Drum Roll, Please

Chapter 14: When Angels Cry

The metal digits encasing her midsection weren't painfully tight, but Summer's heart was beating rapidly, pounding within her chest at speeds that were definitely not healthy. She felt hot and nauseous, and her skin was pale and clamy.

To say she was panicking would have been an understatement. Summer was terrified. The faceless bot had walked into the room she was trapped in and without hesitation, snatched her off the table and left. She didn't know where they were going or what would happen, and she was too afraid to ask. The only certainty was that she wouldn't like whatever lay ahead of her.

Eventually, a pair of doors opened, revealing the night sky. Summer flinched away from the sudden cold, but there was no stopping the onslaught of frozen air as it soaked into her skin. A familiar sight swirled into view, flashing with blue and green energy, and Soundwave strode into the groundbridge without hesitation.

Summer blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the bright colors, and then the world darkened again, revealing a new scene. This was a ravine, with yellow and orange cliffs rising high into the sky above them. Only a few kliks away was a large shuttle, torn and broken, but clearly cybertronian. The Autobot insignia was painted in bright red on the side. Summer could see a mangled arm sticking out, twitching helplessly, and grasping at the ground.

A crash site.

A lie.

Summer knew immediately what this was. There was no Autobot in that shuttle, just a rudimentary and lifeless arm spasming due to electric charge, but not one that was connected to a real frame. Summer would have known, she would have felt them on a deeper, subconscious level.

It was inherently wrong.

It was a trap meant to lure out the Autobots so Soundwave could use her to tear them apart from the inside.

The realization sunk like a brick through her gut, and Summer leaned back, as if the added distance could give her more time too. Soundwave couldn't have heard her thoughts, but as he continued forward, Summer imagined that he was enjoying the confusion and horror consistently radiating from her body.

Soundwave stepped into an opening in the shuttle, revealing a truth that Summer was already aware of. The interior was nothing but pristine screens showcasing the surrounding area, from the bottom of the barren ravine to the vehicons peering down from the top.

This was an ambush and it could have been no more obvious that Summer was the Decepticon's secret weapon. She would have been furious about it if she wasn't so terrified that she was about to kill the Autobots.

One of the screens changed color, turning from unmoving tan into a gleaming groundbridge. The Autobots drove through, their weapons drawn and optics flickering around for any signs of an ambush.

Summer tried to scream, to warn them, but she was frozen in terror, and her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Her heart was beating too fast and her emotions were wildly out of control. Even without Soundwave's sonic threat looming over her, Summer would have known that these volatile emotions were becoming dangerous.

And somehow, Soundwave was immune.

The Autobots weren't.

She felt it before she heard it. The sound was so high-pitched it was almost silent, but it snapped within her head, and she jerked forward, gasping. The Autobots reactions were worse.

Unlike the Jasper event, this was targeted. They had no barriers from her attacks due to their processors, because they were experiencing her condensed fear.

Arcee clutched at her chassis, optics going wide, and an inhuman whine came from her intake. Bumblebee's scrambled voice box screeched and he flung himself backward, grabbing at his throat. Bulkhead froze, his optics wide as he stared at the ship, horrified and immobile. Wheeljack flinched and reached for his swords while walking backward, optics jerking around the area, looking for a threat. Ultra Magnus turned around, as if he could hear something, and his optics turned down, leaking silver fluid. He reached for an invisible figure, a cybertronian name on his derma.