Drum Roll, Please

Chapter 12: Soundwaves

Summer wasn't a killer.

Her background was a bloody mess of shame and horror, with corpses clumped together in moments of trial, but emotions were a difficult thing for anyone to control. Her emotions were fatal. But Summer alone was no monster.

Which is why she didn't know what to do now.

Events from the last few hours flashed before her eyes. In less than a day, it seemed her whole life had pivoted again, changing in ways that she would have thought impossible just months ago.

First, she put an entire town through intense agony in the middle of the night, then she was in a coma for a month, met alien robots, tried to kill the alien robots, successfully killed her human guardian, was betrayed by the robots, killed an entire lab full of people, and then hopped into a jet and flew off to an alien warship.

The bot known as Soundwave left her in a huge room, alone, on what Summer could only assume was a table. She felt like crying, or maybe screaming.

She could hear the screams of all those people she'd manipulated into killing each other and themselves. She heard the crackle of electricity hitting skin and could smell smoke rising out of an exploded building. The chaos was all her fault. The deaths were entirely her fault.

Summer was a killer.

And she couldn't do a thing about it. If she allowed herself to feel emotions, people would get hurt. They always got hurt.

Why had it even happened? Summer usually had some form of excuse as to why her emotions and powers lost control. This time? Nothing. Nada. Just a lingering desire to obey.

Summer began to pace. No. Pacing was a sign of anxiety, but she needed to remain calm. Tranquility wouldn't get anyone killed. Anxiety could kill everyone.

Everyone except her.

Summer glanced at the end of the table before slowly walking over. It was a long drop. No human could ever survive the fall without aid. Summer bit her lip. Maybe that's what she needed. To fall and die. Never burden anyone with her deadly emotions again.

Never kill. Never harm. Never lose.

To prevent the world from experiencing the curse that lay within her.

Summer's thought process was interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open. Her head snapped to the side to watch as a swath of wall slid away, hiding beneath the turn of the room. Three unmoving figures took up the space, two of them trailing behind the largest bot she'd seen.

The silver giant rivaled Optimus in size, with dangerously sharp curves around each plate of armour. His optics were the color of blood, but nowhere near as warm. Cold, calculation landed on her as he walked forward. Behind him was a more familiar bot, who was thin, black, and lined with purple. He wore a visor and a mask of emotionlessness. At the other shoulder was a skinnier silver bot, with a red accents. His sharp digits curled at his sides and missiles were strapped to his slender arms.

Summer shrunk back. She recognized all of them. How could she not? They were the top three bots in the Decepticon ranks, which she'd learned from Raf's journal. Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream.

Megatron stopped directly in front of her, his optics bearing down with an unsettling intensity. Summer's entire body tensed with fear and trembled. The warlord turned his optics toward Soundwave.

"This is the weapon?"

Soundwave's visor lit up, showcasing a data chart that moved too quickly for her to read. Dozens of other reports and writings flashed by before Megatron waved his servo and turned away.