Max awoke to the sound of pure silence, something that by this point in her life she had already grown accustomed to. Instinctively, Max reached to her ears.
Anxiety pierced through her veins when she noticed how... she wasn't wearing... them
A feeling which was slowly increasing as Max turned around and over, trying to locate where they were.
Where were they? where?
Max tried to jog her memory, what happened? What did she do with them? her hearing aids?
Think....
Think.....
Thi-
What felt like a brick to the head hit Max, jumpstarting her brain and shooting her with the memories from yesterday.
Soundwave... Soundwave went out... then... that... mech...
Max flinched when the black and red mech came into her head again, the memory of how he had dragged her out from under the berth, along with the other cassettes.
Max snapped out of that memory when something in the shadows shifted, was that him?
Max was about to shriek until the figure revealed himself...
Soundwave...
Max let out a breath and took a glance around the room, it was Soundwaves room... he must have brought her back from...
That thought was cut short as Max jumped down from the berth, her mouth was opening and closing. She wasn't sure if she was actually making any sound but just hoped that she was.
She went up to Soundwave, attempting to ask him about her hearing aids when the blue mech crouched down to her level and fidgeted with her ears. Max instinctively flinched away from Soundwaves touch. His hands, or servos rather, were cold to the touch and that feeling against her ears? It made her squeamish...
Max didn't like the idea of really anyone touching her ears...
Soundwave, looked at her for a moment, before giving her something...
Her hearing aids!
Max took them and placed them into her ears properly, turning them on and she was able to hear clearly again...
"Soundwave?" Max spoke.
"Are they working?'' Max was taken back by the noise, it was almost as if everything was more loud...
Or rather, more clear...
"My apologies, your device was broken" Soundwave spoke.
"Th... thank you..." Max wasn't too sure on how to feel, one Soundwave had taken her hearing aids...
during her sleep...
Without her noticing....
Part of her felt... invaded... like her boundaries were just completely... shattered....
On the other hand... he did fix her hearing aids, now at least she could hear properly again.. Albeit, at a slightly louder volume than she was used to.
Soundwave's voice seemed to.. Fuzz? Like he was clearing his throat, somehow...
"Max, I'm sorry about the... events of yesterday.." Soundwave bent down on one knee, reaching Maxwell's height. "The bot who had come was Soundblaster, hes.. Typically harmless and often comes to see the cassettes..." Soundwave sighed, his head tilted away from Max as if he was going to tell her something...
Very...difficult...
"He has agreed to keep quiet about your.. Intrusion..'' Max let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, sadly however it didn't seem like Soundwave was done talking.
"However, on one condition; he wants to watch over.. All the cassettes while I'm at work. I've already talked to the others about this and-'' Max was sure Soundwave had his reasons, but the idea of going back to Soundblaster... that... mech... it scared her personally and shook her to her core.
She wanted to beg Soundwave, she wanted to plead with him...
But she didn't... as much as she was afraid of Soundblaster, part of her still feared Soundwave, he was a decepticon after all... as much as Max forgot about it; they still wanted to destroy earth as we know it...
"Max?" Soundwave asked, Max snapped out of her thoughts for a moment to look up at Soundwave. "Ok, wait here for a moment.." Soundwave got up and went over to one of his drawers.
He went to the bottom one, scrounging around it for a bit until... he got something out...
"Go take a shower and put these on after" Soundwave ushered Max into his private washracks, closing the door behind her.
........................................................................................................
After the shower and change of clothes, Max had stepped out of the washing room. Soundwave sat down at his desk for a moment until he heard Max come in.
At first he didn't speak, only stared...
For a small moment...
Then he finally spoke
"L-let's see what we can do with your hair" Soundwave's voice seemed to glitch slightly as he walked over to Max, comb in hand.
Max sat down on a stool, she looked up at the mirror and into her reflection.
It was actually the first time she had gotten a good look at herself, since she's been on the nemesis anyway.
It was a uniform, similar to that of Rumble or Frenzy, but looked to be for girls instead as it was a dress. It that that military look of sorts.
Max noticed the clothes Soundwave had given her were a uniform, she wanted to ask questions about why she was even-
.: it's just for now:. Max felt a sense of immediate and sudden danger course though her as a voice appeared in her head.
.:calm down, it's just me Max. I added something to your... hearing aids so that i can speak to you without... actually talking, you can use it to talk to the others too...:.
Soundwave put a comforting servo on her shoulder, indeed confirming that it was Soundwave speaking to her. His other servo, however, was tidying up Max's hair, trimming it slightly and making it look more... "neat".
.:with Soundblasters interference and... other reasons i've concluded that you might be on the nemesis longer than intended. So for now... your new designation is Flipsides and you are my cassette, understand?":.
That... that honestly didn't help Max at all, in fact she had even more questions.
What do you mean staying longer? Can you read my head? What else did you do with my hearing aids?!
"Done" Soundwave spoke, Max looked back up into the mirror, her hair was much more nicer and neater than before, it almost looked like someone el-
"Stop". Max internally thought, it was to herself.
"Dont... dont think that..."
Max got off the chair, Soundwave behind her. As Soundwave was gathering up the rest of the cassettes, Lazerbeak looked at Max with big old optics.
.:Nice disguise, where did ya steal from a corpse?:. Max... didnt know how to respond. She was sure that Lazerbeak meant it as a joke, but... who makes a joke like that?
.:sweet primus, go read a joke book you beat-red loser:. Rumble Was the one to respond back to Lazerbeak's comment.
.:Shut up you incorrect blueberry color, you make tax evasion jokes. That's low brow humor:.
.:at least i have brows, you discount parakeet:.
.:how do I talk in this thing?:. Max was still trying to figure out how to communicate, unfortunately the two cassettes were bickering with each other.
"Ok, ok that's enough, both of you. Rumble, Frenzy, Flipsides come with me. Ravage escort everyone else to Soundblasters room." an audible sigh was heard from the group who were headed to Soundblasters, Max thanked the stars that she wasn't part of them.
Soundwave headed out, holding Max by the hand, Rumble And Frenzy tailed close behind him.
.:It's fine, just stay near Soundwave:. Rumble Assured.
.:Seriously, nobody bothers him:. Frenzy added on.
.:but doesn't it seem strange how Soundwave has a new cassette all of a sudden?:. Max was trying to keep a poker face while walking, thank god no decepticons were near... yet...
.:Oh that? Pft, Soundwave makes us all the time...well not as much anymore, but like.. It's not human babies where you wait a bit and you know in advance. Cassettes just pop up spontaneously, that's how we were made:. Rumble proceeded to wave off Max's concerns like they were just needless banter.
.:but-:.
.:hold up, high heels:. Frenzy alerted, at first Max wasn't sure what they were talking about, until she heard what sounded like a clack, the type that... come directly from high heels...
Suddenly a red, white and black mech fast-paced walked over to Soundwave.
"Soundwave, there you are. I need you to file these seeker reports, apparently there's been a suspicious amount of military activity happening near California and-" the mech looked down, over to Max, an eyebrow raised.
"Soundwave whose this?" the mech, bent down over to look at Max, it was too close for Max's comfort and she was using all of her strength to freak out, scream and run away.
"Designation: Flipsides, new cassette" Soundwave put a servo on Max's shoulder, trying to both keep her calm and in place. After a bit, the decepticon got up.
"Very well,... congratulations... Soundwave.." the seeker sneered at Max before handing Soundwave some datapads and promptly leaving "make sure to get them filled out by the end of the mega-cycle"
.:see? Not so bad. You just came across Starscream:. Rumble spoke bluntly, completely unaware of the fact that Max's breath had just rapidly increased as well as her heart rate.
Nonetheless the group continued, now entering a sort of large gathering room.
Filled with tons of decepticons. All different shapes and sizes.
It was like entering hell. This was nothing like the Autobot base that Raf had shown her, back there, it was only a few bots, here? There had to be at least fifty, maybe even more!
Max stopped herself from staring on in horror as Soundwave led the group between and around other Decepticons, thank god none of them actually seemed aware of Max.
After the shocking revelation that the autobots were massively outnumbered compared to the decpeticons, Soundwave brought the three into his main office.
It was a dark shade of iridescent purple with huge screens and datapads and... even more screens. Max didnt breath in all the details, she felt like she had just gone though the first day of school ten times over.
"Eh, boss I think this one is broken" Rumble yelled, kicking aside a cracked screen. "Wanna have us dismantle it?" Soundwave waved the twins off, but grabbed ahold of Max's shoulder
"Not you, Rumble and Frenzy are walking hazards." Soundwave said the last bit in a quieter tone as one of the twins accidentally electrified himself, causing them to swear out loud.
"You can sit here, I won't be doing much I'm afraid.." Soundwave placed Max on a chair, sitting next to him.
Max watched on as Soundwave worked, she did not understand a lick of what Soundwave was even doing but it seemed important. After a while Soundwave finally spoke.
.:refrain from eating anything unless I offer it to you, do not stray too far from me either and do not answer any questions unless I say so, understand?:.
Max nodded quickly. With the direct and stern way Soundwave spoke you'd imagine that he was actually threatening her.
.:good:.
Soundwave didn't really have any reasons to have Max near him, which was evident with how bored Max became. She sort of just awkwardly sat there, not even being able to comprehend Soundwaves ''work".
She wasn't sure when, but at some point Max fell asleep. Her head rested on Soundwave's shoulder.
She was only awakened when Soundwave shook her off, before she could ask why, a voice spoke.
"Ah, Soundwave, I heard news about you having a new cassette." out of curiosity, Max turned around.
She wished she didn't.
"Though, I am a little hurt by the fact that you didn't come over to introduce them. '' In the doorway stood a red, grey and black mech with a large imposing figure. Max knew who he was, Raf had brought him up when he talked about the decepticons.
Megatron.
"My apologies, Megatron, I didn't want to overwhelm them so soon after activation" Soundwave placed a servo on Max's shoulder, a gesture which was greatly appreciated because right now Max was trying to keep herself from trembling. Megatron looked over to Max, and even gave her a small smile, despite it probably being well intentioned, it sent ice cold shivers down her spine.
"Very well, what is the name you chose for them?"
"Flipsides' ' Soundwave spoke, Megatron's smile seemed.. To slightly drop, Max wasn't sure why it had but whatever the reason was it had made the room deathly quiet.
"Very well, goodbye Soundwave, and Flipsides" and just like that, he left.
....
....
...
...
...oh.. Oh my god....
When Max was sure that Megatron left the room, she suddenly gasped open for air. It was so sudden that Soundwave snapped his head to look at her.
.:really leaves you breathless huh?:. Rumble joked as Max coughed slightly, she was still trying to breathe in as much as she could. Soundwave sent Rumble a death glare before focusing his attention on Max.
"If it makes you feel any better, he won't lay a digit on you, not without my interference anyway.." Soundwave had a slight bit of humor in his voice as he tried to calm down the hyperventilating Max. Eventually Max managed to get her breathing under control.
"Im.. im so sorry, i didn't mean to .." Max took in another rush of air, as she talked. " it's just... dear god..."
"Intimidating?" Max nodded.
"It's understandable" Soundwave said, he placed a comforting servo on Maxwell's back, mostly to check for her heartbeat, to his dismay Max's heart seemed to increase significantly.
.:remember, it won't be long... just for a while:.
[AUTHORS NOTE]
hi yall, like i said, the chapters are going to get significantly longer (and higher quality too now that im taking my time with these). so i'll just update when i can (sorry).
this chapter took a bit to write because the origonal draft for the chapter was as written when i had first published the first chapter (because i had written chapters in advance). so the writing was kinda outdated.
btw i wanna thank you guys for reading the fic, and by extention this far into the fic. its nice to know that people like the story so far and are willing to read it, i know that at this point not many people have read the book but im very thankful for the people who do read, and come back every time i post a new chapter.
thank you for reading stay tuned for the next chapter!
p.s. i wanted to also mention that starscreams human au design is based off the g1 version and megatron is based off transformers animated. (not the prime versions, so no bucket head and moon chin)
also also, funny thing that happened while rewriting the chapter, for some reason it kept auto correcting megatron to megatrump and i have no idea why, it just does and it refuses to stop????
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Nemesis Intruder (transformers)
Science Fiction*transformers AU* as both third in command and communications officer of the decepticons, few things go under soundwaves eye. if something were to try, he would have it delt with permanently however, the communications officer is of course willing...
