Professor Shockwave by KtyouVsWriting

Words: 198k+

Link: -https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12392921/1/

( Shockwave pursued the Autobots into the collapsing space bridge, but ended up blinded. His fate should have been clear. What he found to be completely illogical was how he ended up on another world teeming with organic life, him being one of them; despite the irrationality of his situation, he adapted, joining the ranks of Beacon as a teacher of science. Primus, give him strength! )

Chapter 1: Shattered Moons are Illogical

Cybertron

A wise bot once said that one can never truly elevate themselves until he had control of his emotions.

Shockwave believed this, though he took that to quite the extreme by emptying himself of emotion as best as he could. He could perform his work for the Decepticons with the maximum efficiency possible for him. Never did ever want to be hampered by the shortcomings that the likes of Starscream possessed.

However, the scientist did have to admit that the second in-command of the Decepticons had his good points in spite of his apparent cowardice and emotional instability.

But regardless of his good or bad points, the seeker would have to account for his failure once Shockwave disposed of the Autobots that had dared to sabotage the only work space bridge on Cybertron in eons. Did they not see that to destroy this technology would be most illogical?

No matter. He would destroy them, and use their remains as spare parts.

He fired his Hyperflux cannon at the pair of fleeing Autobots. They would not get away so easily and he would make sure that they were put down so that they could never again cause any more trouble for the Decepticon forces.

It was only logical.

He fired again, and their attention was focused on him as they fired their weapons in the hope of downing him. If he cared to respond emotionally, he might laugh at their fruitless efforts. Their blasters wouldn't penetrate his armor.

Shockwave unleashed another blast, this time downing both of them. The one called Arcee rose again to meet him. Her choice was illogical for her, but logical for him. One good shot and she would be destroyed for good.

Taking perfect aim, he fired again.

Only to see her narrowly dodge his shot and respond with her own. Before he could evade himself, he found himself struck right in the single optic he had.

He growled in pain, but also in anger. How could he have not predicted that? It was only a matter of time before the Autobots would exploit his weaknesses. Ignoring his hampered sight, he continued to fire at the fleeing pair, even knowing that he could not guarantee his shots would actually hit them.

Now they had added Tox-En to his wounds, something he wasn't going to take lightly.

Judging from the sounds, they were long gone, and by that conclusion, it was time for him to retreat.

His wound catching up to him, he began to collapse in more pain. There might be a slight chance that he would not survive.

It was regrettable.

The space bridge portal began to feel unstable. Even without sight, Shockwave knew the bridge was on the verge of collapse. If he didn't end up on the planet where the Autobots were going, he would return to Cybertron, back to Kaon most likely.

Either outcome had its ups and downs.

Shockwave suddenly lost his footing and he found himself tumbling through a seemingly never-ending spiral. The space bridge must be more unstable than he had originally thought. He would have to work on fixing these problems.

That is, if he lived long enough to rectify the errors in the technology.

His consciousness faded.

This was illogical.

(X)(X)(X)(X)

Shockwave awoke.

Consciousness, however, did not treat him well from the get-go. Rising from his place on the ground, he took the time to observe his surroundings.

All around him, his scanners picked up massive amounts of… organic life. All of the life forms that surrounded him were not Cybertronian in nature at all. They were all different, composed entirely of a different basis. He could detect no form of cyber nucleic acid from any of the creatures.

These were all carbon-based life forms, not metal-based. It was strange to see these sort of life forms after having only seen them a few times in his entire life, and that was millions of years ago.

Standing to his full height, he realized immediately that something was wrong. He felt unusually shorter, as if he had lost height. In fact, his entire body felt entirely wrong, like he was in the wrong body.

He needed to assess himself immediately. Perhaps there was place where he could see his reflection. From there, a proper course of action would be determined and acted upon.

Shockwave took off in a run, once again noticing something out of the ordinary. Cybertronians were more than capable of feeling and processing things against their own metal skins. This feeling, however, was different from what he was use to.

He didn't have to wait long to find a source of reflection. He emerged from the forest to see a small pool of liquid. In his previous experiences, he had learned that this liquid was known as water, a sort of pool that could breed life.

From the reflection, he could see nothing but forest for as far as the optic could see. Staring down at his reflection, Shockwave wished that he hadn't.

His entire body was no longer robotic, but organic, save for a metallic left arm. His armor was gone, replaced only by simple attire to cover himself, mostly purple with some shades of black. He had one optic on the left side of his face, but the right side featured a single organic eye, red as his optic. There were two appendages sticking out from the sides of his head, presumably some sort of hearing mechanism for him see as they appeared mechanical as well and in the shape of his former head gear. His head was now covered in a strange fiber-like substance, and seemed to serve no purpose. This, like his outer appearance, was also purple.

Shockwave made sure that this figure before him was indeed himself by testing his reflexes, moving his arms, legs, body, and head. He even moved to touch the fibers on his head. It was him in the… he didn't really know what to call his new form.

It was some kind of skin.

Now that he had confirmed that he was indeed this… life form, he needed to find the nearest form of civilization.

Maybe once he discovered where he was, he could figure out further what to do. If he was permanently within this form, then he would have to adapt to a new life. If he could revert back to his original, he would do so as soon as possible.

"There must be someone on this planet that can assist me." Shockwave registered the voice as his own, though it wasn't robotic-sounding. "I must find someone to help me."

His mind made up, he began the long trek forward, taking note that he would have to find proper forms of nourishment to sustain himself. As of right now, he felt at his best, but a self-scan showed that he would require liquids and a form of sustenance to maintain his energy levels. That would require some research first.

Something he would not be doing until he first made sure he was in no more immediate danger.

As he ventured deeper into the forest, he began to see what else his new form provided him with. It would seem that he had not been fully transformed into an organic life form. He still had access to a communications device, though it had to be internal seeing as he saw nothing on his outer body that resembled such a device.

He could also use his previous scanner technology to assess any object he chose, something he intended to make full use of.

While initially dismayed at the seeming loss of his Hyperflux cannon, he discovered quickly that like other Cybertronians, his robotic arm housed his weapon. He had tested it out on a single tree to see its lethality, and was more than pleased that it still retained its power. His ammunition belt was gone, and he wondered what it was that powered the cannon now.

It certainly wasn't energon, because he could detect no readings of the live-giving substance. It had to be an external power source.

No, he dismissed that logic. If it were external, he would know.

So perhaps there was something inside of him powering it?

If so, what form of power could a mere organic provide to power his Hyperflux cannon?

He added this on his list of things to research.

The sky had begun to darken, and the sight set him on edge. It was said that when things were beginning to look grim, it was best to to air on the side of caution. He recalled his previous combat experience to remind himself of what to do.

Shockwave felt something else around him. It was… something heavy, something alien to him.

If this was the reason the atmosphere around him had changed, he intended to find out what it was. It would certainly make for an interesting discovery.

His footsteps moving slowly so as to minimize the noise he was making, he began to climb a mountain. Although he was no acrobat and certainly not the adventurous type, he was more than capable physically. The fact that he now possessed two hands simply hastened his climb up.

While climbing up another sub-cliff section, he was instantly alerted to the sound of a screech, not unlike the Predacons that he had cloned in his time during the Great War. That told him that he needed to be cautious. Any creature that could make such noise should be treated as a potential threat. Few creatures screamed with such a radius.

Shockwave gripped another stable point with his metallic hand, noting the sound that the metal made when scratching the rock. It was easy to grip the cliff with his metal hand. His organic hand found it more difficult. The soft skin was very sensitive to the jagged edges of the rock, though not enough to pierce the skin.

He made it to the top of the cliff in seven cycles. What greeted him was something that didn't make sense to him.

All around him were strange creatures not unlike Predacons and Insecticons. They possessed arms, legs, heads, and tails. Some stood on two legs and possessed two arms. Others were four-legged. They came in various sizes.

The only real features that they shared were colors: white and black with red eyes that glowed. It made them stand apart from the otherwise stark environment.

What were these life forms?

Shockwave brandished his Hyperflux Cannon and carefully advanced forward. Although he had no facts or evidence to know how to proceed logically, something in him was telling him to move with caution. Whatever these life forms were, they were out of place.

As if sensing his presence, many of them turned to look at him. He stared back, with not a trace of fear. If any other Decepticon were in his position, he had no doubt that they would be reeling back in anxiety or fear.

He was not any other Decepticon.

The black monstrosities, when they first laid eyes on him, regarded him like a stranger, but no hostile moves were made. It was a game to see who possessed a greater stare. If intimidation was the game that the black and white creatures were playing at, Shockwave wouldn't be affected.

By his own calculations, a cycle had passed, and still nothing had happened. Deciding that nothing would be accomplished by him standing there, Shockwave took a risk, one that could be measured as logical and illogical.

The response was immediate as red eyes watched him carefully. Step after step, he approached the clustered group.

It wasn't until he had taken ten eleven steps that a roar sounded again, this time sounding like an aggressive one.

One with four legs charged at him, intent on ending his life. Shockwave anticipated the charge and simply shifted his body to move out of the way before firing his weapon, burning a hole through the creature.

He only had a moment to stare at it as it fell to the ground, and then quickly disintegrated into a black mist.

It was illogical. No living thing would deteriorate that fast. Even organic matter didn't just disappear like that.

These things were not organic.

Shockwave quickly had to do away with his scientific questions as he prepared himself for battle. Although not at the level of Megatron in terms of combat prowess, he was still a formidable opponent in battle, and most of the time, if needed, he could overpower autobots with relative ease. After all, a war that lasted for centuries taught him more than a few tricks.

His battle instincts taking over again, he quickly dropped to the ground, allowing another to soar over him, and he moved his arm, took quick aim, and destroyed the black critter.

A third came at him. This time, wanting to test his strength, he used his metal arm to intercept a paw intended for his head. He only took a moment to process that his strength was superior to this specimen.

He grabbed the enemy and quickly slammed them into the ground before stomping on its head, shattering it.

The fourth, this one a creature with a far bulkier build and far larger than Shockwave himself, lumbered towards Shockwave, roaring a challenge. The former mech only remained where he was, content to let this one make the first move.

The creature swiped, and Shockwave got out of the way, and fired back. The shot took a chunk off of its side, but this only seemed to spur it on. It lunged forward, trying to take a bite out of him with its jaw.

A most illogical move.

Shockwave rolled away again, and fired his Hyperflux cannon, this time, his target on its back, where a collection of jagged spikes protruding from its back rested. The result was a shattered back defense and a more enraged monster.

He was wasting energy firing like this. A good shot to the head would destroy it for good, he surmised.

The behemoth tried for a final time to kill him; Shockwave smoothly allowed the appendage that tried to squash him to squash the ground that he once occupied, and then he blasted its head off.

The body was almost gone by the time it collapsed.

Shockwave stared at the ashes that remain on the ground, contemplating his brief but informative battle.

These things were mindless, processing only the most rudimentary of intelligence, enough to move, to fight back, and to act as a wild animal. Essentially, it was like the Combaticons combined as Bruticus: a single directive to destroy the enemy.

But who was the enemy here? Or was he not really the enemy in the eyes of these black beasts?

There were no other creatures here, but there were scattered collection of buildings, all of them abandoned and partially destroyed to some degree. Since no one likely claimed ownership of anything in this place, it would be a good idea to salvage any equipment that could help him.

Shockwave took his time, carefully surveying each building and scrounging around for anything that had potential use.

His first stop was a shop with a strange language. He couldn't make heads or tailpipes with it, but he would remember it. He would probably have to once he reached some civilization. More importantly, it was confirmed that there was civilization to be found.

The first thing that he saw that would prove useful was a worn buy fully functional backpack, black, with some more letters of the alien language attached to it.

Shockwave grabbed it and swung it over his shoulders, securing it snuggly in place and then continuing on. The next useful item was a small lighter with a decent amount of fuel left in the compartment. A third item that he found under a table was a combat blade, no longer than his own hand, but a test quickly proved that it was durable and lethal.

Once he had picked the location clean, he made his way out, but before he could, something caught his eye and optic.

It was an image, but not like ones that were on holograms, but one rendered on a physical surface. A closer look had him staring on in question. There were three figures there. One had a distinctly bulky features, one had a more curvaceous figure, and the third was a smaller version of the first one.

It didn't take long for Shockwave to piece together what he was looking at: a sire, a carrier, and their offspring.

It was then that his comms were picking up static, normally not a thing to be focused on, but static indicated that he was beginning to intercept channels.

He tapped a hand to the side of his head. "Is anyone reading my on this frequency? Respond immediately."

"I read you. Who is this?" A distinctly femme voice, authoritative as well. "How did you get this frequency?"

A better question was how was he able to understand this language and speak it? He knew that it certainly wasn't Cybertronian.

He recovered quickly.

"Is this frequency restricted?" Shockwave treaded very carefully, going with a truthful answer. "I found it by accident."

"Yes, and quite frankly, I should have you arrested." Whoever she was, she was displeased. "But right now, I've got more pressing concerns. I've been requesting help, but no one's answering."

"What do you need help with?" Shockwave ventured, knowing that he potentially could have something to gain. "I may be nearby."

"You are nearby." The voice deadpanned. "I downgraded this frequency to short-range, no more than five-kilometers in all directions. If you can hear this, than you can help."

Now he was being volunteered. Shockwave disliked being commanded by anyone other than Megatron, but this situation was unique. He needed to adapt to survive, and that meant playing by someone else's rules.

"Understood." He said. "I will need a way to locate you."

"Look for a flare." The person on the other end replied. "Firing now."

Shockwave heard the sound of a dull explosion, so he moved outside to locate what he had heard; he looked into the sky, and saw a bright yellow glow in the sky. He tracked the trail of smoke left behind to triangulate its point of origin.

"I am moving." He reported. "I will be there shortly."

"Make it fast." The voice snapped. "Incoming Grimm. Suppressive fire!"

Grimm? What was that term? Who were they fighting?

Shockwave made his own final preparations before taking off as fast as he could. He felt himself running, and it didn't feel any different than in his Cybertronian body. This body, however, tired more quickly.

A flaw in organic bodies as he drew more breaths, a necessity to be certain. To require a specific atmosphere in order to survive made things… limited.

The sounds of gunfire unique to his audio receptors, for lack of a better term, were getting closer, and there were lot of them.

Were the enemies that numerous, or were they expended ammo trying to fight a few foes? Or maybe they were simply wasting ammunition?

If these people were a military of some sort, than they would be easy to deal with. Shockwave was a high-ranking officer in the Decepticon army, and a valued asset right alongside Soundwave and Starscream.

A bright flash caught his attention, and he carefully weaved through the thick of plant growth.

From his viewpoint, he watched as a multitude of figures cut down those black beasts. One was femme, dressed in attire of all white, as was her hair. The two blades she carried were thin, but still deadly enough to kill.

Flanking her were several figures. At first, they appeared too robotic in nature to be anything living, and upon closer inspection, Shockwave could see that these were indeed some form of mechs, though as to how intelligent or advanced they were he wouldn't be able to tell from watching.

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he fired, taking down one of the smaller ones, and he continued to rain shots down upon the mutual enemy.

It wasn't until they were cleared out that he even gave his new query a glance.

"You must be our help." The femme held her blade, but not in a hostile manner. "I expected someone… much older."

Why would that matter to this femme?

"That is inconsequential." Shockwave reverted his weapon back into a hand. "What's the current situation?"

"Firstly," she crossed her arms, clearly trying to assess him, "I need to know how you can help us."

She acted like that he was incapable of doing things, and even with the vast control of his emotions, it irked him when he was treated like this. Starscream had done this on more than one occasion.

He wanted to be agitated, but seeing as he didn't know this being, and knowing that he was in a delicate place, he ignored his pride.

"I am a scientist," Shockwave cooly responded, "If that means anything to you."

"What is your field?" She questioned, this time intrigued.

"Biotechnology and engineering." Shockwave decided to narrow to his most-used fields, although he knew a great deal more. "Which is more useful to you?"

"The latter." The femme replied immediately. "We took a hit while fighting off a Nevermore. Our ship has sustained damage. We were attempting to radio for help. We got you."

She motioned for him to follow, and he followed her, easily keeping pace with her, her robotic guards following her, no doubt watching him for any sign of him being a danger.

Her entire posture, the way she moved, it was definitely military-like, and she seemed to be reluctant to be sharing information. Classified information was knowledge that the Decepticon scientist was privy to. Now to have that taken away from him, it certainly changed his perspective.

When he first laid eyes on the ship, he could see the problem immediately. For starters, some large object was embedded into its side. For another, smoke was pouring out of the engines on the sides. The overall design suggested a craft clearly of military design. It was shaped in a way that no civilian craft would be made. Even if it wasn't a Cybertronian craft, he could see what this craft was meant for.

Shockwave's initial calculations put this vessel as 39% compromised, which mean significant damage, but not enough to permanently ground the ship.

"I will need to inspect the inner damage to assess the full status of the craft," Shockwave conveyed, "But you will not require reinforcements."

"Understood. I will let the crew know and allow you access."

Without her guidance, Shockwave moved forward. He was greeted by another soldier, this one armed with a rifle, and some armor. He seemed a bit intimidated by his presence, and that was not a new thing.

"Show me to the main engine compartment." Shockwave requested.

"This way." The male soldier led the way.

When they arrived at the engine room, Shockwave found it to be in disarray. Parts were scattered, both old and new. It looks like someone here had tried to begin fixing it, but then didn't finish.

"As far as I can tell," the soldier said, "The dust tanks leaked just enough dust to superheat the engine, causing the thing to shut down for cool-off."

"Leading the ship to falling." Shockwave concluded. "And the hull integrity?"

"Fine for the most part." The man commented. "But I'm more worried about the wiring and the other internal components."

"Understandable." Shockwave did a moment of thinking. "What were you hoping to accomplish?"

"I was checking for obvious damage, but that's about all I can do." A sigh came from the soldier. "I don't have the tools or the expertise to diagnose thoroughly."

"I will see what I can do." Shockwave picked up a part. "What is your name so that I can call you for help if need be?"

"The name's Hunter. I'll let you get back to work, mister…"

Hunter was asking for his name, and Shockwave wasn't sure what to tell him. He couldn't say his Cybertronian name without making himself look suspicious. He needed to get out of this question.

"I need to accomplish this task." The former mech explained. "Perhaps after I can converse."

"Alright." The organic shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be around."

Left in relative silence and solitude, Shockwave could now begin his work in earnest. The first thing he did, once alone, was access the ship's systems. He needed a better grasp on the language, and this ship was the best bet for obtaining a means to translate the lettering into something he could read.

However unlikely, it would seem that he still possessed a few functions of a Cybertronian, as he was able to immediately read and understand the system, and found it unsurprisingly easy to access. It was even more fortuitous that the ship possessed more than enough data for him to read the language.

Now equipped to read, he began to work on the ship systems. As Hunter had explained, the substance called dust had leaked out, and due to the nature of the dust used, a fire-based dust, some of the components suffered heat damage, and in an attempt to cool itself down, the engine system immediately shut down, thus forcing the landing. Judging by the fact that the ship wasn't buried in the ground, there was enough control to glide down safely, or some form of emergency landing was used.

Shockwave first priority was to find the leak, which was difficult considering that he was working with some simplistic tools, not at all suited for intensive repairs. He was having to resort to his own hands more and more to simply get into the innards after having thoroughly analyzing the assembly.

The leak, when he did find it, wasn't as severe as it was made to sound, but if this was enough to shut off the engines, then he needed to fix it. He needed some form of metal to patch up the breaches, or some sealant.

If he had access to his tools, he could easily make the repairs. That thought lasted moments as he went back to work. Thinking up "what if" scenarios and wishing for things to be convenient was illogical.

The present was all that mattered right now.

Deciding that it wouldn't harm the ship, Shockwave stripped away some non-critical metal plating with his strength and began to make incisions, cutting precisely-shaped pieces in order to cover the leaks and then used the torch to weld the metal, but careful not to disturb the dust contents within.

The patchwork for the tanks took approximately thirty cycles, a fast time given his lack of equipment.

The presence of one familiar... female didn't stop him from working, but he still tilted his head slightly in her direction and nodded.

"I see you're making progress." She said, her tone controlled, but still curious. "You seem to know exactly what you are doing."

"My entire life has revolved around this sort of work." Shockwave wasn't one for idle chatter, yet he could do so if he chose to. "It is second nature to me."

"I see." A slightly softer tone had entered her voice.

It would seem that she was more grateful than she cared to let on, something that he took note of.

"I may need another 60… " Shockwave stopped himself from saying the wrong unit of measurement. "Minutes."

"The damage is that extensive?" She asked.

"The damage is not as severe as it might seem," Shockwave began, "But in order to guarantee that the ship does not sustain further damage from simply doing it's intended purpose, I must be sure."

"Understood." She turned to leave. "By the way, I don't believe we've properly introduced each other."

For the first time in their brief conversation, Shockwave turned to face her. What took him slightly by surprise was when she reached out with a familiar gesture that all Cybertronians knew all too well.

A servo shake, or rather a handshake for these, what was the species name again, Humans, was it?

"My name is Winter Schnee." The woman appeared to have become less stiff, but she was still professional. "And you are?"

Shockwave only had moments to think of a name, and with only access to this ship's data, he was limited. So with that, he began to run a scenario through his systems to come up with a name.

So he quickly put together a name.

"I am Shael Watson." Shockwave spoke robotically, and took her hand.

"A pleasure." Winter responded, though she seemed… intrigued.

Shockwave also noted the way the shaking of hands was exactly like that on Cybertron. This might just be a coincidence, yet it didn't seem so.

No matter, it was a trivial observation.

"I should let you work." Winter turned and left without another word.

Shockwave returned to his current task; with the tank leaks sealed, there was less risk of components being damaged. These circuit boards had been tested, but they looked to be functional.

That was fortunate.

The only other real problem was now to wait for the engines to cool down. Of course, that would take time, considering all engine systems were shut down until temperatures lowered to more acceptable levels.

"It would appear I can only reassemble the engine and wait." Shockwave mumbled to himself. "Perhaps a software analysis and communications diagnostics would be a productive use of my time."

The reassembly of the engine took an additional 20 cycles, and he was checked on during that time. He informed Hunter of the situation and was given permission to access the ship systems for further recalibration.

At the front of the craft, Shockwave pulled up holographic screens and began to work his programming know-hows.

He had been so consumed in his work that he hadn't noticed that nightfall had begun to descend upon this world.

It was the first time that he gazed upon the sky, and it was for the first time that he noticed something truly new to him.

The moon that gave some light to the night was shattered.

Shattered moons are illogical, Shockwave thought.

This story was more for my own amusement more than anything else. Shockwave has always been one of my favorite Transformers character, though mostly because of the potential in his character. Despite being seemingly only logical, the mad scientist actually has the capacity for more than just rationality.

I intend for this story to be a sort of humorous one that puts Shockwave into conflict with things that are illogical to him and seeing how he copes with them. I'm not particularly good with being funny, at least not intentionally, but I will do my best to make situations at least something entertaining.

I'm not looking for a large following for this story, but feedback would be appreciated, especially with regards to Shockwave's characterization.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading, and remember:

"Everything is funny, as long as it's happening to someone else."

Will Rogers

I take my leave.