So…this prank. Pretty standard, but I had fun writing it. This one is more Blaster and Soundwave centric towards the end, but I needed to get Skyfire and Starscream to establish themselves more in this story, because before now, they've been bitchy to my muse.
A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I love you all and all your encouragements. And those who wished me luck on my mid-semester exam. I'm going to get over 170 reviews! I'm so stoked! *happy dance*
Warnings: Would you believe me if I said there were none? I don't own transformers.
Turning Point – Chapter 15
"PIT-SPAWNED, CURSED, DAMNABLE TWINS!"
The yell was so thunderous, so furious, that all residents of the Ark that had been in a peaceful recharge woke instantly, looking around blearily.
The same was true for Blaster, optics cracking open at the shout and sitting up, trying to pinpoint the owner of that voice as he climbed out of his berth. Yawning as his cassettes popped out of his chest compartment, he heard footsteps head toward him so he opened his door to reveal a cross and harried looking Soundwave.
"The twins were not in their berths," the visored mech said tightly, turning and heading out of their quarters.
"Ya think they-"
"I don't know what to think," Soundwave cut off, caught between anger at Rumble and Frenzy and fear for them. What had they done to warrant such a yell? If they had pulled a prank, he would gladly hand them over to Prime or Prowl to deal with.
"It didn't sound like Ratchet. He's usually more colourful when he swears," commented Blaster idly, quickening his pace to keep up with his worried friend.
Soundwave made a noncommittal sound and turned another corner, stopping stock still at the place where many other Autobots had congregated.
Glued to the ceiling with what looked to be blue-drying superglue and held with masking tape, were Cliffjumper and Gears. Cliffjumper had been painted a lurid shade of green decorated with little yellow and pink hearts while Gears had been painted all grey, a grey human bucket glued to his helm. Across it was written in a stylish script 'Queen bitch-face.' To add insult to both minibots, sloppily painted Decepticon symbols were displayed on their chestplates. Both minibots were cursing and snarling, undecipherable because of the sheer venom in their tones.
Optimus Prime finally came up, the mechs quieting as he arrived.
"Who did this?" the great blue and red mech asked quietly.
Growling, Cliffjumper spat, "The twins! Both sets!"
"You mean Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Rumble and Frenzy?" Optimus asked to clarify. At firm nods from the minibots, Optimus immediately broadcast a comm. and said, "Both twins, if you come forward now, both sets of punishments will be reduced slightly."
It was still silent as most mechs gawked and some held their hands to their mouths to keep from sniggering at the bound and helpless minibots.
A small voice piped up, "So Prime, what kinda punishment?"
Optimus looked towards the sound and saw both sets of twins sauntering – for there was no other word for it – down the hall toward them. He was glad he had a battle mask. It hid his smirk. He had truthfully expected something like this sooner or later, and could only be glad that they had started with something not too dangerous. This was usually par for the course with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.
Before he pronounced punishment, he took the time to look at his resident telepath and ask, "Soundwave, do you object to any punishment I will give?"
"Negative," replied Soundwave.
Looking back to the smirking, guilty faces of both twins, he pronounced, "Sideswipe and Frenzy, you will both work together to clean out the brig, while Sunstreaker and Rumble must strip the paint off Gears and Cliffjumper and repaint them in their usual colours. After that, both sets of twins will also refrain from any more pranking for at least two weeks. If you do, then you will also have to polish the exterior of the Ark."
The look on the four mechs faces told him that they weren't going to prank due to the threat. The exterior was quite large and would be incredibly time consuming.
"You got it sir," Sideswipe replied, although the cheeky glint in his optics remained as he saluted his commander.
"Dismissed everybody then," announced Optimus, looking around at all the Autobots.
He wasn't surprised when Soundwave came up to him and motioned for them to talk. He nodded and followed his newest comm. officer. Soundwave led him outside the Ark and stopped, regarding him in silence.
"Is the punishment to your liking?" Optimus asked quietly, letting the other mech have the permission to be open.
"Yes," replied Soundwave, retracting his mask, "it is not that which concerns me."
Inclining his helm, the Autobot leader mentioned for the telepath to go on.
Soundwave chose his words carefully and said, "I am concerned about the retaliation. Once both minibots are free once more, there is no guarantee that they will not attack my creations. My creations are competent on their own with another opponent. But not if it is a gang attack. To be truthful I am troubled that such attacks may have larger force than necessary and damage my cassettes."
Again, Optimus was glad for his own mask. It hid the soft expression on his features. The mech in front of him may have been an enemy, but it was so uplifting to his spark to see that he had managed to slip into a routine here on the Ark and even feel comfortable enough to come to him with his concerns. It showed the development at just how well Soundwave and his family were adjusting and healing. It held hope for the future of Cybertron. "If any such attacks do occur, rest assured that the offenders will be punished accordingly. But I doubt they will get in range of your creations."
The blue mech tilted his helm and asked, "Why do you say that sir?"
Chuckling, Optimus replied, "They have their own protectors now. I'm sure that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker will be protective enough to hold back any attacks on your own twins, and I know that the Seekers, Blaster, Prowl, Jazz, and myself will look out for any dissent. You are an Autobot now. You are one of my own soldiers and I care for each and every precious spark."
The taller mech was gratified by a small, slow smile on Soundwave's face.
"I used to think you were soft for thinking that. That such a trait in a leader would not give purpose to any cause. I am glad for being proven wrong…it keeps your faction banded together." There was a note of wonder in the telepath's voice as he said the words, expression open and honest.
"That it does, Soundwave, that it does."
"Starscream, you've been in here ever since your operation."
"And?"
"Do you remember what fresh air even feels like? I know you're probably going stir-crazy from not flying for that amount of time."
"If you feel like living Skyfire, shut up."
Huffing in exasperation – although not entirely displeased that Starscream was acting like his usual snarky self – the shuttle retorted, "By Primus Starscream, is this about your voice? It's nothing to be embarrassed about! It's no longer as high or as raspy, and it actually more pleasant than your previous voice, like it was in our Science Academy days."
Snarling, wings twitching irritably, the Seeker said, "Pardon me if I don't feel like being teased for it. Pardon me for just wanting to focus on being me again. Science keeps me grounded, you glitch of a friend, don't you see that?"
Ignoring the insult and letting it roll off him, Skyfire pleaded, "Please, just come to the rec-room for energon and then a flight. I'm glad you seem to be getting better, but you hold everything in."
"No I don't."
"Well…true, you were pretty vocal about your takeover bids and distain for a certain someone," commented Skyfire, watching as the other flier's gaze snapped to his own. After a moment, Starscream smirked, making a noise of amusement and saying, "Maybe that is correct."
Skyfire smiled and stood, watching as he could see his friend's processor ticked over, looking at the pros and cons of leaving the lab.
He was only glad that Starscream had transitioned back mostly to his normal self. Looking back on the days that Starscream first came to base, they were both overly clingy and melodramatic. In many ways, Starscream deserved to have such a reaction – abuse was no laughing matter and could change people – but he had only exacerbated it. Shaking his helm to rid himself of the thoughts, he walked to Starscream and placed a gentle hand on a shoulder vent.
"You need the fresh air. Let's go for a flight, hmm?"
Sighing, Starscream turned and snapped, "Fine, I'll go out, but if I hear one tease or insult I'll…I'll…"
"What?" Skyfire goaded teasingly.
Pursing his lips, the tricolour jet said, "Make you make me energon goodies. If I hear one insolent murmur, then you are making me goodies, and I want to eat them all."
Their optics locked in a stalemate before Starscream smirked, Skyfire smiled, and both began to chuckle.
"What if I burn them?"
Starscream rolled his optics. It was good to know that, no matter the year, Skyfire could always manage to be a pure goofy scientist when he wanted to be.
Blaster grinned and jumped on his couch next to Soundwave, asking, "So…we got the rest of the day off, the party is in a week, the twins are away, and everyone else is out and about. Anything you wanna do? Go out, wander around the Ark, anything? The time is ours! Or rather, yours if ya want to do something by yourself, it's cool with me."
Looking up from his journal datapad – Smokescreen had made is a requirement after their first session – the visored mech looked to his friend and asked tentatively, "I would like to go to the national park. To think. I've heard it is…quite enchanting."
Blaster had to ignore the way Soundwave said 'enchanting.' The tone was so wistful and soft he thought he would leap on the other mech and cuddle him. Restraining his impulse, he nodded in agreement. "Sure thing. You want me to come with ya?"
"Yes, please. I wouldn't have it any other way," replied Soundwave, letting his mouth tilt in a little smile, taking Blaster's hand and tugging him up .
"And I think I know just the mech who's willing to give a tape deck and a boom box a ride," said the red mech, taking the lead and going out of their quarters.
Fifteen minutes later, after a willing Hound had transported them to his favourite spot, Blaster and Soundwave found themselves sitting at the edge of a river surrounded by trees and other flora, a waterfall not too far away feeding the water to the bubbling river at their pedes. It felt like they were in their own little world, so encased they were by the dense foliage of the surrounds. Blaster stepped down the bank a bit, finding a nice large, flat rock to sit on, lying back on it and merely looking serenely up at the sky, relaxing.
Not content to sit still, wanting to explore for a few minutes, Soundwave picked his way down the bank, more towards the waterfall. His progress was slow as he stopped to observe the state of nature around him. The tranquillity that was a balm to the restlessness he could feel sometimes in his spark. His fingers were careful with the delicate plants he could so easily crush, the life pulsing in every cell – it boggled his processor as to why he had been so blind to the small things like this in life. Appreciation, true and genuine, came out in each action. Making his way to the base of the waterfall, Soundwave let the mist fall over his visor as he stared up towards the top. If he had been as tall as Skyfire, his helm would have been level with the top of it. The waterfall was such a rare find. It was entrancing…beautiful.
For the first time in a long time he was inspired to write a lullaby.
Making his way back to Blaster's rock, he sat down quietly next to him and retrieved his journal datapad, lyrics filling his mind as inspiration flowed through him, present in the nature.
Blaster didn't talk or look over what he was doing, letting him have his space, and listening to music on internal speakers.
Finishing his frantic typing, the blue mech took a moment to look over the words, making some adjustments and tweaks, before nodding, satisfied. A flash of colour in the corner of his visor made him look up. Blaster was now sitting up.
"Song-writing?" Blaster asked, leaning forward, completely comfortable.
"How did you know?"
Those blue optics seemed to smile as Blaster replied, "You would always write our lyrics like that back on Cybertron. It took over your mind so much. Heck, sometimes you would even ignore your energon if a wording of a phrase or rhyme wasn't right and you would spend time getting it right."
"Well, it was refreshing. I haven't written lyrics in so long," murmured the telepath, becoming comfortable in this peaceful place, showing all that was right with this world.
"You know what else is refreshing?" asked the boom box playfully, waggling his optic ridges for comic effect.
"Mmm?" the tape deck smirked back.
"Jumping in the river. It's just deep enough so it'll just cover us, and current doesn't look that strong today. And it's so nice."
"You just want the opportunity to…what is the term? 'Dunk' me," muttered Soundwave flatly, but his visor shone with his own playful glint. He was rarely playful, but he was now.
He was going to blame the peaceful surroundings on it later.
Blaster laughed, throwing his helm back as he did. "Ya got me! Now, let's enjoy the peace while we got it. Later, you can bring your creations here. I'm sure they'll love it as much as mine do."
They both slipped into the water, Blaster showing Soundwave how to lean on the bank so that they weren't completely covered, before he treaded water and scooped a handful of water up, dumping it on his friend. The telepath looked so utterly confused that he explained that it was a game. You splash the other in an attempt to 'win.'
The face full of water he copped from Soundwave swinging his arm through the water made him splutter.
"Like that?" he heard Soundwave ask. There was no mistaking the hint of play.
"Oh it's war," he promised, pushing his palms forward, a burst of water just missing the navy mech as he moved to the side.
Soon they were playing like younglings, splashing each other however they could. Blaster even gathered some in his mouth and squirted it through his denta at Soundwave, who made a grunting noise, nasal ridge screwing up in an adorable expression that Blaster had to giggle at. It earned him another dousing of water as his friend paddled his hands to make the water froth and slop everywhere. They were laughing as they continued.
Soundwave didn't know how long they were tangled in their childish game before they hauled themselves back onto the riverbank, still chuckling. He couldn't remember a time that he had laughed or smiled so much.
It was like all his troubles had become meaningless and had been cleansed from him in this river of fun.
"Whoo! I almost think you beat me 'Wave," chuckled Blaster, flopping lethargically, water running in rivulets off his frame.
"No doubt, I did. After all…Soundwave is superior," replied Soundwave, mimicking his own monotone, making the red mech snort with fresh giggles.
"Main machine, you are priceless."
Soundwave made a noise of satisfaction, laying beside his friend, leftover water slowly dried by the sun streaming like golden beams through the trees. They said nothing for a while, merely enjoying each other's company. The telepath could feel his own contentment as well as Blaster's, and felt so comfortable. Comfortable enough to open up. To speak about how he felt.
"I am glad. Before this I was feeling…discontent. Perhaps…anger," Soundwave murmured, shifting to turn his helm. Blaster did to so that they were visor to optic.
"Anger?" inquired the boom box.
"At…Megatron. For what he did for me. Lately I've been wanting…to hurt something, but it's really him I want to hurt. To hunt. To kill so he could atone for his crimes. But I want to believe I've changed. Not to be so cold in my actions. I want justice."
"It's understandable," Blaster said quickly, "and justice will be seen. We can't rush though. If we do, he might slip through our digits. We have to end the war. Then and only then can he be held accountable." It almost pained him to say it. He would have felt the same if he had been violated too, and he felt like he was kicking a puppy with his words.
Soundwave nodded reluctantly. "I know," he murmured quietly. "Thank you Blaster, for being you. Being my friend."
Blaster's optics softened and he murmured, "Aw, it's nothing. You know that."
Visor dimming as he relaxed once more, Soundwave let his lips curve in a smile for a flicker of a moment before looking back at the sky as it began to darken as evening approached. "We must get back," he commented. He did not want to leave this place. It was peaceful. It was beautiful. It seemed to speak right to his spark. The red mech sensed this and he assured, "We'll come back in our free time. We can even camp out here as long as Prime knows."
"I'd like that."
As they stood and walked back out of the forest, Blaster took the time to appreciate his secret love. Soundwave's plating shone in the light of the setting sun, he looked relaxed, and even happy. There was a softer set to his expression and his movements were sure, confident. Such a far cry from the mech who had arrived here, bent and broken, just over three weeks ago. However, there was still more recovery to be done.
Frenzy breathed a sigh of relief as he and Sideswipe tossed their cleaning brushes into the bucket of solvent. He and his fellow prankster were finally done for the night. Something that had been niggling at him all day finally came back to the front of his processor.
"Hey Siders?"
"Yeah Zee?"
"You know how Prime said that we weren't allowed to play any more pranks for the next two weeks?"
"Yes," Sideswipe drawled in a cheeky way, smirking. He knew where this was going.
"Will we be in trouble if the stuff we set up before the punishment happens to go off?"
"Nope! And that's the best part," grinned Sideswipe, receiving a return smirk.
"Can't wait to see the look on Tracks' face when he realises we swapped out his premium wax for a mix of olive oil and clear, but black drying polish," snickered Frenzy. Sideswipe only sniggered with him. This had to be one of the best pranking partnerships of all time.
A/N: Reviews please! I told you I'd have more Blaster and Soundwave in this. You like?