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Bereft

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This scene depicts Soundwave just after the death of one of his cassettes. The background is blurred deliberately - he's screaming his head off.


This is a color version of a page from my black and white fanzine Maelstrom.  

Mature Content

Maelstrom 9 Page 7 by illmatar
There are 9 full comic issues and a few thousand pages of text story to go along for the ride. Rated M for violence and language. For the whole thing start here:

Mature Content

Maelstrom 1 front cover by illmatar



Obviously I am a Transformers fangirl. The art is mine. The characters are Hasbro's.

From Maelstrom Chapter 10 - Homecoming

***********************************************

No one was quite sure when the sound started. No one noticed when it began...only that it was at first barely noticeable and that as they became more aware of it grew more distracting and then slowly painful.

"WHAT?!" Galvatron bellowed. "WHAT is that shrieking noise?!"

"I do not know My Lord," Cyclonus said - far more loudly than he normally did. Galvatron's worst rages were best met with unruffled calm but in this case Cyclonus had to also make himself heard.

"AAAARRRRRRR! Make it stop! Where is that COMING from?!" Galvatron cried.

Cyclonus looked to the logical choice for an answer and got one...although not the way he intended.

Soundwave's cassettes were stumbling (and flying) away from him. Ravage collapsed on his side and lay there whimpering with his fore feet over his audio sensors. The sound - piercing as it was to normal sensors was surely agonizing to the cassettes' more subtle hearing as Soundwave shrieked in a multi-decibel wail that began shattering monitors and the high-density focusing crystals in many of the lasers in the room.

Cyclonus was stunned into paralysis. He had never before heard Soundwave so much as grumble - even in pain. Yet now he was on his knees and... screaming.

Unfortunately Galvatron was not surprised into thoughtfulness as was his second.

For Galvatron the causes of such an outburst from the taciturn Soundwave were not a matter of concern. In Galvatron's mind things were quite simple: Soundwave was making the noise; Galvatron didn't like the noise; death tends to silence noisy things. What was there to think about?

Cyclonus barely registered the movement behind Soundwave's back since he was so focused on the writhing Decepticon. The hum of Galvatron's cannon as it charged was an integral part of Cyclonus' reflex response though, and he heard it even through Soundwave's wailing. Cyc's optics automatically sought the source... always wary of the day it aimed for HIM. The split second of relief he always felt when it was...somehow...once again pointed elsewhere was even more fleeting than usual once he did identify Galvatron's target.

He feet were moving even as he wondered (for the millionth time) if this was the day his luck ran out. Maybe this latest act of audacity would be the one that got him killed. After all...how long could you expect someone to manipulate and bait a murderous genius before the ax fell? How long before it was his turn to fall into those deadly sights? Maybe his "immunity" to Galvatron's wrath was mere coincidence or vanity. Maybe there were limits.

Certainly, if there were, Cyclonus felt that saving Soundwave by catching Galvatron off guard with a running tackle was probably WAY over the line.

Cyclonus thought all of this and more even as his feet launched him at Galvatron's throne and they fell heavily together down the stairs.

Oblivious to them both and his near brush with the afterworld - Soundwave continued shrieking his anguish - struggling somehow to communicate a loss even he didn't fully understand.
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© 2007 - 2024 illmatar
Comments309
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loaves's avatar
:star::star::star::star::star: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star: Vision
:star::star::star::star::star: Originality
:star::star::star::star::star: Technique
:star::star::star::star::star: Impact

This was an amazing story and so unexpected because of the nature of Soundwave. It is a surprising insight into the quiet spark of the cassette player. And it also gives the reader the depth of the bond between Soundwave and his cassetticons. You told a heartrending story in the familiar venue of Transformers thereby making it more readable and attention getting.
But this does not minimize the sentiment at all. In fact, Id guess that its easier to relate when whatever the emotion is is being experienced by a familiar and well-loved character. With just a few paragraphs, you've given us a glimpse of a side of Soundwave that we don't see too often.