(A/N: Just to let you guys know, Jack will now be referred to Ravage while he's in his Cyberpanther form, but he will be referred to as Jack when he uses his holoform. He will be referred to as Ravage by the Decepticons, and Jack by the Autobots. Just to clear up any confusion. Also, the sparkbonding that occurs in this chapter are strictly creatorxcreation, Soundwave is re-establishing their bond through which they can communicate, it IS NOT a "romantic" bond at all. I apologize for this taking so long. I have reasons, but no time to explain.)
Chapter V: Rediscovering/Rebonding
Ravage opened his yellow optics, yawning as he stretched, his optics opening all the way when he felt something warm shift against him, jerking back when he saw Soundwave's visored face beside him, memory rushing back as he let out a distressed whine. The cyberpanther whined again as he began to struggle in the tight grip of the long arms around him, immediately feeling a comforting servo on his helm, stroking gently until he calmed and stopped whining, just leaning into the gentle servo of his creator as it carressed his helm.
"Ravage: does not need to distress... Reason for distress: memory loss." Soundwave murmured softly to the panther in his arms as he sat up and pulled Ravage closer to his body. "Sparkbond: must be reinacted."
Hearing this, Ravage began to struggle a little, feeling fear rise up in him as he let out a growl, wriggling loose of Soundwave's arms and, acting on instinct, slashed the tall mech's chassis, wounding Lazerbeak as well as their creator.
Ravage jerked back when he heard the startled squawk of the cyberbird, rounded audios pressed back against his helm as he watched Soundwave reach up to touch the claw marks and the light blue energon leaking from them, the cybercat turning and jumping down from the berth and bolting from the room, attempting to ignore Soundwave's orders to return, struggling an inward battle against the conflicting emotions in him.
As he ran down the halls of the Nemesis, Ravage thought of something... Since he was on the warship, he would be able to help the Autobots by maybe whittling down the number of Decepticons on the warship, snarling and baring his sharp denta when he saw a couple of vehicons passing the end of the hall, putting on speed, quickly adjusting to his new form as he raced to the end of the hall and pounced onto the closest Vehicon.
Ravage snarled and closed his powerful jaws over the throat of the thrashing Vehicon, easily ripping through the wiring of the mech's throat, tasting something sweet as he pulled away, baring his denta and growling aggressively at the second vehicon, denta tinted blue from the energon that was quickly pooling beneath Ravage's victim.
The cybercat pounced, becoming a blurr of yellow and black within the air as he landed on the second vehicon, that was only able to give a brief shriek as those powerful jaws closed around his own throat, his cry cutting off and becoming a soft gurgle as he joined his partner in the well of allsparks, Ravage quickly moving on to offline others, searching out as many as he could before he was either caught or offlined himself.
Snarling lowly, Ravage skulked down the halls, stalking another group of Vehicons before leaping upon the one closest to him and at the back of the line, claws digging into him as the screech of metal on metal filled the quiet hall as the panther's claws dug through the outer armour and ripped it off, the Vehicon was only able to scream once as he was ripped apart, Ravage pouncing for the next when he was jerked back, a large, clawed servo gripping the back of his collar, holding the snarling cybercat up in the air as he thrashed and snarled.
Ravage growled lowly as he slowly stopped moving, letting out a little whimper when he saw that he was being held by no other than Megatron, the silver warlord snarling angrily as he stared at the cyberpanther that he held aloft, red optics narrowing as he looked it over, turning only as a second figure approached. "Soundwave!" Megatron shouted as the tall Decepticon stepped out into the lighting of the hallway, the visored gaze settling immediately on Ravage and causing the once-human boy to whimper and feel the disapproval in the stare that made him feel horrible.
"What is the meaning of this? You resurrect one of your lost simbiotes and then allow him to tear through my ranks?!" Megatron shouted, shaking the panther by his collar and making him whine softly.
"Ravage is the human Jack." Soundwave responded through recordings. "Autobots deceive Soundwave. Ravage will be made to submit to creator, then he will serve Lord Megatron." The visored mech stated as he looked back and forth between the two Cybertronians before taking Ravage's collar and dropping him onto the ground. "Ravage. Transform." He ordered in a nearly cold tone, Ravage cowering a little before he was able to do so, surprised that it almost felt natural to transform, standing much shorter than both of the other Decepticons and staring at the ground quietly, servos clasped behind his back.
Ravage stared down at the ground as he heard the murmurs of both of the other Decepticons, thinking of running and deciding that that would be the best course of action. If he got recaptured, he would be punished, but, if he escaped, he could find the autobots and figure out how to be changed back to Jack.
Looking up subtly, Ravage noticed that both other mechs didn't seem to be watching him, so he backed away a little before turning and running, hearing Megatron snarl angrily which only made him try to run faster, turning down several halls and backtracking as he heard Vehicons pursuing him, the cybercat transforming back to his panther mode, Ravage tore down the halls, audios pressed against his helm as he tried to find the way out of the warship.
Suddenly, Soundwave stepped out in front of Ravage, the cyberpanther attempting to stop when a groundbridge opened in front of him, the black and yellow cybercat finding himself transported back into his creator's berthroom, whimpering as he ran into a corner and lay down, helm on his paws as he trembled fearfully, scared of what would happen to him as the tall, visored form of his creator stepped into the berthroom, the green, white and purple vortex closing and vanishing behind him as he stared disapprovingly at his creation.
Ravage whimpered and transformed again. "What do you want with me?! I told you! I'm Jack Darby! Not some... Cybertronian Cat!" He shouted as the tall purple mech approached him, yellow optics wide as the Communications Chief stood directly in front of him, the visored face moving down to his level and grabbing his chin in a painfully tight grip, pulling his face extremely, uncomfortably close.
Trembling, Ravage winced from the tight grasp as his sparkbeat increased and he shook with the fear of what would happen now that Soundwave had him alone in his berthroom, shutting his optics tightly when he felt himself tossed onto the berth, yelping in surprise as he tried to scramble upright again, optics widening when Soundwave grabbed his wrists and restrained them above his helm before climbing on top of him, pinning him with his body weight and releasing his servos then, barely budging as he thrashed and kicked. "Get off con! Get off of me!" The desperate mech shouted, unsure and confused by the other mech's actions, fighting desperately for several long moments as his movements eventually slowed down and he found that he had only tired himself out.
Looking up at the visored mech as he panted a little from the exertion he had placed on his own body, Ravage's optics widened greatly as he felt Soundwave's digits dig into a seam on his chassis and pry open his sparkchamber, optical ridges furrowing in confusion as he tried to figure out what Soundwave was attempting to do, optics widening when he saw the pale yellow of his spark being exposed and he tried to struggle again. "NO! Soundwave, please no!" He begged loudly, tears leaking into his optics now as he fought the grip.
"Ravage: must stop fighting... Will only hurt himself." Soundwave responded as he exposed his own spark to rebond with his creation, Lazerbeak being released and moving away to give her creator room as Soundwave wrapped his arms tightly around Ravage's body, lowering their sparks together before allowing them to merge, tightening his grip on his lost simbiote's form as he balked at the feeling, bucking and thrashing before slowly relaxing, one servo covering his eldest son's mouth to keep him from making noise as he held him tightly agaisnt himself.
Ravage stared at the blue of his creator's spark, pleading for him to stop. "No, Soundwave! Please don't! I-I'll listen!" He sobbed, his human personality being portrayed as he pushed against the larger chassis as blue and yellow spark energy combined and he felt himself being taken... Literally. He felt as if his personality, code, wishes, feelings, everything... Was being ripped away and given to the mech above him as he balked and tried to plead through the servo that was suddenly covering his mouth, tears leaking from yellow optics as he slowly relaxed, feeling as if he was suddenly being warmed... He sensed safety, security, hope, friendship, love in the mech above him now as he relaxed back against the berth, the servo being removed from his mouth now.
Staring up at the visored mech, Ravage frowned a little as if trying to remember something. "S-sire?" He asked as Soundwave forced him into stasis, pushing memories at him...
"Hey, Frenzy! Did you take my lob ball?" A little red and silver simbiote asked, arms crossed as he glared at another mech simbiote that looked to be just like him, only blue and silver. "Awww, Rumble, stop your whining! You probably lost it again!" Frenzy responded with an annoyed tone.
"Ha! And I found it in your spot last time!" Rumble responded in annoyance as he stalked over next to his twin, pushing him off of the berth. "Find it or I'll tell Ravage!" He growled.
"Why you-!"
Blue and red flashed with silver as the two pounced onto each other, rolling across the room as they punched, kicked and bit each other, shouting oaths and foul curses at one another as they argued, then they-...
The memory ended but another was immediately pushed at the unconscious Ravage who only whined as it was being pulled to the forefront of his processor.
Ravage lay on a large berth, optics closed as he lay peacefully, feeling fulfilled and... He also felt the faint presence of many others within his pulsing spark. He cracked open his yellow optics as he heard arguing and saw Frenzy and Rumble rolling around on the ground as they argued again, the cybercat lifting his helm from his paws as he watched them, audios perked as he gave a warning growl to the fighting simbiotes.
"Awww, stop growlin' Ravage! We're just teasing!" Frenzy pouted up at him, arms crossed as his eldest brother rolled his optics and stood, stretching on the berth again as he hopped down and approached, sitting as his tail flicked, yellow optics watching the twins in his silence. He had always been the most serious of Soundwave's brood, and always monitoring the unruly twins.
"C'mon Ravage! You need to cool off and play sometimes!" Rumble rolled his own optics and reached out a servo beneath the cybercat's chin, scratching there and making Ravage purr loudly, leaning forward a little from where he sat, optics half-closing as he allowed his brother to scratch him beneath his chin, fully enjoying how it felt.
"See? It's better to have fun!" The red and silver simbiote grinned as he climbed onto his oldest brother's back, Ravage letting out a little rumble of disapproval as Frenzy began to quarel again with his twin, the cybercat lying down and rolling on top of them both.
"Aww Ravage! Get off of us!" Frenzy complained as he pushed at the heavy weight, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw chirping and squawking from the rafters with approval as the panther lay on his back, paws in the air as his twin brothers tried to get out from beneath him. "All right! All right! We'll stop arguing! Just get. Off!"
....
Energon...
Pain...
Emptiness...
Death... It was everywhere...
Ravage staggered on all fours, delirious as he stared around the battlefield that was full of the offlined and wounded, the scents of energon, death and scorched frames filling his nasal passages as he tried to find some calm in the confusion of battle.
Letting out a distressed keen, Ravage's optics landed on his creator, fighting off several Autobots at once, but, even while distracted, he felt the faint caress of his mind that was his creator's mind touching his own, calming him a little... But then it all came crashing down when there was a sudden, terrible pain in his spark, making him roar and stumble.
Getting up into a half-crouch, Ravage let out a whine as he felt a terrible, empty ache in his spark, followed by another bond that was suddenly being ripped away... Buzzsaw and Rumble... They were gone! Ravage let out another wailing cry as he trembled in the middle of the battlefield, whining as he felt another bond tear loose, making him collapse.
Lying amidst the destruction and death, feeling the emptiness in his spark, Ravage let out a snarl as he forced himself onto his paws, yellow optics landing on the red and blue form of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, he let out a shriek of anger and pain, hatred and raw bitterness as he charged the Prime.
Ravage sensed the call of his creator but ignored it, yellow optics set on Prime as he pounced, a flash of orange and white in his corner vision was followed by a terrible pain in his abdominal plating where it was only lightly armoured, and he let out a cry as energon gushed from the wound, shifting to his holoform.
Free falling through the air as swords and falling bodies missed him, Ravage connected hard with the ground, eyes open and lips parted as he stilled, unmoving as the sounds of battle faded away and black enclosed on the corners of his vision, causing him to lose consciousness with the known world, lying unnoticed in the wreckage.
...
Voices...
Blue optics...
Gentle servos touching him...
Ravage couldn't online... He felt himself being lowered into some sort of machine...
Everything hurt...
Where was he...?
Why-
The memories faded away as Ravage onlined and jerked upright, coolant tears in his optics and condensation on his frame as he sat up straight in the berth, helm jerking around as he tried to figure out where he was when an arm wrapped around his middle and a servo at his shoulder gently pushed him down.
Looking next to him, Ravage saw an unvisored Soundwave looking at him in concern, and he broke down, wrapping his arms around the tall mech as he sobbed into his shoulder plating, feeling the arms of the communications chief wrap around him and felt his spark being carressed by his creator's through their re-instated bond.
"Th-they're gone! All gone!" Ravage sobbed as he clung to his creator helplessly, hearing no response from the other mech besides a gentle nudge through the bond.
'Cry Ravage... Cry...' The cybercat heard his creator's voice in the bond as he sobbed. 'Don't talk, just cry.' And that's what Ravage did... he sobbed until he was forced back into recharge from lack of energy, still clinging tightly to Soundwave as his cries faded away and he recharged having spent himself in his crying.