literature

Where Loyalties Lie (II) - Soundwave X Dreadwing

Deviation Actions

TurboTracks's avatar
By
Published:
2.3K Views

Literature Text

Thump, thump, thump, thump. Dreadwing concentrated on the sound of his own pedes hitting the ground to distract himself from the myriad concerns assaulting his processors. The closer he came to the control room, the louder his pedefalls sounded and the quicker his fuel pump beat. Together the two noises formed a drumbeat only he could hear, speeding up the closer he came to facing Lord Megatron, announcing his execution… or at least that's what it felt like to him. Occasionally a vehicon would scuttle by him in the hallway; all of them averted their gaze to the ground and sped up when they spotted him. Every single time felt like a stab to his fuel pump, assuming they looked away because news of his failure had already spread, not stopping to think it was simply lower officers showing respect for a superior.

When he finally arrived at the doors to the control room, he paused and stared at the security pad for a moment. Suddenly, it felt like a spotlight was trained on him, as if the whole world was watching, waiting for him to step into the gladiator's arena….

The cheers of the crowd echoed in his audios, urging on the fight. His servo shivered as he resisted the urge to draw his weapon before remembering it wasn't him they were egging on. He scanned the crowd, noting the excited glow in their optics and their enthralled expressions. That's when he spotted his twin sitting in the front row of the stadium, cheering just as loudly as the rest of the crowd. His dear, dear brother…. it had taken a lot of convincing on his twin's part to make him attend this. As far as he was concerned, there were more legitimate hobbies than watching gladiatorial matches. However, his twin had insisted once he saw for himself he would understand. So here he was, waiting for the match to be over so he could finally leave.

The first gladiator emerged from an entrance on the far side of the arena. The cheers of the crowd unified, the air shivering with the force of their call. "Megatronus, Megatronus, Megatronus!" they called as one. Despite himself, he felt a slight twinge of excitement. Never in his life had he seen someone unite so many mechs so quickly. Still, he wasn't about to admit so quickly to his twin that this was worth his time. It would take a little more to convince him.

The mech strode towards the middle of the arena confidently, a large powerful grin on his faceplate. The louder the cheer became, the more brilliant he seemed. It was as if he had the ability to soak in the enthusiasm of the crowd and use it to become something more, a god among mere mortals. When he finally reached the middle of the arena, he lifted his servo. As if on cue, the whole audience quieted; however, it did nothing to dim the excitement. If anything, everyone seemed to grow even more entranced, forcefully holding in their excitement so the final release would be even more explosive than the first.

His twin turned to face him and he felt his sparkbeat pick up a bit. He'd never seen such pure, radiant happiness on his brother's faceplate. There wasn't much joy to find in their life after all. He didn't even have a name, nor did his twin. They worked in the mines, as odd as that was for fliers. He was tasked with clearing out new tunnels using his extensive explosives knowledge. It was a dangerous job at best, but he found he enjoyed the power and beauty an explosive device contained, even if he didn't enjoy being treated as slag by the foreman. However, his sparktwin was even more unlucky than him. He was tasked with doing menial labor, such as moving boulders out of the way after said explosions. He was only lucky he hadn't been offlined in a cave-in yet.

"Do you see?" his twin whispered to him.

"I do," he replied. The joy on his twin's faceplate was enough to convince him. Until that moment he hadn't even known it was possible for either of them to smile.

The crowd suddenly turned their helms to the other side of the arena. Any final sounds immediately quieted as the second gladiator stepped into the arena. Since he and his twin were sitting directly over the entrance, he didn't get a proper view of the mech until he stepped into the middle of the arena, standing directly in front of Megatronus. Unlike before, no one shouted this mech's name. All was silence. Just like Megatronus, he walked with cool confidence, seemingly unfazed by the lack of support he was receiving.

He leaned in to whisper in his twin's audio, "Who is that?" A few mechs turned to glare at him in disapproval. How dare he break the sacred silence? However, he had to know. For some reason, his fuel pump skipped a beat when this mech, obviously the underdog in this fight, had first entered his optic-range. His slender, long frame hardly seemed a match for the large, infamous warrior towering over him. As a mere miner, he knew what it felt like to be looked down upon. His spark went out to this particular gladiator; he felt an odd kinship to him. Even if it was unlikely he'd come out the winner, he was at least willing to face his opponent honorably, without trying to escape or showing weakness.

"Soundwave," his brother muttered back to him quickly before gesturing for him to shush.

And then the fight began. The crowd exploded with more force than any of his bombs ever had, and he felt himself getting caught up in the moment, jumping to his feet and leaning in dangerously to get the best view possible. Everyone around him yelled, his audios ringing painfully from the sound. He vented from his intakes, suddenly faced with a difficult choice. Who did he cheer for?

"Soundwave," he muttered quietly, testing the sound of the name in his mouth. It felt… right. But… he listened to the name his brother was shouting, and he knew what he had to do. No matter what, he always stood beside his twin, and he wouldn't change that, not even for this.

"Megatronus! Megatronus! Megatronus!" he chanted out, and for the first time in his life he felt like more than a simple miner. He felt like a person. He felt like… Dreadwing.


"Megatronus, Megatron-" he cut himself off suddenly, realizing he had been muttering the name to himself. The memory still caught him up in a tidal wave of strong emotions. This was why he had dedicated himself to Megatron, and why he would never dream of turning his back on him either.

"Megatronus, Megatronus, Megatronus…" sounded from behind him in his own voice. He spun around suddenly, only to see Soundwave standing behind him. Had he followed him all the way here? He glanced away, embarrassed. He had obviously heard that chanting. Soundwave tilted his helm, studying Dreadwing closely, still playing the sound clip on a continuous loop. Obviously he wanted an explanation as to why.... Dreadwing forced himself to look up and face Soundwave, his mouth opening as he searched for something to say.

Suddenly Soundwave cut the sound clip and a scene started playing on his screen. Dreadwing's mouth opened in shock when he realized he was looking at himself in the crowd, the very day he had first seen Soundwave and Megatronus. All the rest of the mechs around him were jumping and screaming excitedly, but he stood there silently, an indecisive look on his face. "You noticed me that day," he said, venting air from his intakes suddenly in surprise.

Soundwave cut the video clip and nodded to him, still allowing the crowd's cheering to play on a loop. Without thought, Dreadwing heard himself beginning to mutter along with them again as he had done that day so long ago. "Megatronus, Megatronus, Megatronus… All hail Lord Megatron!" he said forcefully, not caring if anyone heard him now. Why should he be ashamed of his loyalty to Megatron? Let the whole ship hear it as far as he was concerned.

Soundwave suddenly cut off the sound clip too. The hallway went obscenely quiet after their display. No longer ashamed, Dreadwing stared at Soundwave openly, unable to talk but also unable to look away. Soundwave's arm lifted again, just as it had earlier. Once again, Dreadwing felt his sparkbeat pick up. "Soundwave," he muttered under his breath, just as he had that first day. The name still felt as right as it ever had.

Soundwave didn't hesitate this time. He continued to reach out towards…. No wait, around him. He couldn't help frowning when Soundwave's fingers went over to the security pad and began to type in the security code for him.

Soundwave played back his praise as the control room doors slid open. "All hail Lord Megatron."
I was intending to write something completely different, but this scene inserted itself into my head and so it happened. I hope you find it a worthy continuation of the first fanfic. I know I had a ton of fun writing it.

Obviously more to come, since I left it hanging like this.

There's slash in here; you've been warned.


For a list of chapters, look here - [link]
© 2012 - 2024 TurboTracks
Comments8
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
IgnisLillium's avatar
Ermahgerd, I just love how Soundwave and Dreadwing are totally fanboying over Megs right now :XD: