I do not own Transformers.
Two weeks went by since the Predacon mountain base exploded, and Soundwave was basking in the moonlight, gazing up at the stars. He was thinking to back when he was with Berserk and they did the occasional stargazing together; holding each other's servos with their tentacles wrapped around them. He heard some footsteps, and extended a tentacle to see Blackarachnia walking outside. "Query: What happened to Blackarachnia?" asked Soundwave. She looked at him and said "I always figured that if anyone would survive the Beast Wars, it would be me. Looks like that I was wrong." "What makes you say that?" asked Soundwave. She sighed, and then said "Earlier, I tried to upgrade myself to a Transmetal version of myself because transmetals have more power. Instead, Bowser flew in and tried to stop my upgrade. What happened was that my Predacon core programing is deteorating, and if the Maximals don't remove it, I could go offline. Some choice that I have." "Is becoming a Maximal all that bad?" asked Soundwave. "Easy for you to say. You're a Decepticon. Me? I was a Maximal protoform, but I've been reprogramed to become a Predacon. I don't even want to become a Maximal" said Blackarachnia.
"You make it seem as if becoming a Maximal is all that bad" said Silverbolt as he appeared. Blackarachnia turned around, and Soundwave turned his tentacle as they both stared at the Fuzor. "You were always meant to be a Maximal, Blackarachnia. Rhinox will find a way to stop the Predacon programming from interfering with your Maximal core consciousness. You're only a Predacon because of Tarantulus, but inside, you're a Maximal. You'll be one again once this is over" said Silverbolt. Blackarachnia looked at Soundwave, then redirected her attention to Silverbolt and said "Just like Soundwave here, I'm a bad girl at heart. Neither of us wants to be reprogrammed to be a Maximal, or an Autobot. We're just happy for who we are." Silverbolt shook his head, and then said "When I look into your heart, Blackarachnia, I see no evil. Only love." "Sappy as always. What did I ever see in you, anyway?" said Blackarachnia. I frequently asked myself that when I first met Berserk. Sure, she's psychotic, but I still love her for who she is thought Soundwave. Silverbolt got closer to Blackarachnia, then she said "Oh yeah, I remember" before her body began sending shocks to her systems, and she screamed in pain. "Blackarachnia, no!" called out Silverbolt before he picked her up and flew back to the Maximal base. Soundwave remained where he was, and then resumed looking at the stars thinking Someday, Berserk, we'll be together again.
Elsewhere, both Ravage and Tarantulus were talking about some battle plans. "You sure that you can reprogram Soundwave with this?" asked Ravage as he looked at one of Tarantulus' plans. "You have any better ideas?" asked Tarantulus. "I've been with the original Soundwave, Tarantulus. He may be blindly loyal to Megatron, but he's smarter than him. The only mech that I know of that is smarter than Soundwave was Shockwave, and neither of them are easy to fool. With all of these extra tentacles on this Soundwave, sneaking up on him won't be easy. He needs to be in stasis lock, offline, or…just knocked out if we are to reprogram him to do our bidding" said Ravage before Tarantulus' computers reported "Attention. Attention. Attention. Shell program T-70 is in jeopardy." Tarantulus looked at the screen, then looked at Ravage and said "It looks as if Blackarachnia is having herself reprogramed. Hide before I contact Megatron." Ravage nodded, and then ran out of Tarantulus' lair. He didn't want Megatron to know that the both of them were plotting against him and the Maximals.
Night was still progressing, and Soundwave was in stasis mode when he received a message on his systems. "Vok instrument designated Transmetal Driver beginning to activate on unit Blackarachnia. Request assistance" read his systems, waking up Soundwave. Just when I was having a good dream too thought Soundwave as he flew to base. He wasn't too crazy about the Vok making night calls for the spacecraft, but then again, he wasn't too crazy about being separated for his family for nearly three years.
When he got to base, he extended a tentacle, and moved it to the medical bay to inspect Blackarachnia. The Transmetal Drive was activating, and it spun around and began extending energy waves of a kind to reprogram Blackarachnia. Soundwave waited a bit, and then, Blackarachnia was born as a Transmetal. She was blue-ish metallic color, had her legs coming out of her back, and had golden armor and golden-pink claws. "What happened?" she asked. "You were reprogrammed as a Transmetal" said Soundwave. She placed a claw to her head and said "Silverbolt…he's in trouble." "How do you know that?" asked Soundwave. "I…I don't know, but I can detect that he's in trouble. So, becoming a Transmetal has made you telepathic…interesting thought Soundwave before he spoke "I can give you a lift there. Where is he?" Blackarachnia managed to produce the location within Soundwave's mind, and then the spacecraft said "Get on…" Blackarachnia got on his back, and then the two sped off to Silverbolt in trouble.
A few weeks went by since Blackarachnia's upgrade, and Soundwave decided to help her hone her telepathic abilities. She managed to make some progress in making small objects move, but had some difficulty in making the large objects (such as boulders) move. "A little bit more practice, but you're getting there" said Soundwave. "Why is it so important for me to learn how to use my telepathic abilities?" asked Blackarachnia. "You'll be surprised how often my telepathic abilities have assisted me, Blackarachnia. It has proven useful in interrogation, spying, and in battle. Now, let's us try it again" said Soundwave as Blackarachnia attempted to move a large boulder with her mind.
"Rhinox to Soundwave and Blackarachnia. Optimus Primal requests that you return to base immediately" said Rhinox over the comm links. "Ok, we'll be back at base" responded Soundwave before he looked at Blackarachnia and said "It appears as if Optimus wants us to return to base. Looks like that we'll have to cut our training short." Blackarachnia then got on Soundwave's back, and the two headed back to base.
When they got there, Soundwave stopped for a moment. "Soundwave, what is it?" asked Blackarachnia. "Sorry, but there is something important that I have to attend to. Just tell Optimus that I'll be back soon" said Soundwave before he levitated up, then flew into space. "Weird…" said Blackarachnia before she headed inside the base, unaware of the danger inside.
Soundwave had reached orbital status before he transformed into his satellite mode. "Ok, what is it?" he asked as his communication systems focused into deep space. "We have become aware that Megatron is threatening the time flow again. We need you to intercept with him, and offline him. The Maximals and Predacons have disrupted the time flow as it is. We don't need further interference with it; otherwise all of time and the universe will be undone. It is not the will of the One" said the Vok. "Understood. Soundwave returning to Maximal base to annihilate Megatron. Soundwave out" responded Soundwave before he returned to his Nighthawk form and descended to the volcano hiding the Maximals and the Ark. Little did he know of the danger lurking inside the volcano.
When Soundwave got inside, he managed to see Optimal Optimus dropping Megatron into the lava-filled lake. "Ah, Optimus. I see that you have done my mission for me" said Soundwave as he hovered closer to Optimal Optimus. "Wha? Oh, yeah. I killed Megatron" said Optimal Optimus. "Query: Are you ok, Optimus? You sound different" said Soundwave. "Uh, just have a slight…cold, yeah that's it. A cold!" said Optimus. Something's not right here… thought Soundwave.
In the main Maximal section of the volcano, Quickstrike was controlling Optimus through one of Tarantulus' inventions. "What do I do now, Tarantulus? I don't think that I can keep up the monkey impersonation forever" said Quickstrike. "Yes…I wasn't counting on Soundwave to be here so soon" said Tarantulus as he rubbed his chin with a claw. "I think that I may have the answer" said Ravage. Both Quickstrike and Tarantulus looked at him. "And what is your plan?" asked Tarantulus. "Follow me; I'll fill you in on the way to the Ark. Quickstrike, I need you to keep on talking to Soundwave until we get there" said Ravage before he left with Tarantulus. "I hope that those two critters know what they're doing. I would love to kick that flying mountain's keister, but I don't want to do it without Tarantulus' and Ravage's help. I still remember the time when that mountain kicked my keister" said Quickstrike to himself.
"So…where have you been…Soundwave?" asked Quickstrike as Optimus. "Oh, just doing a little bit of stargazing" replied the spacecraft. "Did ja find anything? ...uh, I mean, did you find anything new?" asked Quickstrike. Soundwave remained silent, then said "Not really, no. Well, I did find something unusual outside…I think that it might have been a new stasis pod." "Wow, that's great. Is it possible for you to show me the location?" asked Quickstrike. "Well, I was thinking that we might need Rattrap for the job…where is he, anyway?" asked Soundwave. "Out scouting for energon. The rest of them are busy doing fieldwork" said Quickstrike. "And you're the only one here? That seems illogical. Why did you send everybody out?" asked Soundwave. "Well, since I'm strong enough to take on the rest of the Predacons, I decided to stay behind and guard the Ark. You won't believe what happened. All of the Predacons came by, and I kicked their keisters…uh, I mean, I defeated all of them" said Quickstrike. "All by yourself?" asked Soundwave. "Yep, I did" said Quickstrike "…Uh, I mean, of course I did."
"Hello, Soundwave" said Ravage as he appeared with Tarantulus. "Query: Why is Tarantulus here?" asked Soundwave. "Well, he came by, and I managed to talk to him. I convinced him to defect to the Maximals" said Ravage. Tarantulus nodded, and then said "Well, since we're on the same side, Soundwave, I need so show you something important. A few months ago, I found this weird alien device, and I need you to take a look at it, and tell us what it is." "Ravage, may I talk to you alone for a nano-klik?" asked Soundwave. "Of course" said Ravage as he got closer to the spacecraft. Soundwave held on to Ravage, and then hovered to a far part of the volcano.
When they were alone, Soundwave asked him "Are you sure that he's to be trusted? He doesn't seem trustworthy. He doesn't seem to be too much of a Predacon, but something else?" "What do you mean, Soundwave? Tarantulus is a close co-worker of mine. I trust him with my spark" said Ravage. "Ok, if that's what you say, then I believe you. He still seems suspicious to me" said Soundwave. "I think that, by staying with the Maximals for so long, they have…pushed too many of their values on you" said Ravage. "True…it is a possibility" said Soundwave.
While the two talked, Quickstrike picked up Tarantulus in Optimus' servo, and Tarantulus said to him "What have the both of you talked about while Ravage and I were walking on the way here?" "Well, I told him that I kicked the keisters of all the Predacons, and he told me that he found a stasis pod outside" said Quickstrike. "Hmm…" said Tarantulus as he rubbed his chin with a claw "I'll have him find this 'stasis pod' after I reprogram him. He may be lying, but he seems that he might be on to us. Be careful with him, Quickstrike. None of us know how powerful Soundwave truly is." "Ok, whatever you say, partner" said Quickstrike as Ravage and Soundwave returned.
Suddenly, the lava began bubbling a lot, and a draconian head emerged, followed by the rest of Megatron's body. "By the pits, you live!" exclaimed Tarantulus. "I am not so easily destroyed, thanks to your treachery" said Megatron. Tarantulus turned around and said to Soundwave "Uh, excuse me for a moment while I have a chat with Megatron" before he ran up to the dragon. Ok, now I have my suspicions thought Soundwave.
Tarantulus ran up to Megatron and whispered harshly "What do you think that you're doing?" "I was about to thank you for you giving me this power upgrade, Tarantulus" said Megatron as he glared at the spider. "That's not what I meant! I meant that I've managed to convince Soundwave that we…uh…accepted a bit of a…peace treaty with the Maximals, and I'm on their side" whispered Tarantulus. "I can suffer your treachery, but NOT YOUR INCOMPETENCE!" shouted Megatron to the spider. "There isn't anything that you two are hiding from us, now is there?" asked Soundwave. "Uh, no, no. Everything is just fine" said Tarantulus as he waved a claw at Soundwave then redirected his attention to Megatron. "I haven't reprogramed the spacecraft to be a slave to us yet, so is it possible to play along until I do?" whispered Tarantulus to the tyrant. Megatron glared at Tarantulus and snarled at him "I'm afraid that your usefulness has outlived itself. With Starscream's spark possessing Waspinator, you're obsolete" before he picked up the spider and chucked him into a lava pit.
A tentacle came out of Soundwave, tapped Ravage on his shoulder and said "You were saying that Tarantulus is to be trusted?" Ravage could tell that Soundwave was quickly losing confidence in the cassetticon, so Ravage turned to the spacecraft and said "Uh, well, what Megatron means is that…Tarantulus was a traitor to the Predacons so he switched to the Maximals. He's no longer needed since he has Starscream's scientific ability."
Without warning, Optimal Optimus screamed, and then fell; electricity sparking from him. "Optimus? Are you ok?" asked Soundwave. "It was…Quickstrike who was controlling me. He was using one of Tarantulus' inventions…" said Optimus as he groaned. The tentacle redirected its attention to Ravage, as the panther began backing up, saying "But Soundwave, I am loyal to you. I would never betray you." Soundwave's tentacle optic narrowed as he screamed "LIAR!" Without any further notice, Ravage fled from the scene, followed by Tarantulus in motorcycle mode.
"Now with that little distraction out of the way…ENTER THE DRAGON!" shouted Megatron as he transformed into his beast mode and began blasting fire at Soundwave and Optimal Optimus. Soundwave saw this attack coming, then threw up a dark energy barrier.
No matter how much flame power Megatron put into it, he couldn't get past that barrier. "So, I see that you are a true warrior after all, Soundwave, but it is not enough" snarled Megatron before he began flying up high. Soundwave sped up after the dragon, with Megatron using evasive maneuvers to outdo the spacecraft, but the Nighthawk was able to keep up. "Give up, Megatron, there is no victory for you" said Soundwave. "Megatron doesn't give up, HE CONQUERS!" shouted Megatron before he blasted at the stalactites, causing them to rain down on Soundwave. Soundwave threw up a dark matter barrier this time, then sent the rocks flying. While he was distracted, Megatron flew out of the volcano, saying "It appears that I have been once again cheated of victory, but beware the dragon's wrath. Vengeance will be mine!"
Much later, after all the locked up Maximals were released (turns out, only Depth Charge wasn't at the base), Optimus told them all "With Megatron's upgrade, it has made the point of winning and ending this war all the more important, and winning it soon." Yeah, but now, I'm afraid that I'm the one who has to end this war. The Vok are already upset at what has happened to this planet. I'm sorry, Optimus, but after I defeat the Predacons, I'll have to evict you and all the Maximals off this planet thought Soundwave.
Later that night, Soundwave flew out of the volcano and then headed towards the Predacon base. He had a mission to complete for the Vok.
So…It's close to Endgame here. And, what is Ravage and Tarantulus planning?