Web of Deception

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Not a typo.
"Web of Deception"
Publisher	HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint	HarperCollins Children's Books
Published in	United Kingdom
First published	May 28, 2009
Written by	Richard Dungworth
Continuity	Transformers Animated cartoon
ISBN	0007303890 978-0007303892
Page count	128
Price	£4.99
Printed in	Great Britain

For what evil purpose has Blackarachnia hired Lockdown to kidnap Optimus Prime?

Synopsis

You and Sari are out on Lake Erie testing her dad's latest invention, the Sumdac Aquaskimmer Mk 1. Though you and your friend are enjoying yourselves, danger looms as a torpedo appears. You're assisted by Bumblebee, who gives the vehicle a boost, allowing you to reach the shore, where Prowl and Bulkhead are worried that the transmission they received from Ratchet was cut off. You and Sari make use of oxygen wafers to accompany the Autobots to the ship sitting on the lake bed, only to find the ship is offline. While Prowl and Sari look for the problem, Bulkhead suggests that hitting a conduit with his wrecking ball might help. Luckily Ratchet arrives in time to stop him and bring the ship back online. He explains the ship was hit by Sparkseeker EMP-torpedoes, like the one which menaced you. Prowl reports from the bridge that Optimus is missing, and after a quick search, all you can find of the Autobot leader is his Ion Axe.

On the bridge, Ratchet conducts a scan which detects Lockdown's ship parked on the lake bed near Dinobot Island. This sends Ratchet into a war story, until Bumblebee distracts him long enough for you to sneak away. Within the hold of Lockdown's ship you find a huge empty cage made of Trobulum, the toughest element known. As you head across the hold, Bulkhead spots what he thinks is an Ivcan music pod, but when he activates it, turns out to be a stasis field generator, which knocks out the three Autobots. Lockdown uses Polyxylon resin to immobilise you and Sari, and dumps you into Lake Erie.

As you sink, Lockdown heads for the caves. You manage to rouse Bumblebee, who uses his stingers to shatter the resin, and you all head into the cave system where there is luckily ample oxygen. Prowl finds shreds of cybersilk, suggesting that Blackarachnia is involved. There are also two passages, one blocked. Under the assumption that Lockdown blocked off the tunnel after passing through, you spend time clearing it, only to find it hasn't been used in ages. You head down the other tunnel instead. Lockdown is lying in wait and manages to take out Bulkhead, before revealing he has Optimus strapped to an F-Bomb somewhere. After a brief fight, Lockdown escapes.

You suggest Bumblebee contact Ratchet, but it turns out you're too deep underground to get a signal out. Prowl suddenly smells Blackarachnia, and leads the group through tunnels to a cavern, where the Decepticon is waiting. She shows you a holo-vid of Prime strapped to a bomb, with a giant unconscious spider nearby, explaining that the bomb's explosion will fuse Optimus into a techno-organic like her, and she will finally have her revenge. She attacks Prowl, downloading his Decoy Mode function, allowing her to create a decoy hologram. Bumblebee is unsure which one is real, and your suggestion turns out to be the wrong one. The small 'bot is swiftly disabled by Blackarachnia before Bulkhead drives her off.

While Bulkhead looks after Prowl and Bumblebee, you and Sari follow Blackarachnia, stumbling on her lair. As she has the detonator ready to trigger the bomb, you lunge for the detonator... and wake up stuck to a cybersilk web next to Sari. Reactivating the holo-vid, Blackarachnia triggers the detonator, and the picture disappears in static. Sari is anguished, but a few seconds later, Ratchet and Optimus Prime burst into the room! After Ratchet knocks out Blackarachnia with a magnetic pulse, Prime reveals that Ratchet had detected the holo-vid transmission and rigged Teletran to send a looped signal so that Ratchet could rescue Prime. The computer automatically cut the feed when it detected the detonation signal, making it appear as though the bomb had exploded. Optimus prepares to cut you and Sari down.

Featured characters

Quotes

"I do not intend simply to destroy him — no! My revenge will be more poetic than that..."

—Blackarachnia channels Megatron.

"This isn't a fight you can win, you little insect!"
"Look who's talking!"

—Blackarachnia menacing you, and Bulkhead

Notes

Errors

• The oxygen wafers seem like an odd invention for someone who specializes in robotics.
• In one branch, Lockdown says that Optimus is in a diving capsule "packed with enough X-Plo gel to blow him back to Cybertron," but later Blackarachnia's holo-vid shows Prime tied to a canister.

Multipath

• In this story, you are around Sari's age. Though you haven't met the Autobots in person yet, you've seen them on TV.
• This book is fairly linear and choosing different options will usually net you minor variations in the story, such as skipping the visit to Lockdown's ship, the Aquaskimmer exploding, and differences in the fight sequences.
• Alternate endings:
  • During your fight with Blackarachnia, Lockdown arrives and immobilises the Autobots and threatens to use it on Blackarachnia, explaining that a safari owner in the Kvi Cluster has just paid him a handsome sum for both Blackarachnia and the giant spider. After crushing the detonator, he uses Teleportation Bracelets to return to his ship. The Autobots soon recover.
  • Bulkhead arrives in time to help you defeat Blackarachnia, flooding the cave. He reveals Ratchet is in the process of rescuing Optimus.
  • Sari zaps Blackarachnia with her key. Prowl arrives and captures her in her own web before explaining that Ratchet is in the process of rescuing Prime.

Continuity notes

• Blackarachnia's backstory with Optimus was established in "Along Came a Spider". Lockdown is familiar with it, and thinks Blackarachnia's much more interesting than when she was Elita 1.
• Bulkhead's art appreciation, established in "Headmaster" is referenced. He likes "abstract stuff".
• Prowl uses Circuit-Su mediation to realign his inner processes. His knowledge of Circuit-Su is referenced on his packaging bio.
• Lockdown's history with Ratchet was established in "The Thrill of the Hunt".

Trivia

• Transformers have armor made of Cyberium.
• Lockdown's ship has an ion-neutraliser and some sort of orange smoke which can disable Autobots. Lockdown also has a Servo Inhibitor and an EMP-grenade which both do much the same thing.
• Lockdown uses an ability similar to Ratchet's electromagnets, and actually claims to have stolen them from Ratchet, though Ratchet still has his.
• In most branches, Optimus is tied to a plain old A-Bomb.
• In several branches, Prowl sends you and Sari to confront Blackarachnia on your own. Prowl should not be allowed to babysit.
• According to Ratchet, the giant spider didn't originate in this galaxy.
• Blackarachnia has an organic scent, mixed with bot-oil and Energon vapour. Prowl can smell it from several corridors away. phew!
• Only Prime's Ion-Axe and Blackarachnia can cut through cybersilk.
• Bulkhead is familiar with the nursery rhyme "Incy Wincy Spider".
• Despite the title, there isn't actually any deception in this book. Lockdown and Blackarachnia pretty much spill the beans when you catch up with them.