Hehe here's another oneshot with my OC Opal and the Autobots:D I received wonderful reviews on my last oneshot so i made this as a thank you:P hopefully you all enjoy this one just as much! My inspiration for this came from a discussion i had with one of my teachers about camel spiders. If you haven't heard of them, you can google images if you want. They're nasty spiders that are huge! The can run up to 10 mph and jump 4 feet in the air. My dad said they'll chase you too! So i thought it'd be fun to bring in a meatl version of a camel spider for the autobots to play with lolXD Hope you get a laugh out of it. If you do then i did my job!

All Transformers belong to Hasbro, but i own Opal:P

The medical Bay was quiet; the only noises coming from the occasional beep or hum from the computer consoles. In fact the rest of the base was just as calm. Optimus and Ironhide were training in the base's arena, Bumblebee had gone on patrol a few megacycles ago, and Chromia and Arcee were out on target practice, which meant Ratchet had most of the Autobot base to himself. The peace and stillness in the air were music to the medic's audios. He savored the moments when he was free to think and work without distractions.

Not to be mistaken for contempt, Ratchet absolutely adored each Autobot dearly, and as tightly wound as Ratchet's personality was, he enjoyed every moment with his fellow soldiers, but that didn't mean that he could necessarily tolerate them sometimes. Too many visits to his lab have ended with a wrench to the helm, and the locking of the doors. Ratchet had even filled a box with various tools which he labeled "Ironhide," to conviently use when the situation called for it.

Once, Ironhide asked, while being attacked by an assault of flying wrenches, where Ratchet was even finding all the tools to pelt him with. Ratchet would smile and mischievously slid the box further out of view.

With the exception of the brawny security officer, the other Autobots rarely caused for Ratchet to designate another box of "immaturity regulators" with their names on it, though Bulkhead came close sometimes.

Secretly Ratchet loved old Hide too. But they shared a tougher relationship. Ironhide always knew Ratchet meant well, no matter how many dents he left his lab with.

The peace was simply wonderful. Ratchet caught himself happily humming while he performed his careful calibrations.

"Thank Primus for peace and quiet," he began to upgrade the power input into his computers, which took absolute concentration. To do so, Ratchet steadily revealed two cables under one of the consoles and began adding them into a new circuit which would increase the energy flow to the equipment. Anyone who happened to walk into the lab would find Ratchet ducked over under the console on his hands and knees, not unlike a child playing with something under his berth. Ratchet was completely enthralled in his sensitive work.

"Steady, steady," he slowly reminded himself. All he had to do was connect the last cable without causing a surge, and he would be done. His hands inched closer to the designated port.

"Almost the-"

"RAATTCCHHEETT!" An audio piercing scream echoed into the med bay. Ratchet's head immediately slammed into the underside of the console, causing one of the computers to collapse onto the floor. The two cables short-circuited as he involuntarily yanked them out of their sockets.

"GAAHHH BY PRIMUS!" He growled angrily, sliding out and rubbing his sore helm. He groaned at the horrible damage to his equipment. Shaking his head, Ratchet stood up and stroked his optics in aggravation.

His name was yelled again, this time right outside his doors.

"RAATTCCHHETTT! I NEED YOU!" The voice belonged to Opal, and she sounded completely petrified. Ratchet's concerned medic persona immediately took over, as he imagined someone must have been hurt. He opened the doors, and prepared his tool kit.

"Op- what is it?" Ratchet forgot about his failed calibrations and was solely focused on the wide eyed scout running into his lab.

"Ratchet there's a- there's a- a big-" she uncontrollably stuttered, trying to catch her breath between her words.

"Yes yes a big? A WHAT? Injury? Accident? Speak Opal, speak!" Ratchet nodded his head and circled his hands, ushering Opal to continue.

She paused and took a deep breath into her intakes. Ratchet tilted a side of his face closer to her, and gave her a quizzical eyebrow.

"There is a huge spider in the femme wash racks." Opal spoke slowly, putting emphasis on every word.

Ratchet's optics widened first from complete shock, then to utter rage.

"A- A SPIDER? YOU MADE ME DESTROY MY CONSOLE FOR A SPIDER?" Ratchet threw his medical kit to the ground and stomped back farther into his lab, angrily muttering to himself. Opal followed him.

"Ratch I'm sorry I didn't know, but there's no one else and I tried to shoot it, but it kept jumping out if the way. You know I hate vermin!" Opal gave him pleading optics and pouted her lower lip; then she cupped her hands over her chest.

"Hmmphf maybe that look would work on Optimus or Bulkhead, but I am not so easily swayed." Ratchet looked over his shoulder at her then turned back to cleaning up the surrounding mess.

Opal grunted and crossed her arms. He was right; persuading Ratchet into anything he didn't want to do was a feat all in its own.

"What if I clean up all this for you?" Opal pointed to the numerous appliances and computer parts which littered the floor, "then would you help me?"

Ratchet grumbled and rolled his optics, then after some thought, sighed and turned back to face her.

"If you can't kill it what makes you think I can? I don't have guns so readily available like you do? Can't you wait for Optimus or Ironhide?"

"I'd embarrass myself if I asked Optimus to kill a spider for me. Can you imagine what he'd think of me?"

"Can't be too far from what I'm thinking right now." Ratchet gave her a confused look, his hands on his hips.

Opal hit him in the arm. "No Ratch come on please! I'm serious!"

Ratchet groaned and looked off to the side, "Fine what weapon should I bring for the bug hunt?"

"Something heavy, and BIG!" Opal's optics widened as she opened up her arms to show the size of the spider.

"Oh Primus help me." Ratchet breathed as he went to put a new kit together. Although this wasn't the type of 'operation' he was used to.

After sorting through his vast array of equipment, Ratchet came out of his lab with an impressive hunting kit: besides his welders and surgical swords, he found a large metal rod that had long since been placed in a scrap pile, two other smaller metal bars with a sharpened end, and a large scalpel. Opal eyed Ratchet up and down with a playful smirk.

"Lookin' good bug hunter. If the whole doctor thing doesn't work out, you could definitely have a future in pest control." Ratchet rolled his optics, and handed her one of the sharpened rods.

"Haha funny, which way fearless scout?" His voice was thick with sarcasm, but since he actually agreed to help, Opal decided not to counter him with any witty comments.

Opal led him down the hall with the Autobot quarters to where the femme wash racks were. When they reached the end of the hall, Opal began to slip behind Ratchet and softly tapped his forearm.

"It's right in there," she whispered, pointing to the wash rack doors.

Ratchet nodded and slowly placed his hand on the door to push it open.

"Oh and one more thing." Ratchet jumped slightly at her sudden words, and closed his optics in annoyance, "It jumps and can move around really fast."

"Remind me why I'm doing this?"

"WHAT ARE WE DOING?" A loud voice suddenly broke the tension.

Opal and Ratchet both jumped up in shock. Opal screamed on instinct and leapt into Ratchet's arms who almost fell back in surprise. He had to drop his tools to grab her so she didn't drop to the ground. They spun around to find a very amused Ironhide.

"IRONHIDE!" They scolded in unison. Ratchet glanced down at Opal who was clutching his neck, and hiding her face against his chest. She slowly peered up at him and gave an innocent smile.

Ratchet quickly put Opal back on the ground while Ironhide burst into laughter.

"Wow I don't know who screamed louder, little Op or the doc." He became hysterical; clutching his abdomen and leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the hall.

Ratchet growled and rolled his optics, "Primus it will be a miracle if I don't offline your sorry aft before tomorrow morning!" Ironhide waved him off as he tried to catch his breath.

"Shhh…the spider Ratchet!" Opal grabbed his forearm.

"Frag the spider; I have a bigger vermin to deal with." Ratchet glowered over to Ironhide.

Before Ratchet could reach into his kit to pull out something to hit him with, Ironhide tried to change the subject, "Hey a spider? Where? Is that what all this is about?"

"It doesn't involve you, now go annoy another bot." Ratchet tried to shoo him off and knelt down to collect his scattered tools.

"Aww come on I was just messin' with ya, I didn't know I would've freaked ya'll out so much." Ironhide walked over and heavily patted the aggravated medic on the shoulder, purposely causing him to drop the tool he was holding. "I wanna help."

Ratchet tried to counter with an objection, but Opal stepped in, "Yes we would love the extra help, it's a big one."

"Sure what are gentlemechs for?" Ironhide playfully posed in a sophisticated posture, with one of his hands behind his back.

"I hope you're not referring to yourself." Ratchet scoffed as he stood up with all of his collected equipment.

Opal had to interrupt; otherwise she knew those two would continue to smart talk each other. Any other time, she would be all for watching them go at it; it was really entertaining for her, but there was a mission to be accomplished.

"Ahem, guys please the spider?" Both mechs turned from their conversation to stare at her. Opal directed their attention to the wash racks' doors.

"Little lady's right, let's help her out." Ironhide patted Opal on the head and proceeded to enter the room. He stopped suddenly, causing Ratchet to bump into his back.

"What know?" Ratchet grunted.

"Forget your manners doc bot? It's ladies first." Ironhide stepped to the side and ushered Opal in.

"Uhh no offense Hide but I'd feel safer behind two giant mechs." Opal smiled and took a little step back, "I don't like vermin."

"Welcome to my world." Ratchet muttered behind Ironhide who simply smiled and nodded his head.

"Alright then let's get a spider."

Once they were all in Ratchet closed the doors to keep the spider from escaping. Although he didn't feel that a spider in the base would be a big issue. Personally, he figured Opal may have been over exaggerating a bit.

They all split into different directions and began searching through every nook and corner. Ironhide checked in the showers, Opal peered into the supply closets and Ratchet went in the back of the room where the armor and belongings were stored; not unlike a locker room.

"Well I think I found where the spider was." Ratchet called out. Opal and Ironhide gathered around him.

In a corner of the room there was a large chewed out hole with pieces of bitten metal lying around the opening. Judging by the impressive size of the gap, the spider was definitely bigger than Ratchet or Ironhide expected.

Ratchet transformed his hand into his surgical light and hovered it closer to the hole. Opal hid behind Ratchet's side and gripped his forearm like a scared sparkling. She felt way more comfortable peering around his large chassis.

"Hmmm alright then, maybe we do have a problem." Ratchet glanced down to his side at Opal, who looked back up with nervous optics.

"I told you. It's a BIG spider!"

"Can't we just shoot into the hole?" Ironhide proposed rotating one of his large cannons in excitement.

"I tried that already, it got mad." Opal shook her head and ducked her head under Ratchet's arm.

"It got mad? How did shootin' the fraggin' thing not kill it?" Ironhide obviously not convinced, confidently walked over to the black opening and aimed his gun into it. When he didn't hear an objection from Ratchet, he fired. The blast caused metal shrapnel to propel through the air, and smoke to pollute the room. Ratchet knelt down over Opal to shield her from the initial explosion of wall fragments. The audio deafening boom reverberated throughout the wash rack walls, and probably all through the rest of the base. It was a good thing no one else was in the base or the wash racks would surely have been a busy place tonight.

As the smoke slowly began to dissipate, Ratchet released Opal from his protective grasp; she peeked out from under his arm to Ironhide who was covering his face from the debris. He slowly looked out between his large metal fingers.

"Did I get it?" He coughed in between his words.

"I don't know Ironhide, I have currently been blinded and deafened by your stupidity!" Ratchet's voice was laced with a harsh tone as he began to cough as well.

When visibility improved everyone strained their optics to see the damage done to the spider's whole. The cannon definitely did what it was made for. The whole was probably four times its original size, the metal edges were sheered and blown inwards. Twisted metal lay everywhere: contorted violently and scattered in random heaps around them. But the question still remained: Was the spider killed?

"That thing better be dead or I swear to Primus we need to sign his aft up to join the Autobots!" Ironhide grunted and stood up.

Everyone continued to stare into the hole, leaning their heads gradually closer in deep focus. Suddenly there was a faint sound of metal legs frantically moving deep into the cavity. They listened as the movement quickened and began to get louder.

"Uhh I don't think you killed it." Opal stated nervously, and quickly returned to hiding behind Ratchet's still kneeling form.

Ironhide slowly backed up and prepared his gun again. The noises were coming closer and closer until everyone prepared for the vermin to leap out of the blown out hole. But to their surprise, nothing happened. The metal clanging stopped and so did all evidence of movement.

Ironhide turned his head to them, but kept his eyes on the hole, "well maybe we did ki-"

His words were interrupted by a ferocious metal arachnid which suddenly hurdled itself into the air, emitting a terrifying screech as it flew. Ironhide jumped in surprise and just barely moved out of the way of the vicious creature as it tried to latch on to his face.

"I TOLD YOU!" Opal screamed and ran back to the showers. Ratchet went to his tool kit and selected the large metal rod.

"HOLY FRAG! THIS IS A HUGE MOTHER-" The spider attempted again to jump onto Ironhide, who tried frantically to aim another shot.

Ratchet ran in beside him with the rod and attempted to swipe at it, but to no avail, the spider simply jumped out of the way of each strike, and then climbed onto the walls to plan its own attack.

"BY THE ALLSPARK!" Ratchet bowed backwards to escape another leap assault from the dangerous eight legged opponent. It's many crimson optics flared in rage, and it's fangs dripped an acidic poison.

"Hey come over here!" Opal hollered from the showers. The two mechs were quick to comply and sprinted to her. They backed into one of the far corners and tried to plan a strategy.

"Ok I'll admit, he's bigger than I thought." Ironhide looked down at Opal with large optics, "But we can still kill him, I'm not afraid of a slaggin' spider." He huffed and took another shot at the spider. This time he hit it straight into the lower abdomen, hurling it back against the back wall of the room. Everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"Ok this isn't fun anymore." Ironhide reloaded his gun.

"It was never fun to begin with." Opal gripped both their arms.

"I could be working right now, but I decided to muse on an act of generosity instead. Look where that got me, and you wonder why I never give in to you two!" Ratchet stubbornly complained; he transformed his hands into his surgical swords to prepare for the worst.

After flailing its legs in an attempt to regain its footing, the spider angrily flipped back over. It eyed the three Autobots splayed against the wall on the other side of the room. Targeting its prey, the spider sprinted into another leap—

'BOOM!' A blast from an unknown source suddenly knocked the creature onto the floor, causing it to thrash and twist violently on the floor. The three bots turned in complete shock to see Optimus Prime with his gun smoking from recent fire. His battle mask shielded his face as he took another shot at the vermin.

The second hit crippled the spider severely, but it still attempted to rejuvenate itself. With one forceful stomp of the Prime's massive foot, the spider finally was off lined for good; its body just mangled pieces of scrap metal.

Optimus unsheathed his mask, and then turned his gaze to his fellow soldiers who were all giving him large sighs of relief. Ironhide hunched over and placed his hands on his knees.

"Yeah I softened him up for you." Ironhide panted. Ratchet scoffed, and walked over to Optimus.

"Sure you did, now if everyone doesn't mind, I'm going back to med bay where I belong." The medic placed a friendly hand on Optimus' shoulder to imply a thank you, and briskly headed out to the hall.

Optimus glanced down at Opal, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Opal breathed, "now that you're here. That spider was causing some problems."

Optimus studied the room's decimated condition. When he found the gaping hole in the wall, his eyebrows rose in complete shock; he then turned back to her.

She gave him a guilty smile, "hehe a lot of problems."

Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter of my "Protector of the Precious stone is coming soon!" Please review if you liked it or even if you didn't. I want to hear what you have to say!