Never Was
Disclaimer: A bizarre idea that came to me shortly after I watched the new Transformers Animated episode on Saturday on March 13th. I'm not so sure if it is a... "realistic idea", to begin with, but I will make it as "real" as I possibly can. This idea was bugging me so much, I had to put it down. So if you feel this isn't the best, you can tell me. It won't hurt my feelings, honest. This fic takes place before the events of Animated.
"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
-Edgar Allan Poe
"The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing."
-Joseph Addison
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"Your reasoning is highly illogical."
-Shockwave, G1 Episode
Chapter Four: The Great Escape
Unknown Planet
"What are we gonna do?"
Hot Shot frantically tugged at the bars of the cell, even chewing at them with his dental plates several times. He shook Shockwave by the shoulders in desperation.
"How the slag are we gonna bust free?"
Shockwave gave him a push, toppling him onto his back. "Autobot, I am seeking a means of escape. If this tiresome tirade has a point, will you please be brief?"
Red Alert gave Hot Shot a comforting pat on his shoulders. "Don't worry, we'll be fine," she assured him, "No one's going to turn us into scrap on my watch." She glanced up and heaved a sigh, not content with the obvious fact that maybe there was no hope. She did not want to believe it.
Hot Shot groaned and beat his head on the bars. "At least we're going to die together," he pointed out. He glanced skeptically at Shockwave and gestured to a corner. "Shockwave, you go ahead and die all the way over there away from us."
Shockwave leaned forward and noticed an alien guard by the prison doors. He instantly assessed the situation and turned to Red Alert. She shrugged her shoulders, not catching on to the plan that may have been painfully obvious.
"What?" she said.
"I have a plan to get us out of here," Shockwave told her, "However, it will require...female services."
Red Alert did not like the sound of that.
The alien guarding the cells pricked his head up at the sound of coy whistling ahead of him. He looked up, surprised and noticed a finger beckoning to him from one of the cells. Curious, he walked over to the cell that housed the three recent prisoners.
"Hello?" he called, grinning.
Red Alert put on the charm, smiling and swaying her hips back and forth. "Why don't you let us out of here and I can make it worth your while, big boy?"
The alien giggled mindlessly and turned, not noticing Shockwave to the side. His hand shot out and grabbed the alien by the throat, holding him against the cell. The alien gagged and thrashed, struggling to pry the metal claws from his neck.
Swiftly, Shockwave snapped his neck and the alien collapsed to the floor in a dead heap. He quickly grasped the keycard dangling from the dead alien's belt and swiped it through the locking mechanism. The second it flew open, they quickly rushed out.
"Okay, what's the plan?" Red Alert asked.
Shockwave glanced down at the dead alien and tapped it with one foot. "We retrieve our weaponry and take what we can from their supply."
Hot Shot and Red Alert stared at him in disbelief. "You mean, steal?" Hot Shot gasped.
Shockwave looked down at him with disgust at his unease. "No, I mean take what we can and do what you need to survive." he said, sternly.
The two Autobots were none to comfortable with the idea of stealing anything, regardless of their condition and treatment from the alien species. Being young and new to the harshness of the universe around them, Shockwave could only silently chuckle at their naivety.
"You will not be at fault for this," he told them, "I will do the stealing."
Hot Shot glanced up and grinned. "Well, we're free!" he said, rushing for the doors.
Shockwave gestured at the doors. "Hot Shot, we don't know what's out there yet!" he insisted.
Hot Shot laughed. "I'll tell you wha-" He rushed out of the doors. A long pause. Finally, he ran frantically back in with a yell. Following behind him were the two Rhino aliens.
"Get back here!" they bellowed. The second they almost skidded into Shockwave, they cried out in terror and turned to run back the way they came, but the Decepticon seized their tails and prevented them from going anywhere. They struggled to pull free, but only succeeded in falling flat on their faces.
Hot Shot grinned down at them. "Sorry, guys, but I'm not on the menu today." he sneered.
Shockwave tsked. "Hot Shot, stop it," he snapped. He glanced down at the Rhino aliens. "Here at last. Now I can dispatch the two of you. You saved me the trouble of having to find you myself." He watched them whimper in terror beneath his feet and decided on a much better idea. "Unless of course, you would be so kind as to direct us where we must go."
The two Rhino aliens stopped struggling and glanced back at him with painful smiles. "Sure, sure, just don't kill us!" the shorter one begged.
"I will be the one to decide your fate," Shockwave told them, "If there will be no further betrayal, then I will consider the thought of sparing your wretched lives. Now, take us to your place of storage and we will be on our way."
The larger Rhino scoffed. "And how do you plan on getting away with this, anyway?"
Shockwave thought about his options. The organics posed a point. Either way, there was an idea. He chuckled softly to them and they paled, not sure they would enjoy his plan.
O
The two Rhino aliens grimaced, putting on the expression Shockwave had commanded to do so. They carried chains that trailed a path to the three Transformers. They had given the impression that the three were bound and without any means of escape. Shockwave had planned it so they could sneak into the storage unit without any trouble.
"Put on the expression like I told you." he ordered.
Hot Shot tittered. "Easy for you to say, you don't have a face!" he whispered, mockingly.
"Would it be easier if I removed yours?" Shockwave hissed, menacingly. "For this plan to work, you must all perform properly!"
The two Rhino's halted as a parrot-like alien walked up and grinned. "Hey! Where you takin' the prisoners, guys?" he asked.
They wavered somewhat and the larger alien grinned. "Well, we were told to give 'em the last tour before they were ground up!" he sneered, "Ya' gotta torment 'em with their last hours!" He winced as Shockwave kicked him in the backs of his legs.
"Hah!" the parrot alien laughed, "So true!"
The second he walked away, the two Rhino's dragged the robots to the back of the storage unit and fingered with the keypad. Shockwave sighed heavily and pushed them aside, slashing his claws down the metal and tearing the circuits. They sparked wildly and the door roared open.
The Transformers and the Rhino aliens quickly rushed into the storage unit.
Meanwhile, the very same parrot-alien who had stopped them before approached Sal'uk. He was observing the carnage of the metal compacting and crushing the scraps to ribbons. "That was a neat thing that you ordered." the parrot told him, grinning.
"What?" Sal'uk asked, turning to him.
"Yeah. That deal that those three robots would get the last hours of their lives to see everything," the parrot alien said, laughing, "That was real nasty!"
Sal'uk gritted his teeth. "I never issued such an order!" he raged.
The two rushed off to catch the Transformers before they escaped.
Shockwave fitted his cannon into place and watched as Red Alert and Hot Shot retrieved their weapons. He shook his head at their uneasy motions. Autobots...who could figure them out. Even when it came to survival, they were still blinded by foolish morality.
Well that made little difference to him. After all, they were simply pawns in his game, no more, no less.
"Shockwave!"
"Hm?" Red Alert's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "What is it?"
Red Alert was poking at a few red cylindrical objects lying in a crate. Shockwave approached and took a hold of one. They were of Cybertronian design. They looked to be explosives of some sort. That was when he had an idea.
"Hot Shot, how fast can you run?" he asked.
He stared at him with a broad grin. "Pretty fast!" he boasted. And then, he grunted suspiciously. "Why?"
Meanwhile, Sal'uk and several of his men circled the storage unit, electrical prods at the ready. "Get ready!" he commanded, "Those machines are in there! Take them apart!"
Suddenly, the front doors blasted off of their hinges, sending the aliens catapulting backwards. Shockwave stepped out of the smoke, cannon glowing red and smoking. He held it up to Sal'uk and chuckled softly.
"Looking for me?" he said.
Sal'uk rose and snarled angrily. "Weren't there three of ya'?" he snapped.
Hot Shot and Red Alert bolted in opposing directions and the aliens at Sal'uk's side gave chase to them. Hot Shot panted heavily and touched the COM-link at his head to communicate with Red Alert.
"I hope that lugnut Shockwave knows what he's doing!" he cried.
Sal'uk rushed at Shockwave and the mech reached up with one clawed hand, grasping Sal'uk by the face. The alien gave a sharp grunt and was lifted off of his feet. He struggled against the robotic grip and reached behind his back for a peculiar device that resembled a disk. He reached up and just as he did, Shockwave seized his hand and tsked.
"Considering your current situation, I do not think that it is thoroughly wise to test me or my patience." Shockwave warned.
Sal'uk snarled and thrashed in the robot's grip. "Release me!" he shouted, "I am ruler of this world! You are a mere machine!"
Shockwave was nearly amused, despite the unnecessary act of it. An organic that had a sense of arrogance to assume what it was he should be doing.
"Remarks from a fleshling carry little weight to me," he told him, "And I think it best that we put an end this little tirade."
Sal'uk's eyes went wide and his face tensed in agony as he felt Shockwave's grip tighten on his arm and face. The emotionless eye stared down at the wriggling alien.
Meanwhile, Red Alert had stopped running long enough to look over and see Sal'uk torn in half by Shockwave's powerful arms. She winced at the gruesome scene and looked away, blocking out the dying screams of the alien leader.
Shockwave's lower body was dripping in green alien blood and he pressed a foot into Sal'uk's dismembered corpse. He reached down and picked up the strange disk. He began to wonder just what it was that Sal'uk had planned with it. Maybe he would perform a few tests to figure it out.
Red Alert and Hot Shot met up with him and Hot Shot grimaced in disgust. "Whoa, you look even worse than before."
Shockwave payed no mind to him. "Their leader attempted to use this peculiar device on me before I finished him." he replied, glancing over at Red Alert. He was silent for a moment. "For whatever the case may be, his intentions were by no means just."
Hot Shot shook his head. "Well, geez," he muttered, "I mean, you took out the leader and spared us the need to take out everyone else. It would have taken a lot out of us both."
Shockwave glanced down at him. "You mistake my generosity for regret, Autobot," he said, "I only offer my assistance because it suits me."
Hot Shot rolled his optics as they walked away from the city. They passed the aliens, who had halted in their attack to watch the robots warily. After the disposal of their leader, they saw no need to attack. They were worried only for their own skins.
"Of course," Hot Shot muttered, sarcastically, "Why would I believe you'd do anything for anyone else on your own?"
"Oh will you just stop your incessant whining?" Shockwave snapped, "You are making my logic circuits ache..."
O
Note-Still took some time to update. Sorry for the wait. I'm trying to come up with some more ideas and the ones I do have...which to write first...HMMMM.