Zane appeared in the Science Lab. His feet glowed purple as he floated up above Soundwave. Zane swept a hand over Soundwave's body, starting with his visor and ending at his pedes. Soundwave glowed a deep purple as Zane's power altered him. After a few minutes, Soundwave jumped off of the table and took aim at Zane, who couldn't help but laugh as Soundwave paused. Soundwave started inspecting himself to see the changes. The glowing parts that were once purple were now a blood red. The rest was a midnight black. Where the the Decepticon insignia, long torn off by Roulette, used to lay was now smooth plating. Soundwave continued looking over himself, but couldn't see any other changes. He then spoke in that computerized voice.
"Query: status: released; why."
Zane smirked at that, before answering in a sing-song voice.
"I dunno. Maybe it has to do with why you joined the Decepticon scum. What would Cipher think about that?"
"Query: knowledge of Cipher: unlikely. Know: how." Soundwave said after a faint jerk. Zane smiled and shrugged.
"I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I went through your processor. Here's a tip, upgrade your firewalls. Hacking them was easier than stealing candy from a baby."
Soundwave leapt forward, jabbing his gun into Zane's chest. The exact moment he did that, Zane was all business. The smile was replaced by a blank look, head cocked ever so slightly. He looked down at the gun and looked back up when Soundwave spoke again.
"Soundwave: patient. Patience: waning. Consequences: dire. Recommendation: explain."
Zane smiled a smile that would cause goosebumps, if Soundwave could get goosebumps. His next statement was said with a faint condescending tone.
"You swore an Oath of Silence. That means that the Unmaker can punish you. Currently, I am the voice of Unicron. I am the one that doles out his unrighteous vengeance. Though, after what I did to you by showing you those memories, you probably want to kill me, destroy my base and deactivate everything I have made. Well, too bad. I have already punished you enough, as I have made you experience the last moments of so many mech's and femme's lives. Don't you see, you have tortured so many. For what? This war was once for the freedom of the lower class to be able to move up in your world. Over time, Megatron showed his true self, a mech that was rotten to the core, one who only wants power, who thrives in war. Tell me, what do you think?"
Soundwave lowered his blaster and seemed to stare intently at Zane. After a moment of silence, Soundwave spoke.
"Human: contains Dark Energon. Query: impossible, cause."
"Really," said Zane, as if disappointed. "That's what you ask. Not 'How is Zane in charge of a legion of Transformers?' I must admit, I am rather disappointed with you. The whole leadership thing would be so much funnier for them to hear your reactions to. But, if you really want to know, you must guess. What is the opposite of the Matrix of Leadership? What is thought to be the Spark of Unicron Himself? What gives the user power over the Universe?"
"Statement: impossible. Dark Spark: Shot into space far from Earth coordinates. Truth: requested; suggested."
"Really, Soundwave, really? After everything that has happened: Unicron has awoken; Megatron met him; Primus is at the center of you planet; and of course the fact that our two planets are forever linked. One would be surprised what they could do working together. Primus and Unicron, I mean. Course, I know... You know what? This is taking too long. How about I do this?"
Zane flew forward with his arm outstretched in front of him. A purple crystal formed in his hand that was pushed into Soundwave's chestplates. The last thing Soundwave saw was Zane smiling viciously, surrounded by a purple aura.
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Soundwave opened his optics to see a ruined city all around. There were huge buildings standing high up, each level large enough so that a mech twice his height could easily stand up. Each building, however, had various levels of destruction, some were merely rubble.
All of a sudden, many other Cybertronians appeared throughout the city and started fighting. They all were scarred in some way, and many were missing body parts, from pedes to optics, some even lacking heads. They were almost feral, with no intelligence in their optics. They fought savagely, tearing each other to bits. Finally, there was none left, their parts were strewn throughout the whole of the city. Soundwave tried scanned everywhere, but nothing, literally nothing, turned up.
The Energon plastered on the body parts, however, started to glow a bright purple, and the pieces started to shake. They then started assembling into new Transformers that continued to fight each other. As all of this was going on, Soundwave was trying to hide and avoid them all. He ended up trapped in a corner, and a few fighting ferals went in right after. A large black one, holes blasted through the armor, picked up a blue and pink colored femme and threw it right into Soundwave.
The femme went right through him and hit a wall, got up, then rushed forward to attack the rest of the ferals. Right before he tried transforming to leave, a loud, booming voice called out, and with it the ferals disappeared.
"HELLO, SOUNDWAVE. DID YOU LIKE THE VISION? THEY'RE SOME OF THE LEFTOVER AUTOBOTS AND DECEPTICONS IN THE CITY OF IACON. A LARGE CHUNK OF MY DARK ENERGON LANDED IN THE CENTER OF THAT CITY, AND HAS ATTRACTED THE TERRORCONS THAT MEGATRON CREATED. THOSE WHO HID IN THAT CITY HAVE LONG SINCE PERISHED AT THE HANDS OF THESE TWISTED ABOMINATIONS. THEY FIGHT WITHOUT MORALS, WITHOUT THOUGHT. THEY HAVE A SINGLE GOAL: DESTROY.
I THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT YOUR LEADER HAS CREATED: MONSTERS, UNABLE TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES. HE HAS DESECRATED THE DEAD, HAS KILLED SO MANY. HE DESTROYED THE YOUNGLING SECTORS, AND YET YOU STILL FOLLOW HIM. WHY?"
Soundwave scanned all around himself again, almost frantically. Yet again, there was absolutely nothing. But he knew there must be something, as something was talking to him.
"Query: identity. Punishment for not disclosing: severe." To prove his point, Soundwave activated his cannon. A booming laugh echoed throughout the landscape, seeming to shake the very ground. Soundwave started shooting randomly, not hitting anything other than empty space. Giving up, Soundwave was about to interrogate the disembodied voice, but was wracked with unimaginable pain and fell to his knees.
"WHOOPS, SORRY. GUESS YOU AREN'T USE TO THE PAIN I CAN INFLICT. SORRY." The condescending voice was full of malice on the last word. Soundwave shakily got up, but was hit with the same pain, causing him to fall flat on the ground.
"WOW, THIS IS JUST NOT YOUR DAY. HUH. WELL, MAYBE THIS WOULD STOP IF YOU ANSWERED MY QUESTION."
Soundwave was unable to do anything, not even speak. A presence was felt in his mind, but for some reason, regardless of what he tried, the presence was unable to be slowed down. It went through his processor, examining the multitude of memories Soundwave had made. After a long pause, it felt as if a reset button was pushed and Soundwave blacked out.
Zane floated above the still form of Soundwave, waiting for Unicron to get what they needed. An eternity later, Unicron finished.
"ZANE, MY PRODIGY, I HAVE GONE THROUGH THE MIND OF THIS DECEPTICON, AND HAVE COME TO A SINGLE CONCLUSION."
"What?" Asked Zane, all but pleading. Unicron drew out his silence, wanting to torture Zane a little. Zane started to narrow his eyes, twitching slightly. After too long, Unicron spoke, slowly and almost mockingly.
"NOTHING MUCH. SAY, DID YOU KNOW I FOUND THE REMNANTS OF A VIRUS IN HIS PROCESSOR? I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT MUCH OF IT'S ORIGINAL GOAL, SO I DELETED IT FOR YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. "
"Do you at least know at least a little of what it has done?" Zane asked, starting to run different scenarios through his head. Unicron had the audacity to chuckle, and answered, interrupting Zane's train of thought.
"IT MODIFIED HIS BEHAVIOR, AND DID SOMETHING TO HIS PERSONALITY. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, IT HAD TO BE NEAR SOMETHING TO CONTINUE WORKING. THERE WAS ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT A PASS CODE THAT WOULD DO THE SAME. I WAS UNABLE TO GET MUCH ELSE FROM IT, AS THERE WERE ONLY FRAGMENTS REMAINING."
"Unicron, you know code?!" Zane asked incredulously.
"YES I DO, THANKS SO MUCH FOR BELIEVING IN ME."
"You're welcome!" Zane said, beaming. There was a brief silence, before Unicron snarled and continued speaking.
"FRAG YOU, LITTLE GLITCH. MAYBE YOU DON'T WANT MY THEORY OF WHAT IT WAS FOR."
"Of course I do!" Zane's smile was sweet enough to give cavities.
"WELL, CONSIDERING THAT UPON COMPLETE REMOVAL OF THE VIRUS SOUNDWAVE RESET, I BELIEVE IT HAD BEEN INSTALLED FOR A VERY LONG TIME. PERHAPS SINCE JUST BEFORE THE WAR STARTED. NOW, WHAT DO YOU THINK MAY HAVE HAPPENED?"
"It is entirely possible that it may have affected his decisions... make him do something he didn't want to do... he may not even have done anything he has willingly..." Zane trailed off, realization dawning upon his face.
"Unicron, there's more going on than I thought I knew."
"I AM UNABLE TO HELP YOU LEARN WHAT IT IS. IN THIS UNIVERSE, I HAVE BEEN ASLEEP FOR FAR TOO LONG. IN MY FEW WAKING MOMENTS, I HAVE BEEN TOO WEAK TO SEE BEYOND THIS SOLAR SYSTEM. YOU CANNOT KNOW WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT, UNLIKE PRIMUS, I CAN ONLY EXIST IN ONE UNIVERSE AT A TIME."
"Oh, you poor little thing!" Zane said in a childish tone. "Thankfully, I have plenty of ways to make you feel big and strong. However, first, do you have access to vast amounts of Dark Energon? About a planet full?"
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Hey, sorry for the long wait. Life has been a dog. A female dog. Anyway, I had lost a friend. So please, if anyone out there ever feels like they cannot stand to live anymore, please just get help. There are people who will listen to you, who can help you. I beg of you, don't take your own life. It doesn't solve any problems, it just causes more. Please, seek help.