Ravage's Return

Chapter 3: Kidnapped

Jack filed out of the classroom with the other children, glad to have finally escaped the history classroom, which was, thankfully, the last class of the day.

Feeling relaxed and happy, the human teen went to his locker, dumping all of his books and binders into an unceremonious pile before shutting and locking it again, heading for the front doors of the high school.

Coming down the steps he stopped and looked around for Arcee, not seeing her parked in her usual spot.

Jack looked around for a few moments before shrugging and sitting down on the steps to wait patiently, pulling out his cell phone to check and see if his guardian had maybe called to tell him that she couldn't make it, or maybe his mother had called. He sighed when he didn't find any missed calls, and re-pocketed the phone.

Suddenly, a cold chill passed down Jack's spine and he looked up, searching for the source of the strange feeling, head swivelling around as he tried to find it.

Looking across the street, Jack froze, seeing a tall human standing within the shadows of an alleyway, tall and silent, hands shoved in his pocket.

Red eyes locked with blue and Jack gasped, feeling as if he had suddenly become immobile.

Jack stared into those red eyes that seemed to have no depth or emotion, feeling as if he had no control over himself as he tried to tear his eyes away from the stranger's, and he gasped when he felt a strange feeling in his head, followed by a voice. 'Ravage... Follow.'

Jack heard the order and tried to resist it, but he felt as if something was drawing him closer to the stranger, and took a tentative step forward, followed by another, then another until he reached the mouth of the alley.

Just when he was about to enter the alleyway, the stranger turned and began to walk away, Jack's heart jumping when he saw a large Decepticon symbol on the back of the black hoodie, and he tried to backpedal, but felt that powerful presence that seemed to force him to follow closely behind the stranger, forcing him to actually pick up his pace until he was trotting directly beside the stranger, the youth crying inwardly and trying to stop while another side of him wanted to follow, feeling gleeful and relaxed.

To the teen's utter and complete horror, the stranger, whose face was masked with a black balaclava, reached out a gloved hand to touch his face, caressing it gently, causing goosebumps to trail down his body and cold caterpillar's to crawl down his spine as he tried to pull away but found himself unable to do anything.

'Good Ravage...' The strange voice echoed in his head and he stood there, passive on the outside while he was inwardly frightened and struggling to get his body back under control.

Suddenly the stranger walked again, and Jack followed him out of the town and into the desert, where he saw a large, dark jet waiting for them.

Jack recognized it as Soundwave's alt-mode and gasped inwardly, trying to stop, but finding himself unable to as the tall stranger took his arm and guided him into the cockpit, strapping him in before suddenly vanishing, the jet lifting off and shooting into the sky.

The black-haired teen gasped now and screamed, suddenly back in control of his body, banging on the thick glass above him, desperate and full of panic as he tried to escape, the speed gradually increasing until he was pressed back against the seat, almost unable to move.

Jack shut his eyes tightly and ground his teeth together as they headed up into the sky, not opening them for what felt like a long time, but when he did, he wished he had been born blind. A dark, huge shape began to form before them, very obviously being the foreboding bulk of the warship Nemesis.

They quickly made their way up and onto the warship, the cockpit around him twisting and clanking to form Soundwave, Jack sitting in his servo, staring up at him with wide blue eyes.

"S-Soundwave! Put me down!" Jack cried, looking down to the long drop to the hard steel of the warship's flight deck, then up at the cold, dark visor of Soundwave's helm.

The tall TIC ignored him and carried him into the warship, long, lithe digits curling around the boy and encasing him from the sight of the other Decepticons as he passed, heading immediately for his room, and, ultimately, Ravage's body.

Jack sat in his servo, arms wrapped around his head tightly as he waited for those long, steel fingers to crush him, but it never happened, and he heard them move away and he looked up to see that they were inside of a large room, full of desks, datapads and a large cylinder set off in a corner.

The young human's eyes were locked onto the cylinder as he was set down looking at it as he approached it. It was tall and dark inside, with yellow liquid.

As Jack drew up in front of it, it lit up, the yellow preserving fluids causing an eerie yellow light to fill that corner of the room as Jack moved up in front of it, placing a hand to the glass as he stared in awe at the body of a massive panther. It was black with yellow markings, and it's optics were shut as it floated almost lifelessly.

"Who is it?" Jack asked breathily when he heard Soundwave come up behind him.

"That is Ravage." Soundwave answered in his monotone, staring through his visor at the motionless Ravage, feeling happy that he could finally bring back one of his lost simbiotes. "That is you."

Jack gasped and turned, looking up at the Decepticon. "Me?! No it's not! I'm human! I'm just Jack Darby!" He cried, denying what he had just heard, falling silent as the tall TIC knelt down in front of him, visor coming down to eye-level. "That is you. There is no Jack Darby. Only Ravage."

The black-haired human shook his head vigorously in disbelief. "No! How can you say that! What do you know about me! You're nothing to me!" He cried in desperation.

Soundwave was silent for several moments before speaking. "Soundwave knows everything about Ravage." He answered.

"How?!" Jack demanded, looking into the dark, cold visor.

Silence fell for several moments before Soundwave answered. "Because Soundwave created Ravage."