Disclaimer: Transformers is owned by Hasbro. This story is for entertainment purposes and not commercial. The writer does not claim ownership to the Transformers or any attached blessings.
Author's Note: I'm not entirely confident if Soundwave actually had a telepathic connection with his Cassetticons, but it'll be added into the story because it's a popular element of Soundwave fictions and it fits in rather nicely to the story.
Chapter 8: Soundwave
When he had been a Sparkling, his style of speech had thought to have been the incomplete vocabulary of a babe. As a young child, his lack of vocal expression was labeled off as shyness. Due to this denial of anything excess or strange about him, he grew up as a regular Sparkling: He played, he made silly mistakes like spill energon all over the place in an attempt to help his mother unit in the kitchen, and he was generally a cute kid. And, like most seemingly normal, cute little kids, he took the news of his being adopted with mild hurt and much confusion, but learned to live with it and moved on. It was when he was a teenager and his foster parents moved to a different town that things really changed for him.
Being the new kid in school with an attractive body frame, a declination to speak about his past, and an apathetic nature towards the politics of high school drama, Soundwave had been labeled the "strong and silent" type, attracting femmes by the dozen. It had been somewhat awkward at times when Soundwave would be in study hall or lunch and a femme would appear, leaning on his arm or hugging his neck as they laughed and giggled, buttering him up, but once he got over his hidden teenage nervousness, he found that he could rule the school. He found that it wasn't too difficult, either, seeing as how almost the entire teenage Transformer population was more concerned about being accepted and earning a good reputation.
He was attractive enough to merely ask any femme of his choosing to go out with him on any of the school dates. He was submissive enough to be popular among the jocks with alpha-male syndrome. The outcasts basked in his intelligence, and the teachers appreciated having a student who would always turn in their work on time without fail. He was a shockingly good fighter as well, making even the school bullies leave him alone. When he reached the Morphing years, the years when Sparklings became Transformers and grew into the ability to transform, as well as gain their own unique body frames and weapons, he had sprouted a large shoulder cannon that he had been forced to leave in the office every day before school started. He learned that carrying this shoulder cannon around out side of the school kept even the worst gang haters away from him and feeding his reputation as a mysterious, hansom, intelligent bad-aft loved by all.
But towards the end of his school years, when even the most undisciplined party animal was learning to get a job and accept responsibilities, people got the idea that Soundwave's strange, halting manner of speech was not him being shy or apathetic, but he was truly just speaking as he would. It was a rare characteristic labeled as "computer speech", named thus for the shared traits of emotionless simplicity in speech patterns. After that, many of Soundwave's comrades put distance between him and themselves, as if his official speech pattern made him a different creature. Soundwave did not care nor worry about the loss of social status; many of them had failed to express logic, a thing that Soundwave thrived on.
It was logical to call his foster parents "mother" and "father" and to tell them that he loved them because it was a way of expressing his thanks for their taking care of him. It was logical to accept invitations to parties and dances and to ask dates to them because it helped him make allies, or at least keep him from making enemies. It was logical to complete his homework and school projects as completing his education would assist him in future expeditions. It was logical to fight the bullies when they attacked him, as it would prevent further discomfort in the future. It was logical to carry his shoulder cannon around to discourage any unnecessary displays of violent behavior. Even as a child, it was logical to play because it would help him make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Never had Soundwave acted on pure emotion without at least a kernel of logic behind his actions. Such a process of thinking helped him out in the rare times he was in trouble for fighting at school. He even deemed it logical to find his true parent units so that he may be able to learn what his true capabilities are as a Transformer.
His life was ruled by logic with out acceptation…Which would make it ironic that the job he had started at had no logic at all.
- - - - -
To Soundwave, it was the manipulation of various sounds at various speeds, frequencies, volumes, and pitches to fit into a sentence or mood without spoken words or moved actions. Alternating low and high tones at a steady one-two pace applied a sense of timing while the various over tones that repeated rarely aided in developing a specific body movement pattern to mimic the sounds, thus creating perfect harmony.
To everyone else, it was music.
"Who here likes our new music mix master, Soundwave, give a shout!" the youthful club owner whooped over the audio system.
The dancing crowd of young Transformers whooped aloud to show how much they liked Soundwave. In the DJ booth, Soundwave did not respond but merely decided that they had been on the same track long enough and that it was time to change. He moved dials up and down and turned knobs, effectively changing the club's music beat. He watched behind his red visor as the crowd's movement swayed into a different style as one, almost like the fluid motion of a Transformer's limb in transforming sequence. The laser lights continued flashing in the large, dark room lit up by heavily shaded neon windows in the wall with a section of tables around the bar across the room from the high up DJ booth Soundwave was in. Beside Soundwave stood Neonsight, the club's super bright yellow and pink owner and his new boss. Soundwave was still unsure of how he had obtained the job so easily, concerning the fact that all he did for the interview was drink energon and listen to Neonsight talk about his club and femmes, but he had gotten the job, none the less.
"They really like you, Soundwave, good job," Neonsight said, placing the microphone down before clapping Soundwave on the back. "I admit, you're kinda creepy, but you're totally what this club needs."
"Praise: Appreciated," Soundwave replied. It was the closest he would ever get to being bashful.
"Oh, slag," the club owner groaned, looking down on someone in the crowd. "It's Boomerspark."
"Inquiry: Identification of Boomerspark."
"What?"
"Who is Boomerspark," Soundwave asked, shoving each word out with considerable effort.
"He's a regular who doesn't pay for his drinks, has raked up a huge tab, and causes trouble every time he comes in here," Neonsight said, drawing a small club from its position at his side. "You stay here while I try chasing him out."
Neonsight walked down the steps from the DJ balcony and approached a large, dark, dark blue mech with brawny shoulders and a huge chin. Peering at the mech that appeared to be Boomerspark, Soundwave diagnosed that Boomerspark was suffering from a case of an ego the size of his chin and shoulders with a side of incompetence and an infection of alpha male syndrome. All things were true if he thought that he had the authority to refuse payment to the club, not to mention the snide, confident smirk he had on his disproportionate face: It was a smirk Soundwave had seen on more than enough school bullies and gang fighters to recognize on any one.
Neonsight said some words to Boomerspark that went unheard with the booming bass notes and the hoot of the techno-like Transformer music. Boomerspark laughed and shoved at Neonsight, making the club owner stumble back a few paces. To Soundwave, it would be logical to stand up to Boomerspark to please Neonsight and make a good impression. It could even lead to a promotion or a raise in his pay check so soon after getting the job.
In moments, Soundwave had come down the steps and appeared behind Neonsight, standing with a usual straight rigidness that most generals in the Autobot Army of Cybertron would spend weeks whipping into their new recruits. Neonsight looked up, as if surprised that Soundwave had come so fast, but Boomerspark merely smirked at Soundwave.
"What?" Boomerspark asked, shouting over the music, "Think you can take me, mask face?"
"Affirmative," Soundwave replied.
"Alright then," Boomerspark said, stepping back while two other mechs, unseen comrades of his, cleared a space for the pompous mech.
"I should have known it would come to this," Neonsight growled. "Soundwave, is there anyway I can talk you out of this?"
"Inquiry: Engage in violent activity yourself?" Soundwave asked.
"Ah ha, no, not really," Neonsight said, scratching the side of his head with one hand while he looked at his small club. He placed it back at his hoop as he admitted, "Nah, I'm no fighter. Just don't get busted up too much, okay, 'Wave?"
"Acknowledged," Soundwave answered.
As if the agreement had been a fighting bell, Boomerspark struck a gauntlet of a fist out, striking Soundwave in a white face masked-cheek. Soundwave's head snapped up as he took a step back, but he shook his head and regained his feet.
"Logic: Strike without opponents' acknowledgement for additional damage," Soundwave said, looking at Boomerspark.
Boomerspark punched again, but this time, Soundwave was ready for him. He caught the fist as he dodged it.
"Superior logic…" Soundwave went on.
He ducked under Boomerspark's arm and came back up behind the hostile club comer, dragging Boomerspark's arm with him. Boomerspark began to yip in pain as the cables and framework in his arm protested against being dragged this far back.
"Waiting until opponent acknowledges fight to avoid opponent's anger-fueled vengeance," Soundwave finished.
There was a loud snapping noise that made the entire club freeze in surprise. Boomerspark screamed in pain while Neonsight and the other eye witnesses dropped their jaws and widened their optics in shock after Soundwave snapped Boomerspark's arm
"What the slag are you aft heads waiting for!?" Boomerspark screamed shrilly at his comrades, "Get him!"
The two mechs who had cleared the fight space for Boomerspark came at Soundwave as one. Soundwave shoved the broken Boomerspark to the floor in front of him and turned to face his two new opponents. He ducked the first blow and came up to slam the heel of his hand into the unfortunate attacker's chin, knocking them clear back into the crowd. He turned in time to catch the second mech's hands in his own as they attempted to tackle him.
For a moment, they were stuck in a dead lock, hand clasped to hand as they braced their feet against the floor and they shoved back and forth. The audience got over its initial shock at Boomersparks' broken arm and was cheering on the fight wildly like a pack of animals. Most people would feel excited and proud to cause this much excitement, but to Soundwave, it was illogical. The audience would not benefit from either Soundwave or Boomerspark's mechs' winning, why should the audience be so excited?
The other mech, a deep red and green colored, ugly brute, snarled into Soundwave's covered face and shoved him backwards. Soundwave's feet skipped on the floor as they slid back and almost completely lost their footing.
Perhaps aiding strength can come from the abdominal core? Soundwave thought, striking upon a different version of the idea of lifting with one's legs and not one's back.
Soundwave clenched his abdominal area up; causing the cable muscle there to compact into a thick column of strength. At the same time, though, he felt something new there, a sort of buzz. A sharp whistle pierced the air before the air between Soundwave and his opponent rippled like water. It blew the opponent back clear over the club dancers' heads, crashing him into a distant corner somewhere. Soundwave stood tall, rearing his head back in hidden mild surprise.
"Whoa, Soundwave!" Neonsight exclaimed, "I didn't know you had sound manipulation abilities! But then again, that would match your name, wouldn't it?"
"Inform: Was not aware of this power myself before now," Soundwave admitted. "Agreement: Name comment."
"Well, what ever, you're getting a raise for this. Wow, cool moves! But why didn't you use your shoulder cannon?"
"Use of cannon: overkill."
- - - - -
Thus Soundwave found himself a job as club bouncer and DJ when he was not in his own apartment, studying up on potential colleges where he could learn to become a communications computer expert. That particular field of knowledge had few professionals and little competition, so logic said that such a field would be a good place to make money. Soundwave studied on the subject as much as he could; getting a head start on what ever college he would decide to attend.
A few weeks after the Boomerspark incident, Soundwave was helping to clean up the club after hours when a chubby-cheeked dark green and brown mech approached him, suitcase in hand. The mech's crown was shaped like a pyramid, turning the top of his head into a ridiculous pointed shape. Several of the other works snickered as he entered, but this mech appeared to be used to such teasings, as he ignored them and made a bee line for Neonsight. He spoke with Neonsight briefly before the club owner pointed him over to Soundwave. Soundwave was pulling chairs out from under the tables to stack them on top for over night storage.
"Soundwave?" this stranger inquired upon approaching the young mech.
"Affirmative," Soundwave said, turning to the strange mech. "Inquiry: Designation?"
"I am Mulchlash," the mech said, shaking a hand that Soundwave had been raising to scratch his head with. "I am an attorney and will supervisor. Soundwave, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your father is dead."
"Screwdriver is deceased?" Soundwave asked making a complete sentence in the sadness that arose from loosing the mech he had known for so many years. The sadness was unusual, but necessary: After all, the tragically named mech known as Screwdriver had taught Soundwave all sorts of life lessons, and had been there to help him in the rare times when even logic escaped Soundwave… such as during his awkward Morphing years…
"No, Soundwave," Mulchlash corrected, "Not your foster father. Your biological father is dead and has left everything to you."
- - - - -
A week later, Soundwave called in his vacation days and met Mulchlash at the train station. They took a hyper rail train out of the city and into the wilderness outside of town. As the city buildings shrank and disappeared behind them, turning into the silver metal forests of the excessively rare wilderness of Cybertron, Soundwave stared at a couple of hawk-bots circling in the sky over head. Both were black, with one being accented in yellow and the other in red. To Soundwave, their colors mixed into orange in his optics as his mind spun with the strange circumstances he was in. His father, his biological father, had never spoken to him or contacted him in any sort of way his entire life. And yet, the strange mech had left everything to Soundwave when he had died? Why?
Once the train had stopped, Mulchlash led the way to a waiting hover car and drove Soundwave deeper and deeper into the wilderness, going even off the paved roads and across the battered back ways of the wilderness. After several hours of twisting and turning in the wilderness, they came to a house.
"There you go, Soundwave," Mulchlash sighed as they pulled up in the drive way, "Your biological parents' home."
The home was a humble pale yellow dome set in a large clearing. It appeared well kept, and had not been neglected after its previous owner's death. Mulchlash gave Soundwave a tour of the place as if he were trying to sell it. From the front door, they entered directly into a living room. The two left exits in the living room led to the kitchen and storage area. One doorway in the kitchen's north wall led to the armor cleaning station (the bathroom), and the other led down into the basement. A door in the ceiling could be pulled open with a string to drop down a ladder and take them up to the loft over head, where the private bed quarters, a mini library, and a sort of gaming area were set up. The loft was a peculiar place; it had been painted dark brown and outfitted with golden-tinted lights, adding an almost organic touch to the place. Here, as Soundwave scanned the titles of the hologram texts on the bookshelves, Mulchlash read off the will and Soundwave's right to the land.
"Well, Soundwave, this is your place now," Mulchlash began, reciting his speech from Spark. "According to the file work assembled, signed and left behind by your biological parenting units that were to take place upon their deaths and after their bodies had been disposed of as they had specified, which is being ceremoniously melted down in this case, you own everything they ever owned in their life times. This hut and over fifty square acres of the land around it are yours to do as you wish, whether it be commercial, entertainment, or other purposes. Everything you find on this land, and on this land only, you own. Everything you find on this land or in this hut is yours to do with as you wish, whether it will be to preserve, keep, hide, destroy, or do other wise with these items as long as it corresponds with in the Cybertronian Counsel laws. With this land, you also inherit their bank balance of 78,984. 336 Cybertronian credits, four percent of which is in foreign currency, and you are also entitled to any items they may have stored in any safety deposit box that they may have, of which a charter will be provided for you at a later date upon requesting. Now, sir Soundwave, all you have to do is sign some text work and I will leave you to sort through your new possessions as you wish…"
Soundwave automatically signed the texts, as if in a daze, and sent Mulchlash on his way. Once he was sure that he was alone, he went immediately back to the loft and to the shelves there. Sure enough, he found several hologram journals stored there, all filled with pages upon pages of elegantly scrawled personal writing. Soundwave took these journals over to the gaming area, sitting at the card table there, and began reading well into the night.
It was illogical in every possible way to Soundwave. According to the journals, his father, Frequency, had been very well off and from a good family when he had met a femme known as Iris and Soundwave had been born. There was nothing scandalous in the birth, seeing as how Soundwave's father had been a decently wealthy mercenary and Iris, a town sweet heart. There had been no threats against Soundwave's existence, they had had not been poor, they could have easily hired a care taker to care for Soundwave had they not wanted to themselves, and no other strange or negative conditions surrounded Soundwave's birth. They were perfectly ready to take care of a Sparkling on their own in every possible way.
So why had they abandoned him on a stranger's door step, only to give him everything in their passing? Had Soundwave not been good enough for them? Had they felt too young and irresponsible to care for their son? Had things happened that had not been noted in the journals? There were no answers and now it appeared that there never would be.
But curiosity drove Soundwave on. His logic was unsound, but unrelenting. Hence, he called in on more vacation days and even began taking sick days as he poured over the journals for the next few weeks, drawing parallels between the tales of the mech, Frequency, who had wrote in them and Soundwave's own life. Soundwave almost drove himself crazy imagining what his father and mother had been doing on certain nights of his life. On this day of that month and year, Soundwave had gotten into his first fist fight while his father noted a funny tick in his transforming sequence. On the day Soundwave first sprouted his shoulder cannon, his mother and father had been enjoying a turbo-fox hunt. The parallels went on an on until Soundwave had an entire data bank of parallels.
From these journals, Soundwave had also been able to diagnose that his biological father had been a merry mech, always helping neighbors out and playing pranks and being the life of the party while his biological mother had been a gentle, shy femme that stayed close to her husband. She had been an old-fashioned version of a stay-at-home mother unit who did the house chores and helped her husband as best she could. Soundwave also came to realize that they had had no other relatives other than themselves.
But no answers were presented to Soundwave as to why they had left him behind.
It was only when he went rummaging through the numerous boxes of pictures at the bottom of the shelf, both printed on metal sheets and hologramed, did he realize why they had left him.
His father had been tall and narrow, deep red and white in color with a racer-style helmet and wide mitts for hands and thick trunks for feet. His mother had been a dainty little patch of yellow with extensions like a skirt around her waist and nervous, sparkling blue optics. Neither bore any sort of resemblance to Soundwave.
Soundwave had been an accident between his mother and a strange mech.
It was logical: Almost all of Soundwave's traits were dominant, meaning that they would cover up any trait from his mother. Going back through the journals, he went back to approximately around the time he could have been conceived and born and recognized the angry jabs, the small journal entries of mundane daily details written in turquoise light. When Soundwave had been accidentally made, Frequency had stubbornly attempted to hide his anger, deciding to take it out on the unfortunate Sparkling-to-be by making his obedient, almost-faithful wife leave him in some stranger's care.
After that, the mystery was solved.
Soundwave packed away the personal items and stored them in the basement, keeping out only the barest furniture. For some reason, he did not feel like going home yet. He sat on the front step of the small house in the wilderness, staring out at the metallic trees while he drifted about in a wordless, emotionless mental void. Logic and emotion alike failed to describe what he felt. Finally, as the sun went down, he managed to put logic into the situation and spoke it allowed to the wilderness that had no audio receptors to hear it or the voice to repeat it.
"Illogical: Studying mechs that, by definition, are my parent units, but never were parent units. Illogical: Discovering true father, a mech who did not stay behind to see his offspring. Logical: Abandoning pointless personal mission for answers."
No one heard this declaration, but it satisfied Soundwave.
- - - - -
Two Years Later
"Soundwave, I'm hungry!"
"Soundwave, Buzzsaw keeps pecking my head!"
"Soundwave, Frenzy's hogging all the room!"
"Soundwave, I need to fly now!!!"
"Soundwave; shut these idiots up!"
With the yelling voices of his humanoid Cassetticons and the animal Cassetticons shouting in his head, Soundwave was on the verge of throwing them all out and showing them how he used his shoulder cannon for the first time ever. Instead he ignored them as he walked into the city, shopping list in hand. Taking care of a band of Cassetticons was trying on one's financial abilities at times, but it was worth it.
Soundwave had always had the full intent of selling his biological parent units' hut and moving on with his life, but he had found that he liked the seclusion. Hence, he had decided to stay on with it. He quite his job as DJ and had taken to living on his parents' initial land. He took up the hobby of hunting the game on the land when he could to stretch the money his parents had left him, and studied all about communications technologies in his spare time.
When he had originally found Ravage and the bird-bots in the wooded land of his inherited property on one hunting trip, he had acted on some sort of instinct and taken them home to care for them. After he had earned their trust, the animals had never left. When they had started nesting in his once-empty chest compartment, an internal calling made had him realize that he was a Cassetticon handler and accepted the responsibility of the talent. That same internal calling made him adopt Frenzy and Rumble when he found them during a night time walk cutting through his land. To him, it was logical to take care of the orphaned Cassetticons and animal-mechs: They could be useful in case Soundwave ever was approached by hostile mechs, and he could learn things from them. In deed, Frenzy and Rumble had already taught him much in the art of combat, even more than what he had known originally. Over time, they had become a family, playfully arguing most of the time, but forgiving each other when serious issues arose.
Now, Soundwave had gathered up all his Cassetticons to go grocery shopping for more energon in the small city near Soundwave's home; the exact same city Laserbeak and Buzzsaw had once hunted in. All over the place, he could see guards standing with weapons in hand, postings about warning against the Decepticon rebels, and people traveling in small, huddled packs like so many fearful pack animals. It was logical: The Decepticons had been gaining notoriety through out Cybertron for their murder sprees. People feared for their lives in case of a sudden attack.
Soundwave was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a violent jerk in his chest as one of the Cassetticons kicked his chest window.
"Soundwave!" the Cassetticons shouted, "Laserbeak needs to use the bathroom!"
Soundwave hastily pressed on his shoulder button numerous teams, making his chest window drop open. Laserbeak burst from his chest compartment and rocketed into the sky with a relieved screech. Following him right on his tail board, the rest of the Cassetticons fell out: Ravage, Buzzsaw, and the brothers, Frenzy and Rumble.
They collapsed in a heap of metal limbs, wings, and paws at Soundwave's feet on the sidewalk, making several people stop and stare before moving on and making Soundwave feel amusement. He knelt and set the Cassetticons apart so that they wouldn't accidentally beat each other up while untangling themselves, as unofficial sibling units tended to do. One of the army guards came away from his post at the corner.
"Excuse me, sir," the army guard said, leaving his large rifle in view in his hands. "Do you have a permit to carry that many Cassetticons?"
"Inquiry: Warrant?" Soundwave asked, standing up.
"New law states that a Cassetticon carrier must register for a proper license and warrant when he or she is carrying three or more Cassetticons," the guard explained.
"We didn't hear nothing about no warrant," Frenzy grumbled.
"So what if we don't have a warrant?" Rumble asked.
"It's if he doesn't have a warrant," the guard said, probing Soundwave's chest with his gun. "If he doesn't have you registered, you go to a pound until the proper text work is achieved."
"Hey, I ain't no pet for no pound!" Frenzy snapped, stomping a foot for emphasis. Ravage snarled and Buzzsaw screeched to agree.
"I'm sorry, but that's just the rules," the guard said carelessly. "It's for everyone's protection in case anyone with three or more Cassetticons is a Decepticon in disguise."
"What if a Decepticon has only one or two Cassetticons?" Frenzy asked.
"Shh, bro, you don't wanna give 'em any ideas," Rumble hissed to him.
"Objection: Cassetticons are Transformers, not pets," Soundwave told the guard. "Pound: Unnecessary. Desire: No complications. Inquiry: Location of warrant and license office."
"Great, a computer mouth," the guard grumbled as he drew a hologram pad from a body compartment and began to scribble directions onto it.
There was a squirt noise and a clear, gooey liquid landed on top of the guard's head. The guard became rigid in horror while Laserbeak landed on Soundwave, sighing in relief. Soundwave turned his head slightly to indicate that he was staring at Laserbeak. Laserbeak noticed everyone staring and bobbed his head in a bird shrug.
"What?" he asked telepathically, "I had to go."
"On top of the guard's head?" Ravage asked.
"Nice, Laserbeak," Rumble commented, but it was difficult to determine whether it was sarcastic or truly impressed.
The guard mean while, shuddered and growled in frustration, before suddenly throwing the hologram pad and its pen on the ground with a shout. He motioned for some fellow army guards to approach and turned his wrath on Soundwave and his party.
"That's it!" he roared, "All of you, to the pound, now! You, computer mouth, you can pick them up tomorrow if you have the proper license and warrants for them!"
The Cassetticons began to protest as four guards surrounded them and Soundwave even began to build a buzzing in his abdomen, preparing for an attack on the guards to protect his new family, the family he had invested in too much to release. The family that he had become the father figure of.
Suddenly, a flash lit the city as a low boom sounded out over head. Everyone looked up and saw streaks of flames diving to the city. The streaks of flames burned out as from them emerged space ships, all branded with a demonic canine-bird insignia.
"Decepticons! Everyone to their stations!" the guard that had been previously harassing Soundwave's squad bellowed.
"Oh man, oh man, oh man," Rumble squeaked happily, dancing from foot to foot eagerly. "A fight, a real fight! Hey, Soundwave, boss, can we fight, can we? Huh? Huh? Can we?"
"Please, Boss, please?" Frenzy begged, "We haven't had a scrap in so long!"
"Yeah, not since we met which was, what, a year ago, now?" Rumble said. "Come on, let's kick some aft!"
Ravage growled in disagreement. Buzzsaw groomed his claws in disinterest while Laserbeak perched motionlessly on Soundwave's shoulder; either bird did not care what would be decided.
"Inquiry: For whom and what we fight," Soundwave asked.
"Let's kill everybody!" Rumble cheered, tossing his hands in the air.
Ravage placed his face against the sidewalk to hide it. Soundwave tilted his head to the side.
"Illogical: Killing everyone. Reason: Too many enemies created to handle. Reasoning: Needed."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, just make it fast before the fight's done," Rumble said.
"Autobots: Wish to impound Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Rumble, and Ravage. Autobots: Enacting laws that seem unfair. Decepticons…"
Soundwave watched as a couple of air-bound Decepticons and Autobots crashed into a building across the street, diminishing it to ruins. The Cassetticons instinctively ducked to avoid the shockwave.
"Decepticons: Strong. Chances of victory in war: High," Soundwave went on. "Proposition: Join Decepticons to avoid capture by Autobots."
"Sounds good to me, as long as we get to fight something," Frenzy said, grinning at Rumble. "What do you say, Rumble?"
"I say: Let's get ready to rumble!" Rumble replied as he turned his arms into pile drivers.
Ravage got to his feet and crouched, ready to run into battle; he was ready to fight if Soundwave so commanded it. Buzzsaw looked up at Soundwave. Soundwave nodded to acknowledge the group decision. A group of army soldiers rolled by in alt-form before transforming and attacking a small party of landed Decepticons.
"Cassetticons: Attack!" he shouted, pointing to the battlefield growing around them.
Buzzsaw and Laserbeak burst into the air with a flurry of metal wings. Ravage sprinted ahead of the rest of the party, roaring a war cry as he released all his ancient instincts of combat. Frenzy and Rumble ran ahead of Soundwave, whooping and cheering like maniacs. Frenzy attacked with his sound abilities while Rumble used his small, but powerful pile drivers to literally bring down the metal houses. Soundwave bared his hands and chest as they emitted sonic screeches that made his foes fall in a shout of pain. One soldier ran up to him when Soundwave took a break, but the end of Soundwave's shoulder cannon flashed and the bold foe was destroyed.
The battle was not short, neither it was long. When it was over, the Autobot army had been forced out and the civilians either killed or fled. The Decepticons cheered over their victory and looted the remains of the fighting. Soundwave and his Cassetticons walked among the ruins, drawing Decepticon optics as they went. Finally, a red and white jet-former landed in front of them, pointing a pair of shoulder-mounted null cannons at them. The cannons appeared to have been a recent upgrade.
"Halt!" the jet Transformer snarled, "You don't bear the Decepticon insignia. Who are you?"
"I am Soundwave," Soundwave replied. "Desire: Join the Decepticons."
"What makes you think that you can join my army, Soundwave?" a raspy voice asked.
Soundwave's party, the hostile jet-Former, and the Decepticons standing around them turned and saw Lord Megatron standing near by, burnt and dented from battle, but splattered with the energon of his victims. It was Rumble who answered the question, baring his pile drivers.
"Because we got muscle and skill like no one else!" he whooped.
"That, and the Autobots wanna cage the gang here just because of some warrant or whatever," Frenzy chuckled.
Buzzsaw and Ravage hissed in agreement. Laserbeak's optics flickered strangely. With an unusual twitter, Laserbeak fluttered up and flew over to Megatron. One would think that Megatron would wave away a bird's approach, but instead he raised an arm on which Laserbeak perched on. More than one mech's eye brows rose up in surprise when Megatron stroked Laserbeak's neck, making the bird twitter happily. Apparently, two warrior-Sparked creatures had just made a bond, similar to how warriors of opposing factions acknowledge each others' strength. Megatron moved Laserbeak to his shoulder and looked Soundwave up and down. Soundwave felt no jealousy for Laserbeak's sudden affection for the strange mech: It was odd, but Laserbeak had the right to like who he desired as long as it did not involve harm to Soundwave or the other Cassetticons.
"You are these Cassetticons' handler?" Megatron asked.
"Affirmative," Soundwave answered with a single nod.
"What can you do?" Megatron asked.
Soundwave's shoulder cannon turned around on its own accord and promptly blew apart the remains of a building behind him. Several of the Decepticons jumped and shouted in surprise. The red and white jet-Formers' face fell in disbelief. Rumble and Frenzy smirked at Megatron as they smacked high fives and Ravage purred proudly. Megatron smirked in approval.
"What are your names?" Megatron asked, looking down at the Cassetticons.
"Frenzy!"
"Rumble!"
"Designations: Ravage and Buzzsaw."
"And the war hawk on your shoulder is Laserbeak," Frenzy went on. He patted his shoulder, "That bird and Buzzsaw almost took my neck out the first time we met!"
Laserbeak raised his head and spread his wings slightly, screeching as he shot lasers from his optics and into the sky. He really wanted to make a good impression for Megatron.
"Hmm, I approve," Megatron purred. To the jet-Former that had spoken before, "Starscream, have these mechs properly branded. I look forward to their services."
"Yes, sir," Starscream replied grudgingly.
"Cassetticons: Return," Soundwave ordered.
All the Cassetticons promptly transformed and slid into Soundwave's waiting chest compartment. Laserbeak nuzzled Megatron's fingers one more time before returning to Soundwave and Rumble and Frenzy stuck their glossa out at Starscream before entering Soundwave. Once all the Cassetticons were with in Soundwave once more, he followed the red and white jet-Former away to officially begin his life anew.
AN: What d' ya think? Originally I wanted the animals all to be city strays, the Cassetticons to be jailed thugs, and Soundwave to just be a mystery whack job in a lunatic ward who busts everyone out all on his lonesome and proceeds to talk the Cassetticons into joining him and hiding in Megatron's ranks, but I like this version better. Yeah, go ahead and run with that jail idea of ya'll want. Reviews, please! And remember:
You can request non-Earth origin Transformers. Coming up next, as according to request, we will have Blur, followed by Swindle, then Thundercracker and Skywarp with the origins of the Seeker Squad. Stay tuned!
