Transformers Fanfiction: I Need A Hero
By Transformersnewfan
Summary: In despite need of funds, Shockwave hires a paranormal investigator group to film their television show on Cybertron. But when the humans visit a haunted prison, they get more than they bargained for.
Prequel to "If Only You Know," which can be found here: /works/16275209/chapters/38059319
s/13093504/1/If-Only-You-Knew
Disclaimers: All Transformers belong to Hasbro. Ghost Adventures belongs Zak Bagans and the Travel channel. Original character of Gravechaser was created by LadyClassical and Transformersnewfan.
This story is set a year before the events of "If Only You Knew."
Chapter 1:
At the Iacon Capital, deep in the spark of Cybertron, the annual State of the Planet Address was taking place.
President Shockwave was making his semi-annual address of the assembly. Seated at his right was Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons; Soundwave watched from the front rows, he had the rank and authority to sit on the solera but had no desire for the glory. Instead, he sat amongst his six sons; the youngest, Ratbat, was asleep in his chestdeck.
Almost all the Decepticons were in attendance: The Triple Changers, the Coneheads, the Constructicons, the Combaticons, the Stunticons, etc.
With most of the command structure in attendance, Starscream stayed behind on their Earth Base, with Thundercracker and Skywarp. The red and white Seeker was named Designated Survivor. This was done to guarantee continuity of Decepticon government in the event of a catastrophic disaster that killed the President, Decepticon Leader or the many officials in the line of succession. Unofficially, this was done because Starscream was carrying his triplets and was prohibited from Space Bridge travel.
Also, in attendance was the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Britain, many other human world leaders, the Emperor of Mars, the Junkions, and various monarchs, rulers, and czars from the surrounding planets. And, seated in the back, was the Leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, who was there on a special visa.
There were also many reporters from the Trans-Galaxy media, and the entire event was broadcast live.
"This past year also saw Cybertron establish her new highway connecting Polyhex to Iacon," Shockwave read his speech aloud to the utterly disinterested audience, but this was mostly because his presentation had gone on for well over three hours already, "thus concluding a four-year project at the cost of nearly thirty million credits."
As he concluded his address, Shockwave's already very serious demeanor became morose, "And lastly, I would like to update everyone on the historic memorial shrine in Iacon Square. After nearly seventeen years in the planning stage, the shrine will be named in honor of the Helixian rebel fighters, who fought bravely against the Elite Guard during the Golden Age Battle." He turned the pages, "Enclosed in your press packets is my extensively detailed financial report on the shrine," he looked up from his notes, "turn to page forty-seven, please," as he himself did so.
There was an audible groan from the assembly.
"How much longer is he gonna talk, Pop?" Rumble asked, "We've been here all day."
"Not much longer," Soundwave whispered back, "Megatron's scheduled to speak next."
"As you can see," Shockwave explained to the audience, "while the project is currently on track, the projected costs outweigh what had been budgeted by several million credits. I cannot stress to you how serious our financial situation is at this time." He looked out into the crowd, "I will need to research alternative fundraising ventures."
But by now, many in attendance had tuned Shockwave out, due to either boredom, hunger, or had been put to sleep by his monotone vocals. Astrotrain let out a snore. At the same time, Megatron stood, holding his datapad, and rocked on his heels in readiness to speak.
"Are there any questions?" Shockwave asked the crowd, before stating defeatedly, "Hearing none, this concludes my financial report. Thank you."
There was only a smattering of polite applause.
Only Shockwave's loyal bodyguard, a Vehicon named George, clapped with gusto, "YEA! YOU DID IT, BOSS!"
As Shockwave sat down to Megatron's left, the former Gladiator took the podium, and spoke both extemporaneously and from his notes.
"My fellow Cybertronians," he began, "Mr. President, your Royal Highnesses, your Excellencies, fellow Decepticons, members of the Trans-Galaxy media," his lip components curled in sarcasm, "Optimus Prime," and finished with a sincere smile, "and of course, Ma."
His Mother, the former Gladiator Esmeralda, nodded from the front row as the audience responded positively.
"The time is now," Megatron spoke in his most serious tone, "the time has come, my fellow Cybertronians, that we must act in order to right a great injustice. A great injustice that has been perpetuated for far too long. Enough is enough. It is time that we make things right. I call on the members of the Cybertronian Gladiatorial Hall of Fame to finally induct Whirl into her ranks."
"HERE, HERE!" Astrotrain shouted.
"YAY BABY!" Blitzwing stated with gusto.
The Helicopter-Bot in question nodded and waved; he was seated in the center of the Dress Circle, or Mezzanine; a personal guest of the Decepticon Leader.
"Whirl completed in more than one-hundred and twenty-seven matches," Megatron continued, "achieving finals and semi-finals in over ninety-five of his matches. In the Arena, Whirl was living proof that insanity in action was an effective strategy. With logic and wit on his side, Whirl turned crazy into an extremely creative weapon. Many times, I personally witnessed him wielding his dual blades, spinning them in mid-air as he ran towards his opponents, who would flee in terror at his absolutely insane maneuverers. His Helicopter Alt-Mode allowed him to move with the finest agility; he would bob, spin, dive, weave, and bank, as if he was out of control," he smiled, "or someone totally out of his processor."
Cy-Kill hooted and applauded loudly.
"I think we can all agree," Megatron finished with a bang, "those of us that are already in the Hall of Fame, myself, my Mother, Esmeralda, Cy-Kill, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Clinch, and of course, Impactor," he pounded on his chestplates now, "we call on the committee, we call on you now, the time has come, and the time is now, to advance the long overdue inclusion of Whirl into the Cybertronian Gladiatorial Hall of Fame!"
The crowd thundered with applause! Everyone, from Transformers to humans to Martians, stood and clapped, roaring with cheers and calls, "WHIRL! WHIRL! WHIRL!"
The Helicopter-Bot stood and waved, and the crowd got even louder with their applause!
And while Shockwave stood and clapped with the crowd, it was not the tone he had intended to end the State of the Planet Address on; there were serious issues with the memorial shrine in Iacon Square.
But then Megatron stated, "This adjourns our annual State of the Planet Address. Thank you all, thank you!" He waved and left the podium, signaling the end of the meeting.
Everyone was standing up and began to gather their gear; the media packing up their cameras and microphones; the former Gladiators chest-bumping.
Shockwave waited for everyone to leave the auditorium, he sat, watching the crowd disperse, and finally, the Vehicon auditorium crew turning off the spotlights and the Vehicon janitorial crew wheeling in their trolleys and begin to pick up the trash and paperwork that had been crumpled up and littered everywhere. The President couldn't help but notice several Vehicons had huge clear recycling garbage bags specifically for papers, and they were filled up with his discharged financial reports.
Finally, he packed his briefcase and stood, walking slowly out of the auditorium.
His bodyguard, George stood in the doorway, having a cigarette as usual, "Don't worry, boss," he told Shockwave, "you did baffo!"
"Thank you, George," Shockwave sighed, feeling rather down, "at least you were listening."
A lot of mechs were still mulling around in the hallway; Shockwave looked around and saw Megatron with his Mother, talking to their fellow Gladiators; Soundwave was apparently in the transporter.
"Excellent speech, Megatron," Shockwave was polite as always, "would you like to come back to the Tower for an early dinner?"
"Nah," Megatron shrugged, "first I gotta drive Ma home, and then get back to Starscream."
"Oh yes," Shockwave was concerned, "how is Starscream doing?"
"He's fine," Megatron rolled his optics, "just like he was fine when you asked me this morning, and he was fine when you asked me at the start of the meeting," he chuckled now, "and he was fine when you texted me five minutes ago."
"O-Oh, my apologies," Shockwave didn't realize he had asked so much, "it's just that he's carrying triplets," but he wanted more time with Megatron, "could you call me tonight?"
But the Decepticon Leader's CPU was elsewhere, chattering with Cy-Kill, "Yeah, sure."
With nothing else to say, Shockwave knew it was time to go home.
