Chapter 36: Reformatting Beacon is Logical

Laboratory

November 24th, 80 A.G.W.

2000 Hours

Shockwave had to return to Beacon to teach. Beyond his obligations, he had a new plan that he was now executing.

Thanks to the information that he had obtained from the Relic of Knowledge, he knew that in order for Remnant to move beyond its current status quo, both Ozma and Salem needed to be disposed of, and since the former was easily accessible, it was now or never. It would only be a matter of time before the headmaster figured out what he was doing.

That said, in order for Ozpin to be subdued, controlled, or otherwise dealt with, the man in question would need to be the proactive one. He would need to be the one to initiate any further interactions between himself and the Decepticon. That would give the wizard a false sense of control.

The simpler thing to do was corner Ozma and simply siphon him for all the knowledge that he had, maidens, relics, and all. The Cybertronian-Faunus hybrid was certain that the man could be easily cowed into submission simply by appealing to the fears that were preventing him from pulling the trigger against Salem and the world.

It seemed that with time, the problems of Remnant were only becoming more and more apparent. It was like reliving the days before the War for Cybertron, the days of many problems and few solutions.

Shockwave honestly did not think about those days much. He would never tell anyone, but those days were ones that he held close to his spark. Those were the days that he had changed fundamentally, and not because of any choice of his.

Really, the more he thought about it, the more parallels he could see between Ozma and the High Council. These were individuals who imposed their will upon others with the intent to further their own goals, positive or negative. Intentions meant little in the end; it was only that the few thought they could force the many.

And Salem was a little better. Behind a cloak of secrecy, she was essentially a child lashing out at everything and everyone because she did not have her way. Never once had she considered that she was illogical in her actions and pursuits. Egotism and selfishness had all but clouded her judgment and the consequences had already been felt by this world.

Getting back to Ozpin, the one thing that could not happen was his death. The man no doubt would groom his next inhabited body to take up the mantle of safeguarding the relics under the pretense of maintaining world peace. It was illogical that death, a normally permanent solution to dealing with annoyances, was not an option.

Shockwave's eye and optic turned to the sight of Amber and his creation. The Fall Maiden was a fool for thinking that the creature was a domesticated house pet. The only reason that it respected her was that it sensed her innate power and though she likely did not realize it, her overall demeanor, while kind, was confident and poised.

He pursed his lips. "Your romanticism will be the death of you one day."

"You've become a real spoilsport lately." In response, the brunette gave him an annoyed look. "I know that you aren't a chipper person by nature, but-"

The Decepticon cut her off. "And I have not been for millennia. I have no logical reason to be."

Yes, he casually threw out information that hinted at his alien life because even if she knew, who would believe her if she revealed his secrets?

"...tell me about it." Amber's voice became soft. "Your life before Remnant."

Shockwave cast a sideways look at his resident maiden. "... what logic is there in speaking about my past? It will not serve my mission, your purpose, or anything of importance."

"Maybe it won't." She separated from the Project Predacon subject. "But I'd like to know you better. You believe everything happens for a reason. Well, why you're the way you are has to be for a reason. I want to understand why."

Did she know? Of all the times to get to know him, she decided that now would be the time.

The Fall Maiden was not a malicious person by nature, but he could not help but wonder what her motive was. Naive though she might be at times, she was not a fool.

The Decepticon stared into her eyes. "And what would you do with that knowledge should I reveal it to you?"

"... I would understand what fuels this… madness." Amber placed her hands on his left forearm. "Why are you so driven to be logical? This is not normal."

She called his logical processes madness?

Absurd.

Shockwave, perhaps for the first time since meeting her, gave her a serious expression. "Because circumstances forced me to become who I am now. I did not become who I am now because of choice… not my choice."

A very brief summary of his very detailed story from bright idealist to cold rationalist. No doubt she would ask many questions, questions that he had no wish to speak of. The people who did know were either offlined or otherwise silenced.

"... tell me about it." Amber had closed the distance completely with but a few centimeters between their faces. "I want to know more about you."

She had been doing that a lot lately. Getting closer to him be it physically and emotionally. Truthfully, he did not despise her presence, but beyond what his logic saw, he was reluctant to go further.

The scientist did not back away, but he held her eyes. "If you believe the actions and decisions I have taken which you are aware of are horrid, you have only begun to glimmer the surface of what I can and will do."

"Then I won't judge you. I will only listen." The Fall Maiden was strange. "I think I can do that much at least."

How much more time would he waste trying to dissuade her from this conversation? Far too long, his logic determined, but then why was he reluctant to speak on such matters?

…

…

…

Shockwave muttered quietly, "I should tell you to get fragged, but I suppose you would not listen."

"No, I will not. Even if I don't know what that means," Amber replied with a smile on her face.

The Remnant equivalent was equally foul, so he would not bother.

All the same, he knew what she was trying to do. Having spent so much time with him and having not become repulsed by his presence, the scientist could not help but respect her, even accept her to a degree.

However, if she thought that he was about to speak of his past as if it was something to give away simply out of kindness, she was sorely mistaken. Either she would have to figure it out or she would have to be content with what she knew.

Decepticons, current or former did NOT talk about the past. "Ask as many times as you wish, but my answer will not change. There is nothing to talk about; what has happened cannot be changed."

"... I see." Amber pursed her lips.

She clearly was not accepting of his response, but she knew that she could not challenge him on it, so reluctant compliance was all she had. It was good to know that she knew exactly what position she was in.

If she began to show signs of defiance or any indication of disruption to his plans, then he would have to kill her and use one of his clones to replace her as the Fall Maiden. It would not be a difficult thing to accomplish.

With his piece said, he faced away from her and began doing some work on his terminal where all collected information from Remnant began to appear. If he could work to the end of the day with no further distracting conversations, it would be a good day.

Then he felt Amber come up from behind him, but he ignored her. He was not about to interact with her again; he had already wasted enough time speaking to her.

But she did not engage him with words. Instead, he felt her arms wrap slowly around his midsection and he then felt her body press against his back. She then carefully placed the right side of her face against him. The Fall Maiden continued to remain silent, but she remained physically attached to him.

After only a microsecond of processing her action, Shockwave decided to ignore her and continue working. So long as she did not impede his progress, he cared not for what she did or did not do in his presence. He did not even stop to consider why she was doing this because there was no logical reason to. If the time came when he needed to ask, he would rewind his memory and think about what was happening.

Now he had to consider a way to plot against Ozpin and Salem.

Perhaps all he needed was to push in the right direction.

Transformers - - - RWBY

Beacon Academy

November 25th, 80 A.G.W.

1600 Hours

His presence in class had been felt, but he had not been lacking in ways to teach them. He had provided them with months' worth of material to learn, practice, and refine on their own time. He was going to be giving out a test.

For some students, that meant they could take it easy and procrastinate until he returned, and for the few that were stupid enough to cross this path, they were quick to realize their folly; the professor had given out a surprise test immediately upon his arrival. Suffice it to say, more than a few people were caught off guard and unprepared.

Three out of four members of Team RWBY were eager to see Professor Shockwave. And even though Blake was clearly reluctant to see the man, the team more or less forced her to join them. The faunus girl had never explained why she felt so uncomfortable around a fellow Faunus, but it didn't matter. They were all going to see him.

So when classes adjourned for the day, all four girls made their way to the science labs, where the man himself was resuming after-class hours for students who had questions or wished to speak to the scientist in a more private setting.

Ruby was excited to go over the results of her pondering and theorizing about dust reseeding. It sounded like a crazy idea in concept, but the science and data behind were surprisingly detailed and accurate.

Weiss still had some lingering doubts about him, but he was nothing if not a great source of academia to bounce off on. Plus, with the status of her family in limbo, she had to focus on something lest she let her mind slip into dark thoughts.

Blake dreaded seeing him; he knew about her and she didn't give out her past freely, but the fact remained that she still was at Beacon and he seemed far more invested in other matters, so she supposed it could be worse.

Yang just wanted a good fight. As much as she enjoyed sparring with the likes of Pyrrha and some other students in the freshman class, she couldn't help but think about fighting the unbeatable Shockwave.

The way to the lab was quiet, dotted with only a few students here and there. Once they reached his door, Ruby was the first to open the door to step inside the classroom.

Inside, there was the cybernetic faunus, standing and staring at a hologram of something none of them could recognize. It looked like some mythical creature that fit well in a fairy tale of old, not a modern science lab.

But all of them knew that if it had his attention, however outlandish it might be, it was probably worth something. He didn't deal in things that didn't have any basis in fact or science, otherwise it had no importance to him.

Ruby carefully knocked on the open door. "Professor Shockwave, is now a good time to talk?"

"... come in." The man spoke after pondering the hologram for a few moments, then shut it off and faced them. "What does Team RWBY need of me?"

Yang shoved her hands into her pockets. "Nothin' particular just wanted to check up on our favorite teacher."

"Not for me," Blake muttered quietly under her breath. "Didn't even want to be here."

Weiss slapped the back of the cat faunus's head. "Hush, you. Must you be so rude to the man? He's taught us all a great deal and he's dedicated individual time to further educate or instruct us. Be more thankful."

"I can't believe you of all people are saying that." The raven-haired girl gave the heiress a deadpan look.

Shockwave regarded the girls for a moment before replying. "Leaving Miss Belladonna aside, I assume all of you have come to follow up on personal matters?"

"Yes!" Ruby stepped up first. "I've got just the idea to make dust and weapons into the perfect marriage!"

Weiss was next. "I wish to discuss current theory and perhaps debate it on the grounds of information that is questionable."

"For the record, I didn't come here by choice," Blake intoned, "And quite frankly, I don't trust you."

Yang smacked the side of her partner's head before grinning. "I want to fight. Just saying."

He didn't appear the least bit surprised by their requests nor did he appear overwhelmed by receiving them all at once.

"For now, I suggest that we schedule at a further date to discuss or take part in whatever you wish," Shockwave said, "And since I have taken a leave of absence, I have business with the headmaster that needs to be attended to."

Ruby perked her head up. "The headmaster?"

"It is nothing to concern yourself over, Miss Rose." He didn't explain any further. "For now, I will need to schedule appointments with all of you."

Yang pushed her teammates aside and stepped up first. "I want to fight again, see where I'm at, teach?"

"At the end of this week. After classes adjourn for the day." The man's red eye and optic stared unnervingly at her.

The blonde brawler fist-pumped. "Awesome! You won't regret it."

Having got what she wanted, she stepped aside. Ruby and Weiss regarded each other, then the former gestured for her partner to go next. The latter only took a moment to accept the offer and came forward next.

"Sir, I want to discuss my findings regarding dust theory." The SDC heiress kept her posture straight and her tone even.

Shockwave immediately responded with a time. "Tomorrow during lunchtime."

"Thank you, professor." Weiss bowed graciously. "I promise that it will be well worth your time."

Ruby then approached. "Me next! You, me, rockets, dust, reseeding, cool stuff!"

"The day after tomorrow." He understood her broken speech. "Before classes begin."

The scythe-wielder was pleased.

It was the lone faunus of Team RWBY that didn't step up to make a request, a choice that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team.

Yang went up behind Blake, grabbing by the shoulders and forcefully moving her to him. "You know you want to."

"I know that I REALLY don't want to." The former terrorist countered.

The blonde adopted a mock disappointed look. "Shut up, don't be a scaredy cat."

"It's called being cautious, thank you." Gold eyes could only stare at their teacher with wariness.

Shockwave waved it off. "She does not wish to speak to me. She does not need to. Was there anything else?"

"Um, no… unless anyone else has something." Ruby regarded each of her teammates.

Weiss shook her head once.

Yang shrugged her shoulders.

The team leader had her answer. "Okay! Nice seeing you, professor. Look forward to talking with you soon!"

"And do try to get some rest." The heiress gave a strange look to her senior. "I do not mean to pry, but you appear busier than ever."

Even when she didn't know what had become of her family, she still had enough compassion to at least try to see when others were busy as well.

Shockwave glanced at her, the first time he had looked clearly at any of them in this instance. "You seem exhausted."

"... apologies, sir. I have not been sleeping well.." Weiss, to her credit, kept herself under control. "I have heard no word from my family and that has my mind in somewhat of a frenzy."

Yang's humorous side subsided. "Yeah, no kidding. You've had to drink loads of coffee in order to stay away during classes."

"...coffee…"

Team RWBY heard him say the word, but the way he said made them all turn their heads to see him staring off into space, almost as if he was distracted.

"Um, sir?" Ruby timidly asked.

The scientist turned back to his console. "Something just came to mind and I must see to it before I lose it. We will speak later."

He didn't offer a further explanation and it was clear that he had something more pressing on his mind, so the four female students left the lab, closing the door quietly behind them.

The brawler scratched the back of her head. "Okay, what was that just now?"

"Um… inspiration?" The sniper took a shot in the dark. "I dunno."

The ninja shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know, don't care."

"What about coffee?" The heiress, as distracted as she was recently, also noticed his change in demeanor.

Eventually, they gave up on trying to find the deeper meaning behind his shift and simply went about their day. Maybe one day they'd figure it out or maybe he'd tell them. For now, it was back to the rest of their day as usual.

Despite everything going on in their personal lives and around the world, Beacon Academy wouldn't stop grinding away. They still had a job to do.

Heroes never took a vacation.

RWBY - - - Transformers

CCTS Tower

2200 Hours

Ozpin knew that this meeting had to happen and just to make sure, he had Glynda by his side. He didn't say the words, but she knew what was going on. They both had suspicions about Shockwave.

Of course, the man had continued his work as if the end of the world wasn't beginning and Atlas hadn't just fallen onto Mantle, effectively killing both cities and with virtually no time for either to evacuate to a safe distance. Reports coming in from Mistral weren't looking good. There were no survivors so far.

With so much negativity created around the world, there was a sharp increase in Grimm activity worldwide. Not only were the younger ones attacking, but so too were the older and wiser ones as well.

And of course, the rise of monsters naturally meant that there were more missions being given out to active-duty huntsmen and huntresses. The community was already shorthanded as is and now those that were still in were being asked to work overtime. If this kept up, there was a potential to recall retired members.

Military mobilizations were a great concern as well. Although not equipped to deal with Grimm to the same degree as their huntsman counterparts, the armed forces of the world still had their part to do; suppression and containment.

Basically, shit had hit the fan and everyone was scrambling to secure borders and people within the confinement of the kingdoms, Vacuo being the exception given that their way of life; they would simply have to adapt.

Ozpin knew why Atlas had fallen; the Staff of Creation was what had enabled it to do so. The only reason the kingdom fell from the sky was because the relic had been used by someone with access to the vault as well as knowledge of it.

James made sure that Fria was kept safe due to her advanced age. The people who knew that she was the Winter Maiden were few. It was limited to the headmasters, the Maidens themselves, and those within the inner circle.

Which had led Ozpin to suspect his newest members. Shockwave had recently been to Atlas and just shortly after Atlas had fallen, he returned from his sojourn to Atlas. The story of him going there to collect samples for his own research was suspect, even if there was no clear and concrete proof to say otherwise.

Which was why he was calling the man into his office. And just to be sure, Glynda was there in case something happened. While escalation was not ideal, it was best to be prepared just in case.

The elevator beeped and in stepped the scientist. His eyes focused on the headmaster immediately, the two men sizing each other up. Those eyes were unlike that of Salem, who was full of hatred and anger. These eyes were utterly indifferent and uncaring.

In a way, that scared the wizard more than his former lover ever did.

"You wished to see me," Shockwave stated it, but he did not ask.

Ozpin settled himself. "Yes, I have some questions for you and they will be blunt."

The newest teacher of Beacon sat down at the chair that was unoccupied.

Ozpin took a drink of coffee from his mug.

"Atlas has fallen. Both it and Mantle are now gone along with millions of people. What do you know of it?"

Throwing around accusations would certainly not get him an answer, so he would piece it together based on some innocent questions.

Shockwave did not move. "I had already returned to my lab to conduct further research and development into the completion of my latest project when Atlas descended and then collided with Mantle. I heard of the tragedy through Amber and she seemed more concerned with my lack of reaction to the ordeal."

An expected answer and quite frankly, one that was not satisfying. It was bare on details, at least the ones that the headmaster wanted. Maybe asking roundabout questions was not the way to do this.

Another drink of coffee.

"...I'll be direct." Ozpin stared at the man opposite of him. "Did you have anything to do with the fall of Atlas?"

Shockwave stared back, not even blinking. "...yes. I wished for the spirit within to create something I required for my work. I was aware of the warning regarding how only one creation at a time can exist."

In his line of work, an outright admission of guilt was extremely rare to come by and apparently, he was not the only one who was perturbed. Glynda appeared just as flabbergasted at the lack of attempt to deny, dissuade, or evade the truth.

"You do realize that I cannot overlook this." Ozpin narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of the indifferent man. "You realize that I will have to turn you in to the authorities and that more than likely, you will be held to account before the world."

The wizard searched for signs of any distress, agitation, or body language that could indicate what the now-discovered mass murderer could be thinking.

The scientist simply remained unchanged in his demeanor. "I realize that my crimes are of a large enough magnitude to warrant such measures."

No signs of anything that would indicate he was in any way alarmed by such a declaration. He was treating it as if this was par for the course.

But how?

"Did you not hear me? You will be tried and most likely executed before the Council of Vale as well as Mistral," The headmaster replied in a much more firm tone, "That's not a matter of if, but when."

Shockwave immediately moved to disagree. "Your words are the logical course of action should you speak the truth to the proper authorities and people in high power. However, that is only logical if you manage to get the word out to anyone. As far as I am aware, the CCTS towers still are under maintenance in light of the loss of the tower in Atlas. The only way you can hope to spread information is by running."

"...what are you getting at?" Already, the tension and hostilities were flaring.

He still another swig from his mug on instinct.

The question was never answered as Glynda cried out in agony. Ozpin's body twirled around, spilling what remained of his coffee on his desk.

He was too late to do anything as he found the assistant headmistress impaled through the torso by a blade. The wielder on the other side?

"Cinder Fall?" The wizard thought she was dead.

Shockwave rose from his seat. "Not quite, but it does not matter. The rest of the world does not need to know about my crimes, not if you are silenced before word gets out."

Ozpin grabbed his cane, but the moment he did, he found himself struck with pain inside. He fell to a knee, clutching the place where his stomach was.

"What… have you… done?!" The downed headmaster could only manage to wheeze.

Miss Goodwitch had collapsed to the ground in a pool of her own blood, her eyes devoid of any signs of life.

The scientist had moved to the other side of the desk in order to stand in front of the kneeled. "You are of no use to anyone."

"... I will not let you win." Ozpin collapsed on all four. "Even if you kill me now, I will come back."

The traitor said nothing for a moment. "...yes, so Jin has told me. That is why I will not kill you, merely contain you."

…what?

Before he could fully process the fact that Shockwave knew about his immortality, he felt a hand grab him by the hair and force him to look up. Those red eyes at this moment were the scariest things he had ever seen. The complete lack of anything resembling humanity sent a lightning bolt down his spine.

"Your mind may not survive, but considering how many reincarnations you have experienced, you will likely endure for a short while."

Then Ozpin felt something being jammed into the back of his head and then he felt his entire body freeze up.

He could not move. He could not speak. He could hardly do anything except breathe.

He could feel the real world in front of him for but a moment.

Then he felt his mind fade into blackness.

The last thing he witnessed was the coffee he had been drinking now fizzling and bubbling strangely.

Coffee didn't do that.

…what had he just drunk?

Transformers - - - RWBY

Shockwave had thought that the man's mind would last longer, but it had collapsed quickly. Even an average Cybertronian was able to survive the Cortical Psychic Patch for at least a little longer.

No matter, his first priority was to contain the man's mind, which meant reprogramming it to be unable to reincarnate. Basically, it meant separating the different lives of Ozma and isolating them from each other. The memories and skills were restricted to one lifetime, unable to coordinate and plan with the others.

With bodily control effectively cut off as well, the immortal was unable to physically interact with the world around him. This was only a temporary solution, however.

Shockwave motioned to the clone of Cinder Fall. "Secure Goodwitch's body and obtain blood samples. She may prove useful."

"As you wish, master." The duplicate obeyed without question.

Unlike the clone that was dispatched with Penny to retrieve the Lamp of Knowledge, this one was bred with the sole purpose of assassination. The first clone could not be used because she was now the Spring Maiden and no doubt Ozma would have been able to detect that power quickly or any of the maiden powers for that matter.

The main Goliath in the room as the saying went was how to deal with the student body as well as the rest of the staff at Beacon Academy. Any prolonged absence of Beacon's headmaster would not go unnoticed, but there was a simple solution: compel the man behind everything to speak the full truth to everyone.

Ozpin's word was law and anything he said was to be heard. All that had to be done was his mind rewired so that he would be forced to tell everyone the full reason behind all of his actions, not the ones he professed to follow.

Once the truth was out, no doubt would there be short-term panic and confusion. The huntsman community as a whole would be thrown into disarray at the realization that their lives had been spent on nothing more than a lie. The Council of Vale would be thrown into upheaval in order to quell the negative emotions that would result.

Shockwave understood that taking this course of action would irreversibly change the course of Remnant's future. There would be an all-out war with the Grimm. There would be many casualties in the conflict. This time, however, it would be the last war that the monsters of the past would ever fight.

"Now the real work begins." The Decepticon stared out into the distance of the night. "It is time to point these children in the most logical direction where their skills are most effective."

In order to take control of Beacon Academy, he would need the support of the student body as well as the faculty. It would not be hard to obtain that support seeing as what was to come was unlike anything any of them had ever faced.

While everyone would scramble and cause disarray, he would begin to implement his own plans and contingencies and show why he was the most capable leader in this time of crisis. Although these assets were not Decepticons, they would suit his purposes fine.

And unlike Megatron, I am not a slave to my own pride and ego. Shockwave knew of his former leader's weaknesses and knew how best to mitigate those problems as well as cover his own. Logic will guide everyone to the path where stagnation will no longer be the status quo, but an afterthought of the past.

Remnant was illogical.

And it would be made logical.

One way or another.

I'm back after being so busy these past two months. I've been promoted and that means I've got to start ramping up my efforts at work, so that's why I've been slacking when it comes to writing.

So admittedly, Shockwave has been holding back, but now that he's realized just how much the world of Remnant is wrong, he's going all-in on his plans because why not? And at this point, who can stop him? Even if he hadn't concocted all of this stuff, he still has more than enough to take on pretty much everyone on Remnant without much effort. Even in the case of Ozma, what are a few millennia of combat experience in comparison to a few million years of combat experience?

For those who might be wondering, I'm using a mix of TFP and IDW lore to create Shockwave's backstory. That being said, you're not likely to see many flashbacks and long scenes regarding the past. I want to play it like Soul Eater: the past is hinted at, but it's not considered important to the story being told. Plus, I wanted to buck the tradition of the protagonist spilling the beans about his past and whatever traumas go with it.

So Amber's little attempt to get closer was successful in a sense, but not in the way she wanted. Shockwave is NOT going to be the type to reveal any emotion because he perceives that as weakness and in whatever situation possible, he wants to have full control of Amber and anyone he's using.

So yes, this dude is a real piece of shit for using people the way he does.

Thoughts on this chapter? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

"A man of knowledge lives by action, not by thinking about acting."

Carlos Castaneda