I.

The music. It's what kept him sane. It had a soothing effect as with a primitive animal, hypnotized by some harmonic force. He was the same way.

Thoughts engulfed him as they were the only company he could ever have. My precious music, it's gone—Rich Cale, he took it away. It was his fault—that bastard. He was my best friend, yet, Rich betrayed me like I was a common criminal. The bonds of friendship are supposed to be stronger than that. Hell, Rich was supposed to die if I commanded it. Rich was weak, that's all there was to it. And weak people don't deserve to live.

The young man sat on the edge of his cot in the cell of McConnell Holding Facility outside of Easton, Rich's hometown. He had been put under lock and key with strict instructions almost two years ago. All the while, he thought about escaping and what he would do to Rich when he found him, and anyone else who might be around. There would be no mercy for them.

His name was Soundwave, and soon, sooner than even he imagined, he would have the chance to inflict his revenge against his enemy, Rich Cale.

II.

The McConnell Holding Facility was built in the late nineteenth century, and on the outside, looked the part. It was made of brick, such was true of many buildings in the city, and it was spread out. The multiple level building was set apart from the rest of the city, a smart move by the original city planner.

Though it could be mistaken for some sort of city government building on the outside, on the inside, it was distinctively a prison for humans and mutants alike. Every section that had mutants was specially designed by the best engineers in the world, including Forge, whose governmental affiliations allowed him to travel worldwide to put his talents to use.

The warden made sure that specific instructions were posted in each area, warning the guards and janitors what was and was not acceptable in the vicinity of a mutant. Many of them had powers that could be activated when a human was near, or even lash out and kill a human. The utmost of precaution was taken at all times and this pleased the mayor of Easton to no ends.

There were strict instructions given to the guards who worked in the section where Soundwave was being held. Absolutely no walkmans, Discmans, radios, or anything else that could remotely produce music, was the standing rule. And if one of those items did make it into the facility, which it was highly unlikely it would, it was not to be brought anywhere near cell U-SA-FA-CS-15.

The guards heard rumors of the prisoner there. They heard about the first attempt at a breakout he made…how ten guards were killed in a matter of seconds. Another eighteen were sent to the hospital under critical condition. It all happened because a street policeman brought a hooker in from the street and became nosy. He peered in, only to have his eyes gouged out and forcefully pulled into the small slot that was Soundwave's connection to the outside world.

When Rich Cale heard of the situation, he contacted Professor Xavier, who in turn contacted Forge, who built a new, special prison. Soundwave had remained there with no outside contact for the past year and a half. However, on this night, Soundwave would get everything he desired and some.

Hector Fernandez loved to sing. He sang whenever he could—it eased the tension of working in a prison. He was the janitor and had to mop hallways, clean the bathrooms, and other menial jobs that were unappealing to most people. It wasn't the greatest job, but it helped put food on the table. Working as a janitor was his second job. His first was at the newspaper shop. He made good money there, but sent much of it home for his sick mother.

When a whisper sounded in the hallway, Hector suddenly became nervous. He believed in ghosts without a doubt and always presumed the prison was haunted.

When Hector finally identified where the whisper had come from, it didn't make feel any easier—it came from a cell.

"Sing to me—sing louder."

Immediately, his eyes rested on the sign, "Silence" written in several different languages, including Spanish. Hector hesitated, but then realized how lonely it must be for a prisoner. He began to sing in Spanish, a wonderful song his father used to sing.

"Yes—come closer. I want to hear it all—"

Hector could see the prisoner almost smashing his head through the tray slot to hear Hector. That made him sing even louder. He was glad to be bringing some peace to this man's life.

"More—yes, more!" the voice of the prisoner became more excited.

Hector was thrilled. He sang louder and louder, rivaling those who sang opera for a living. He unwittingly came closer and closer to the door, not realizing the danger he was in.

The door suddenly blew off, knocking Hector to the floor and crashing into the opposite wall. The cell was broken…a cacophony of sound came flooding out of the walls and into the individual who now stood triumphant in the middle of the hallway.

A hateful eye turned toward Hector, and he shuffled back a few inches.

"I would like to thank you for giving me life. As payment, I'll make your death as painless as possible—"

III.

Rich smiled as he felt a kiss on his forehead. He opened one eye and a cute redhead came into view. She looked something like the woman he loved, with a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. When his eyes focused, he saw that it was true…his love was standing next to the bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Yvette whispered. The sun poured into the room, giving it a warm, homely feeling.

Rich propped himself up on one elbow. "Good morning to you too."

She reached over and brushed some strands of dark brown hair from his face. "Kai told me to get you up…she has breakfast on the table," Yvette grabbed his hand and started to playfully tug him out of bed.

"I don't want to get up," Rich smiled and pulled Yvette into the bed. He began to tickle her.

"Oh stop!" Yvette laughed. They tussled around for a minute before he let her up. Yvette still held on to the laughter. "If you don't get up, I'll call in reinforcements…Grimore."

"Okay, okay. Grimore has a tendency to use too much force to get his way." Rich shuddered, remembering when Grimore bit his arm to get Rich to let him outside. "Tell Kai I'll be down in a minute."

Yvette blew him a kiss and trotted out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Rich was glad to be back. It had been a week since Rich, accompanied by Yvette, had returned to his rightful place in the town of Easton. Rich was glad for the friends he had made in Generation X, but he had a responsibility to take care of: a company, a castle, and his family. However, Rich found his thoughts daunting back to the residents of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.

He had come there strictly for business…to stop the menace known as Emplate. However, there was much more to the situation than he realized and through a twist of events, he ended up residing with them. In that time, he found himself opening up to each of them more and more. When he left, he felt like he was leaving behind some of the best people he had known.

Rich was startled out of his thoughts by a sudden shift in the bed. Grimore and leaped from the floor to the bed, a usual act for the feline.

"Morning, Grimore."

"Rich, how are you doing this morning?"

Rich sighed. "It's good to be back," he replied, reflecting on the week. "It seems like I had been gone for so long."

"Well, you did extend your visit to the States by quite a few months."

Rich smiled. "Yeah, lucky for me, summer break came. I think everyone needed the vacation. It let me get back here to take care of the company for a while."

Grimore suddenly changed his expression. "Things are going to be busy for you," Grimore said in a low tone.

Rich stretched then gazed at the animal. "That doesn't sound good."

"It won't be," Grimore said and leaped gracefully from the bed to the floor.

Rich frowned and swung his legs out of the bed. He wanted to dismiss the ominous statement from his feline friend, but at the same time, he knew there was always truth to what Grimore said. He looked at the cat one last time. "Well, I'm going to get breakfast. Are you coming?"

"Of course—do I ever miss a meal?"

Rich smiled, pushing the ominous comment to the back of his mind. He didn't want to inquire anymore into the comment fearing that the news may be more than he could handle right now.

Rich and Grimore descended the stairs in a lively manner and entered the dining room. A single voice became more and clearer as he neared the table.

"So I was almost overrun by these zombie creatures," Yvette had the other three girls at the table captivated as she spoke. Her blue eyes sparkled as she told the story, which brought a smile to Rich. She caught sight of Rich and smiled as she continued to talk.

"Morning, every…"

"Shhh!" Tasha shot a silencing glance at Rich. Her large brown eyes turned back toward Yvette.

Yvette paused for a moment to giggle.

"So what happened?" Godiva insisted. Her dark brown hair fell over her eye and she pushed it behind her ear.

Yvette smiled. "Well, Rich appeared from nowhere—"

"It wasn't exactly nowhere. We were already there."

"Oh quiet, Rich. Let her tell the story," Godiva snapped. Rich chuckled and shook his head. He was happy to see Yvette fitting in well with the family. One of the things he was concerned about when he first brought her back was whether she would be accepted by his adopted sister, cousin, and her friend.

"Can't get a word in edgewise, huh?" Grimore chuckled.

"I might as well listen…I hope this story has a happy ending," Rich winked at Yvette who caught his subtle joke.

"So he was standing there, like a knight in shining armor—"

IV.

It was simple to waltz out of the prison. It was late at night, so there was minimal manning and the guards were busy nodding off. Killing those guards was simple with the energy he had stored up over the years. Even though there was supposed to be no sound in his area, he was able to absorb even the smallest of sounds. When Forge built the prison, he didn't realize that the walls absorbing the sound actually created sound, from the wave hitting the wall before it was absorbed. So in a sense, he was indirectly absorbing sound.

He had to be careful not to let it escape though. He continued to hold it inside until the janitor came along, who took him over his threshold of power absorption.

Soundwave now stood inside of the department store. All he needed was a Discman and a few CD's.

"Excuse me, sir?" a sales assistant stood within a few feet of him. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Soundwave turned his head slowly toward the woman, with a look of hatred in his eyes. He didn't know why, but he wanted to hurt this woman. She couldn't have been more than twenty, with fair skin and dark blue eyes. She was thin, too thin for his tastes, but dressed nicely just the same. There was something about her…maybe it was her light, high-pitched voice that set him off, but regardless of the reason, he wanted her dead.

"I need a Discman and I need these CD's," he brought them to her face slowly, until they were a few inches from her face.

She stepped back, suddenly weary of the strange man that stood before her.

Lisa caught herself though as and regained her composure. She had seen strange customers before, and this man was no different. Then she thought about it…there was something different about him. It was strange, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before, but she couldn't place him. She dismissed that though, she didn't even drive through any rough parts of the outskirts of the city, and she didn't keep company with strange looking people.

Lisa decided that she was being overly paranoid and proceeded to help by saying, "Well, the Discmans are over in the other aisle. I can show you where they are—"

He grinned sadistically. "That would be nice…" he looked at her nametag, "Lisa."

About two minutes later, Soundwave walked out of the dead end aisle, where every radio was blaring loudly. The broken body of Lisa lay crumpled on the floor, clearly lifeless.

"What the hell is all that noise?" Caleb asked.

"It's coming from the stereo section—probably some damn kids playing around," the older man, Harold cursed. He put down the notebook he had and stormed around the corner. He immediately saw Soundwave standing there bobbing his head.

"Are you the one responsible for all this?" Harold glared at the man, but then shifted his eyes behind him. His face paled and his eyes grew wide at the horrible sight of Lisa's mangled body. He glanced back toward Soundwave, with a horrified look. He began to turn to run, but Soundwave grabbed him roughly by the throat.

A woman saw the scene and screamed. Soundwave let pure energy fly from his hand and it hit the woman directly in the midsection, killing her instantly. More screams rang out and people began to scramble for the doors.

"I love it!" Soundwave said to the man he held as he threw him down the aisle. He flew through the air and splattered into the wall.

Soundwave then extended his hands in all directions and let sound waves reverberate from his hands. He was able to identify the natural frequency of the building and let the waves strike the walls until they began to crumble.

The customers were not fast enough to make it to the door as the building crumbled on top of them.

After only a few seconds, Soundwave stood in the middle of a pile of rubble, the only survivor of his attack.

He began to laugh, feeling the excitement of killing building up.