Transmute

Chapter Five: Ripped Apart

"Once upon a time, is how stories begin..."

- N'Zuri Za Austin

~~~~~~~~~~

Before he knew it, Rafael was back on a berth. It wasn't the same berth as before, nor was it the same room. He couldn't look around beyond his line of sight, however. For some unknown reason, Shockwave had decided to restrain him using what had to be Energon cuffs. Tiny Energon cuffs.

He saw the scientist standing at a set of monitors. If he turned his head all the way to the right, he could somewhat decipher what was on those monitors.

They were long and complex calculations. Numbers mixed in with Cybertronian glyphs. It was one unintelligible mess of strung together characters to which he couldn't work out the purpose. So that didn't help.

The door slid open with a hiss. Megatron stepped into the room, tall and authorial. He ignored the tiny human altogether and turned to Shockwave. "Is everything ready to commence the next phase?" he inquired.

"Knockout is setting up his neuron refractor at this moment. Once he returns, we can begin," Shockwave answered, briefly looking away from the monitors to face his lord.

"Excellent. Proceed at your discretion. There are some... things that I have to deal with."

A terrible shake rattled the entire ship as Megatron said that. The warlord looked towards the door, groaning. "I wonder why I bother having Starscream in charge of the Predacon," he sighed.

He left as swiftly as he came, plunging the room into another silence. Raf began to tug on his restraints, his anxiety rising with every passing minute. No matter what the Cons had planned for him, he didn't actually want to stick around and find out.

The cuffs burned into his skin, leaving a painful mark. Despite the hurt, the boy kept trying. He had to get out of here before Knockout returned with whatever a neuron refractor was supposed to be.

Shockwave didn't look up from his work but addressed Rafael regardless. "Attempting to escape is futile. The only result will be damage to your body. Cease your illogical behavior."

Raf tugged on the cuffs one last time before he gave up. He was stuck here. Stuck with Shockwave and whatever experiment he wanted to conduct.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. Knockout entered the room, Vehicons in tow. The drones were carrying a machine. Must be the neuron refractor.

"Knockout, is your neuron refractor ready?"

Shockwave's voice filled the room, filling Raf's head as well. It scared the boy beyond belief. He began to struggle again, tugging on the restraints in a panic.

Knockout glanced at the young human boy, a sly smirk ever-present on his faceplate.

"Locked and loaded, sir."

The Vehicons put the machine out of sight for Rafael, on the other side of the room. Shockwave walked over to a set of monitors on that side of the room. He could tell by the clicking of digits on keys.

Which only left the Decepticon CMO.

The medic wandered over to where Rafael was stuck on the berth. He smirked a little, though it faltered soon after. "Lay still fleshie, you'll only make it hurt more like this."

Raf stiffened up, eyes wide in terror. His heart pounded in his chest, which wasn't a pleasant feeling for him either.

Knockout sighed and leaned over the berth. "Just close your eyes. It'll be over soon enough," he said, keeping his voice low so that Shockwave wouldn't hear him.