A/N: Thank you my awesome faithful reviewers! In which Bumblebee and Soundwave run into trouble and attempt to work together.
Mars loomed below them.
Bumblebee had stayed quiet for the entire duration of the journey; deciding not to test the Decepticon's patience with him. Not that he knew what to say. He had killed two of the spymaster's…spawn, children, whatever they were called. Maybe more. He hadn't known at the time. But somehow he suspected the Decepticon didn't care one way or another.
They dropped to the ground, pedes kicking up small clouds of dust. Soundwave released Bumblebee, who nearly fell over, and ejected the two smaller bots from his chassis. The panther-bot snarled at Bumblebee and crouched down.
"Desist." the Decepticon ordered. Bumblebee looked ahead of them to the immense wreck of the Nemesis. It loomed like one of Cybertron's skyscrapers on this flat sphere.
Soundwave must have given the smaller Decepticons some kind of signal, because they ran or flew off and started heading toward the wreck.
Inside, the ship looked even larger. Bumblebee followed Soundwave closely, narrowly avoiding several holes in the flooring that were big enough to swallow both of them. The emergency lights flickered, bathing everything in an eerie light.
The communications console was covered with something that looked vaguely sticky. Soundwave pulled it off. It had four limbs and a head. The basic structure of…
Soundwave unceremoniously dumped it on the floor beside him. It was a hatchling, one of the most malnourished ones Bumblebee had ever seen. The Decepticon turned to look at the Scout questioningly.
"All dead?" Queen sang.
"Yes." Bumblebee eyed the dead hatchling with wary optics as if it was going to jump at him. His sensors indicated no energon had been consumed by the youngling for at least thirty joors.
"Whose?"
Soundwave was under the console, rewiring the underside, tentacles assisting by holding several pieces of panel. The screen flickered to life.
"The Fallen and Starscream's, for the majority. I spawned a few with him." Soundwave sat at the console and began keying in his access code.
"Why?"
"Orders." Bumblebee didn't particularly like Soundwave or know who 'him' was, but fathering hatchlings that were bound to die anyway because of orders seemed perverted in the worst way.
Soundwave sighed and leaned back into his seat as the console began beeping rapidly. Warning signs flashed on the screen.
"Why do you want to kill me?" Batman's voice asked.
Soundwave hit the console and the beeping stopped. Bumblebee wasn't sure if it was Soundwave's way of coping with being ordered not to kill his children's killer or his way of fixing the console.
Then images began to hit Bumblebee's processor. Suddenly he was shorter than Sam and could see himself fighting Barricade off in the distance. Then he saw Sam's then-girlfriend with a chainsaw and felt nothing until it hit. His tanks threatened to purge at the pain he felt, both in his spark and in his body, so much so that when the end really came, decapitation didn't hurt at all.
Egypt. Sand. Himself, again. He was vaguely aware that Soundwave had stood up. He – Ravage – leapt at him, fighting for a few seconds before his spinal cords were ripped out and –
Then he saw himself, Sam and Carly escaping Dylan's penthouse. He saw the barrel of a gun swinging to meet hit helm and –
Bumblebee found himself sitting in Soundwave's chair. The Decepticon seemed to be communicating with someone, standing near the entrance of the Nemesis. His entire body ached with both real and imaginary pains.
"So…sorry." he wheezed, allowing his 'real' voice to be used.
The Decepticon looked at him impassively, then nodded. Bumblebee knew that was all the acceptance he was going to get from the Decepticon for now.
Soundwave listened. Past the Autobot's contemplation of his creation's deaths, past Ravage and Laserbeak's views of the exterior of the Nemesis and into the rest of the planet. Something was wrong. About two kliks away and approaching quickly. He began to open his vocaliser to tell the Autobot to prepare for some kind of conflict but-
Then it came to him with the force of acid rain on protoform. Her mind opened to his, speaking to him with a viciousness that might put Megatron to shame.
'Hello Soundwave. Do you mind if I join you and your Autobot friend?' Blackarachnia asked cheerfully.
"We are not alone." Soundwave abruptly said aloud. 'Ravage, Laserbeak, inside.'
"Who?" The Autobot asked just as the console's screen dissolved into static.
Laserbeak flew in to land on Soundwave's shoulder.
"Explain." Soundwave said, turning to try and reset the communication console.
Laserbeak obediently flew to an overhang just above Bumblebee's helm. The Scout stepped back to get a better view of the Decepticon.
"Blackarachnia one of Starscream's many failed experiments to create a technorganic soldier that wouldn't get compromised by the elements as machines would, but would have the firepower and stamina of one of us. Unfortunately, she went insane during the tests and escaped nearly a thousand human years ago." Laserbeak paused, inclining his helm as if he heard something far away. The he shook his helm, dismissing it. "She's been hunting Starscream ever since."
"Exactly how – dangerous?"
"Extremely. Did you know getting your helm ripped off really hurts?" Laserbeak mocked, extending his neck to look into Bumblebee's optics. Laserbeak lightly leapt off of the overhang and hovered at his chassis level. "Hurts like the-"
A shot knocking the spy into the Autobot's chassis, sending them both crashing into a hole in the main deck floor.
Soundwave jerked around. Ravage was at his pedes, rockets primed to fire as soon as she came into his sights. He hadn't heard anything, sensed anything. She was getting stronger.
'What a cute little Autobot. Are you planning on making him one of yours?' her voice echoed in his mind. He couldn't tell where she was. 'Your birdies and kitties aren't good enough?'
Ravage snarled, pacing the floor furiously. Soundwave heard a crash below him. He could hear Laserbeak and Bumblebee trying to get out, if their cursing was anything to go by.
'Where?' he asked Ravage mentally. The panther-bot shook his head, expressing his confusion. 'Everywhere. But nowhere.'
'Have you already died once this stellar cycle Soundwave?' she asked. 'I died too. So many times, before I chose to live. So I left that lab, Starscream to KILL him! And you too, if you insist in getting in my way.'
'Above you!' Ravage shouted, just as Blackarachnia jumped onto Soundwave's back. The spymaster nearly fell over, tasting energon in his mouth. He slammed his back into the wall, partially crumpling the flimsy plastisteel, but Blackarachnia held tight. He felt a short burst of pain as she shoved one of her hands in between his armor and ripped the sensitive wiring in his neck, but she would do much worse if she didn't get off now.
'Stand still, I can't get a shot out!' Soundwave forced himself to stop moving, keeping his back exposed to Ravage.
Abruptly, the communications console somehow flickered to life. Megatron and Optimus Prime looked into the screen, surprised at the lack of anyone on the other side of the screen.
Ravage fired, but Blackarachnia was too quick. She back flipped to cling to Soundwave's front as the missile hit Soundwave.
"What's going on?" Megatron demanded. Soundwave tried to pull off the femme, but actually saw her for the first time.
Somehow she had grown appendages like an earth spider. That was why she couldn't be pulled off. Soundwave jerked as an electric shock went through him, seizing his body up and sending warning messages through his systems. Where had she learned to do that?
"I hate you all." She hissed, pinning him to the floor. "Kill you all. Made me into…this." She gestured to herself with two legs.
"Megatron!" Soundwave shouted, hoping that his leader would recognize something was wrong and send someone. Even though he would be dead – again – before anyone could arrive. He couldn't even reach his weapon; he had subspaced it upon landing. And it barely had a charge, just enough for one or two shots…
Two of Ravage's missiles finally hit their target, sending Blackarachnia flying into a corner. Soundwave took out his gun and aimed.
And fired.
She twitched once, then was still.
"What the Pit is going on?" Megatron demanded.
"Apologies. Blackarachnia is here, sir. Looking for Starscream." She staggered up, just as his weapon died. Soundwave tossed it away.
"What?"
"Who?" Prime asked. The image dissolved into static.
Blackarachnia leapt across the console, taking Soundwave with her just as Bumblebee and Laserbeak finally climbed out of the hole.
"Assistance required!" Laserbeak screeched at the screen, wings sparking as he tried to fly.
Soundwave and Blackarachnia wrestled to the ground. More warnings flashed. He could actually feel the energon leaving his body as she cut him a hundred times with those legs of hers. Ravage fired again, hitting both of them.
"Defenses!" Soundwave shouted as Ravage jumped on top of Blackarachnia, biting down on her arm. In return, her own organic mouth clamped down on the new wound in his neck and he felt something enter his systems, burning through his circuitry. Was it some kind of toxin? His vision began to turn grey.
"Activate the interior defenses." Laserbeak said to Bumblebee, who placed him on the console. "They'll take out anything that isn't a Decepticon on this level."
"What about me?"
Laserbeak inclined his head to the hole.
Bumblebee sighed and began activating the codes. Electric crackling filled the air. A single red bolt shot toward Blackarachnia and hit her in the back. She slumped on top of Soundwave.
"Go!" Laserbeak shouted at Bumblebee, who leapt back into the hole with no hesitation.
Soundwave managed to shove Blackarachnia off of himself and stagger upright. Ravage leaned against him, supporting his creator as best he could.
"Status?" Soundwave fell to his knees. Ravage whined (or growled more softly than usual) at his side, but couldn't offer any assistance.
"I think she somehow knocked out the exterior communications antennae." Laserbeak was watching the static-filled screen and tapped his talons against it.
"Transform and divert the power from the defenses into communications." Soundwave felt his systems begin to power off. At least it was only stasis this time. "Contact Earth and request assistance."
Then Soundwave felt no more.
Laserbeak and Ravage felt their creator shift into stasis to begin repairs. With more than a few curses thanks to his smashed wing, Laserbeak managed to transform into his alternate form and began to disable the defenses.
"Autobot?"
"Yes?"
"Come up." almost as an afterthought, Laserbeak checked his own power levels. He would last for fifty more cycles. Not nearly long enough for reinforcements to get here. That would take nearly three human days. Laserbeak would last for fifty human minutes.
The screen turned back to the Autobot headquarters. Only one Autobot was on duty.
"Autobot." What were they going to do if she woke up again?
"Reinforcements are on their way," the red Autobot said quickly. "Tell 'bee to hang in there."
"Understood." The transmission shut off, thanks to the red Autobot on the other side.
Laserbeak shared a glance with Ravage. The other spy waved his spiked tail but offered no condolences to his sibling for the rudeness of some Autobots.
Laserbeak sighed.
-Does this constitute as a cliffhanger? Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! As always, please review; suggestions are appreciated.