((Yes, I have yet a third FOC/RvB story. I was really on a kick that day. This features OOC, as do the others, and I'm sorry to say that Kickback is an idiot in this. I am a big Kickback fan, to be honest, but I just loved putting him in the role of Caboose. This combines the beach scene from Blood Gulch Season 3 and Wash killing/blowing up South from season 5.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Transformers, no matter how many times you ask.))

I'M NOT CRAZY, OKAY?

Many had considered Shockwave crazy for positioning his tower directly in the Sea of Rust, even if there was a fresh Energon supply there. After all, the harsh winds and constant rust battering the surface would reduce the building to a brittle corpse of it's former self in mere stellar cycles. However, there was another motive that led Shockwave to place his tower in that spot: it was the sheer accumulation of Insecticons in the location. The unique hybrid of organic and technological that they were, Insecticons fascinated Shockwave and terrified all else who had to face them. The cyclops, however, knew that most Insecticons were about as mindless as drones, only intent on survival and run by instinct.

These four, however, were different. Sharpshot, Hardshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel were unique in that they possessed individual minds of their own, able to think and reason, but still linked to the Insecticon hive. Shockwave had discovered the four trying to pilfer Energon from his supplies. Luckily, he had stopped the guards from eradicating them and had brought them into his tower.

Now the four sat in a waiting room, the Cybertronian equivalent of elevator music playing from the speakers overhead. Hardshell was sitting uncomfortably still and rigid, Kickback was nodding his head and humming in time to the music, Sharpshot was looking like he wanted to dismantle the room piece by piece out of sheer boredom, and Shrapnel was flipping through a datapad. Four sets of optics were cast upward when Shockwave entered with a heavy tread, his single optic burning through the four.

None of them reacted quick enough to stop him when he raised a blaster and shot Shrapnel dead on the spot. "I only need three of you," he said briskly, putting away the smoking weapon.

"Wow," Hardshell was the first to say, "he's a cold fragger."

Sharpshot looked from Shockwave to the corpse and held up his hands. "Okay, I've got a great idea," he said in a slow, talking-to-a-crazy-person manner. "Let's all put our guns down and not shoot anyone we've only known for five seconds."

"Relax," Shockwave told him.

"Exactly," Sharpshot nodded. "Let's all relax."

"I did not see the logic in allowing one extra Insecticon to remain when I only required three," Shockwave said. "I merely did not wish to waste the Energon."

"Riiight," Sharpshot nodded. "Okay, sure."

"Stop talking to me like that," Shockwave snapped.

"No one is talking to you like this," Kickback assured him in a slow voice.

"You don't need to treat me like that," Shockwave retorted. "I'm not crazy, okay? I'm totally, completely sane. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go dissect this dead body." Shockwave picked up Shrapnel's corpse and started off into a separate room.

"Sharpshot, remind me—why are we doing this again?" Hardshell asked, turning to the other Insecticon.

"It was either this or have those guards kill us," Sharpshot reminded him. "I'd prefer the former to being dead."

"I like him," Kickback remarked with a cheerful smile, completely oblivious. "He's nice."

"Kickback, he tried to kill us and just killed Shrapnel," Hardshell reminded him.

"I try not to remember the bad things about people," Kickback replied.

"That's all he did. There were no good things!" Hardshell argued.

"That's okay, I have a really bad memory…wow, hey look, an Energon lake!" Kickback hopped over to the window to look outside. Hardshell and Sharpshot shared a fleeting look.

"Okay, so what do we get out of this?" Hardshell asked again.

"Free Energon," Sharpshot said.

"I guess I'm in,"

In the side room, there was a slight sizzling, and a loud explosion, along with a siren blaring. They both heard Shockwave mutter, "Hmm. Curious."

"So you don't think this will turn out negatively in the long run at all?" 'Shell pressed. "Like giant fire-breathing dinosaur killing us all bad?"

"Hardshell, don't be stupid," Sharpshot scoffed. "When will that ever happen to us?"

~Present Day~

Sharpshot gulped when, having been knocked to the ground, he was faced with a giant metal T. Rex, fire glowing in it's mouth.

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Sharpshot managed to scream before the T. Rex mauled him. "Okay, I admit it, Hardshell was right, Hardshell was right!"

"Yes," Hardshell, secretly inside, whispered to himself. "Maybe this means I'll finally get a speaking role, and the respect I deserve."

~Even more present day~

Hardshell towered over Wheeljack, preparing to kill the Wrecker. However, before he could, the sound of missiles being fired caused his head to snap up.

"Oh, you have got to be fragging ki-" was what he managed to get out before he was blown to smithereens.

~In a galaxy far away, farther into the present day~

Kickback smirked to himself, propping himself up in his makeshift throne, high grade shifting to another hand. "And that is why I'm the only Insecticon to get a toy," he muttered to himself. "Yeah. I'm awesome like that."

((Yeah, the ending kinda sucked. I don't know where it came from, to be honest. But I did notice-Kickback is the only FOC Insecticon to have gotten a toy, a Generations toy no less, unless you count Prime Hardshell's tiny Cyberverse toy. Clearly the former is a fan favorite.))