Fatal

Chapter 8: Trouble When I Walk In

Soundwav's POV

        I saw something in Megatron change. Maybe his is starting to believe in the good. Maybe. As i stared at him, optic to optic, he smiled. A small smile. Knockout cleared his throat. "Uh, guys... Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little freaked out..."  Megatron let out a chuckle.  "Is there something I should know about..?" Knockout tempted. "No, medic." Megatron sighed.  Knockout slumped, relieved. 

        I suddenly felt a strong wave of electrical Energon waves. Energon waves are the waves of power that roll off raw Energon. Somebody had uncovered an Energon mine! I pulled up the location on my visor, and showed Megatron. "Hmmm... I see, Soundwave. Since you are alright, for the time being, take a few soldiers and search the mine for Autobots." He ordered. I nodded, emotionless. Although, something was different about the scent and feeling of the Energon in the mines. It was... more tempting to find. It called to me. Maybe it was the sickness...

        Anyway, on the inside, I was ecstatic to finally get out of the ship. My tanks churned slightly, but I ignored it. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I walked to the rec room with a slight prance in my steps. I would find all the soldiers I needed in there. 

        I stood in the doorway of the rec room, wondering which five soldiers to take. I had Slick, Drive, Petey, an Eradicon named Flashdrive, and another Eradicon named Starflight. I held up my servo, silenced all troops present, and pointed to the said five. "Come join me!" A recording of Optimus Prime's voice said. The five nodded, and followed me to the Ground Bridge. As the huge, green vortex appeared, I started to think, what am I really up against...?

Slick's POV

         When we emerged from the Ground Bridge, I realized, we were all called here to scout an Energon mine. My armor tingled as I stepped closer to the raw Energon crystals. Something was off about this mine...

        It was so quite down here, it was creepy. It felt like the place was, what humans call 'haunted'. My processor started to imagine a Cyberthing, a monster from Cybertron, jumping at me from behind a large Energon crystal. I shivered. "Hey, Officer Soundwave, why are we down here? Should we just go back to the ship and get the mining gear, instead?" Flashdrive asked. Soundwave shook his head, continuing on, and maybe it was just me, but it looked like the silent mech was looking for something... Just, the way Soundwave searched the crystals was unnerving.

        "I am getting majorly creeped out...!" I whispered to Drive. Drive nodded, agreeing with me. Soundwave turned our direction, he must have heard us. "No need to be afraid." He soothed, a recording of Knockout. I recognized that recording. I was in the Med-Bay, getting a gash in my arm fused by Breakdown, Knockout's assistant and much more, a friend. Knockout had been tending to Laserbeak, after he and Soundwave were infused with a virus. I think it's sweet, how a usually snark and moody medic could be so kind and caring to another being. 

Soundwave's POV

        That was one of my favorite recordings, the one of Knockout being so friendly towards Laserbeak. I mean, Laserbeak is my best friend! I am still wondering why I used that recording. I could have easily just shook my head, or ignored Slick and Drive completely. 

        The sickly sweet scent of this mysterious Energon was alluring, but it was coming from a certain spot. My limbs tingled with excitement. Adrenaline coursed through me, my processor on high alert. Why I felt this way, I don't know, I was just so... anxious.

        Finally, I found the spot I was looking for, and was completely dumbstruck. The spot that I was looking for was completely surrounded by huge, taller-than-Optimus-Prime-and-Megatron-put-together kind of tall. My Energon boiled, why in fragging Primus was this so confusing?! My gears whirred angrily. The scent of the Energon smelt so good, and so weird. It was so alluring, so tempting! 

        I extracted my feelers and claws, and launched myself at the crystals. My claws pierced the raw Energon like butter, my feelers gripping all places they could, boosting me higher, and honestly, this took nothing out of me. As soon as I reached the top, I turned, and sent my feelers down to the five, the feelers wrapping around each one of their waists, pulling them up to where I stood. Then, I began making my way down the crystal, claws making a terrible SCREECHING sound. This scouting mission just got interesting,

Slick's POV

        My tires spun in embarrassment as one of Soundwave's feelers wrapped around my waist. I yelped as he suddenly took me upwards, towards the top of the Energon crystal. Once I regained my footing, I gasped at the sheer sight of the the Energon field below me. Energon of many colors were spread out and in the middle, a huge, sparkling, cylinder of pure, sky blue Energon crystal was spiraling towards a small opening in the top. Sunlight reflected of all the multicolored crystals, making the walls glisten.

        I felt my joints go weak at the sheer sight of the beautiful cavern. I watched as Soundwave scaled the Energon walls, his claws making a deafening scraping sound, his claws leaving huge scratches down the sides of the walls. Soundwave's feelers suddenly came up and wrapped around mine and the other's waists again, bringing us down to the floor of the cavern. This was really getting old.

        Then, I heard something. It sounded like a very faint whimpering sound. I looked at the other four. They seemed to just be marvelled by the multicolored Energon spikes. I looked to Soundwave. He defiantly heard it. I noticed his posture stiffen, his shoulders tense. Something was really wrong. 

        Just then, the whole place seemed to send a wave of fear over me. My optics widened, and I subconsciously sent out an emotional wave of fear. Soundwave's head snapped towards me. I stepped back, crouching, trying to get away. Something was wrong, really wrong. I started st shiver and quake. I squeezed my optics tight, washer fluid pricking my vision. 

        The sudden fear and feel of helplessness made me realize how young I really was. Only about ten vorns old. Still a sparkling, legally. I was interrupted by a light caw into my audio receptor. I opened my optics. Laserbeak was flying steadily in front of me, chirping, trying to cheer me up. I looked over at Soundwave, silently asking him a question. Soundwave nodded, and for a minute, he seemed to relax a little. I held my arm out, allowing Laserbeak to perch on my arm happily.

        I looked to the other three, who were joking around and looking dazed. I looked back to Soundwave. He motioned with his clawed servos for me to follow him to another part of the cavern. 

        Soundwave and I walked silently through the cavern. The tense atmosphere was really unsettling, it made me think twice about following the TIC. We walked together for a few more moments before we rounded a huge, glowing, multicolored crystal and I saw the most amazing thing.

        It was the giant, sky blue, spiraled Energon crystal. From above it was beautiful, but up close, it was spectacular!  It was absolutely breathtaking!  Beside me, I heard Soundwave take a huge, stumbling step back. I looked over to him in shock, but what I found was even more so. 

        Soundwave had his whole visor off, blue optics wide, washer fluid streaming down his faceplates. Something was really wrong.