in her, meeting the Maximal at a secluded location to obtain a graviton generator. She used the generator to convert a stasis pod into a makeship hoversled, and later overheard Megatron giving a mission to Waspinator. As the Maximals fought their way into the Predacon base, Blackarachnia emerged on her sled to encounter Silverbolt. Silverbolt refused a direct order from Optimus to shoot her, allowing her to leave and tail Waspinator instead. Silverbolt eventually caught up with Blackarachnia, who resorted to shooting him in order to try to get the point across that he should leave her alone. It didn't really work, and when the hoversled she was on hit Waspinator, Silverbolt saved her from plummeting to the ground. He subsequently joined her in digging into the side of the mountain they had been heading towards.
Finally they broke through into a huge cavern containing the Ark, and Blackarachnia explained the ship's significance to her companion. While she was keen to take the power for herself, Megatron arrived and knocked Silverbolt offline before caving in the tunnel they'd dug. Having always intended for her to reach the Ark as he knew she had the access codes, Megatron threatened to vape Silverbolt unless she did what he said. Bitterly, she agreed to his demands, reluctantly opening the ship and, while Megatron went on, using the Ark's security system to hold off the Maximals. Megatron took the opportunity to attempt to assassinate Optimus Prime, potentially erasing the Maximals from history.
Unfortunately for Megatron, Blackarachnia had originally been a Maximal protoform, and certainly wasn't willing to die for his cause. She activated Teletraan I's security nets to force Megatron off the ship. With Silverbolt's help, she got the dying Autobot leader under life support and began the repairs. The Maximals were forced to accept her help, but while the Maximals were occupied with Megatron, Blackarachnia slipped out... only to be trapped by falling rocks, and slagged by Megatron during his escape. Silverbolt cradled her to his chest as she shut down, swearing vengeance until the other Maximals suggested he stop messing around and get her to a repair chamber. With no much other choice, Blackarachnia joined the Maximal ranks. She even spent time on guard duty outside the base with Silverbolt.
Blackarachnia quickly showed her usefulness to the Maximals, building a hand-powered subaquatic stealth vessel that could retrieve Sentinel from the Axalon's underwater resting place. Rattrap was less than thrilled about having to use the "Predacon beach ball".
She was even less thrilled when she ended up having to escort two human children back to their tribe along with Cheetor, who was exhibiting a boyish crush on her, much to Silverbolt's annoyance. Rattrap was also rather distrusting of her, as earlier he had spied Blackarachnia sneaking some parts from a classified area. But when Megatron's new cyber raptors attacked, Blackarachnia showed her good side by defending the children, even taking a hit from Tarantulas for them, which she immediately denied to an impressed Silverbolt by saying she slipped. With the cyber raptors defeated, she informed Cheetor that he was a nice kid.
Depth Charge returned from a mission reporting that Cheetor had been destroyed trying to interfere with Megatron's experiment, however the Maximal had secretly brought back the Transmetal driver, a component of Megatron's experiment. Though he tossed it into a pool of lava, Blackarachnia was able to grab it before it was destroyed. She took part in the search for Cheetor, leading Silverbolt to develop jealousy at her apparent concern for their comrade. He later turned up with, it transpired, a new Transmetal 2 body, which Blackarachnia took particular interest in.
After Rhinox scanned her and found the shell program that made her a Predacon, Blackarachnia finally got fed up with Rattrap's attitude and Cheetor's crush, and would have choked/blasted them both if Optimus hadn't intervened. Weary that apparently she hadn't proven herself to the Maximals and thinking that Optimus and Rhinox were planning to force her to remove the shell, Blackarachnia decided to split which turned out to be a bad decision, as Dinobot II had been waiting for this moment. Taking turns hunting each other, Blackarachnia got the upper hand but was caught off-guard by Dinobot's power and durability. Fleeing to a mesa, she was found by Silverbolt, who got in a fight with Dinobot and was about to be slagged. Blackarachnia shot him out of the way, then tried to make a deal with Dinobot to take over the Ark and the Predacons, which backfired and allowed Dinobot to stun her, but he was distracted by Silverbolt long enough for the two Maximals to finally defeat him. After an argument between the pair, where Blackarachnia was enraged that Silverbolt thought she'd really been striking a deal with Dinobot instead of trying to con the villain, Optimus arrived to point out that the decision to remove the program had always been up to her.
Seeking more power, Blackarachnia attempted to use the Transmetal driver on herself. Silverbolt, not realizing what she was planning, bailed her out of the contraption. Like every good girlfriend, she began to chew him out, but was cut off as an energy surge made her lose control of her circuits. A security system Tarantulas installed had been triggered by her tampering with her core, and the only way to fix it was to cut the Predacon shell program loose. Reluctantly, she agreed, especially since this was a very difficult procedure that could lead to her death. With time running out, she passed the Ark's access codes on to Primal in case she didn't make it and shut herself down, leaving herself in Rhinox's care. Rhinox began the operation, but his tinkering tripped an alert in Tarantulas's lair. The Predacons got wind of what he was doing and mounted an attack on the Maximal base. The Maximals countered their attack, but the power was disrupted by a shot fired by Tarantulas at a critical stage. This apparently killed Blackarachnia, although the Transmetal driver would revive her later in a new body.
