Chapter 1
Cybertron. . .
Home to one of the most notable, destructive and chaotic race in the galaxy. . .
Scratch that, the most destructive and chaotic race in the galaxy.
Since the Golden Age, Cybertron was known to be a peaceful race with channels of science and technology extending to other planets. The planet was and still is extremely vast in that regard, and the populace, the Cybertronians were revered in more ways than one. Some planets respected them for their ingenuity, some for their power, some literally even revered them as gods due to their size, intelligence and abilities. In some cases, they are. Nigh immortal beings the size of buildings, almost impossible to kill thanks their armor along with their insane durability, and the firepower of even just a few of them could screw a planet over if they aren’t ready. At that point in time however, Cybertronians used their knowledge to help other planets, used their science to transform them into something greater, all with the intention of making the galaxy a better place for all.
However, in the great words of whatever dickhead thought to write it: All good things must come to and end, and boy it did.
Caste Systems were nothing new to Cybertron, it had appeared before even the Functionists, but at that time it was more of a societal expectation than anything. It was kinda like a white man being surprised a black man doesn’t like sports. It was an expected outcome of anyone in that race to do sports, but that didn’t mean it was impossible to go outside that threshold. However the moment Functionism was a thing, it was very clear that it became enforced. At that point a bot’s worth was determined by their alternate mode, something they had no control over, and even then cold construction methods later used felt like someone WANTED you to suffer in the castes. Newborn Sparks were not safe anymore, everything had an order, and stepping out of line meant death, mutilation, pain beyond measures, basically any sort of punishment given to those who were meant for absolutely irredeemable criminals. Maybe in the eyes of the Senate defectors were that.
Freedom felt more like a law than a right.
One bot had taken it upon himself to rid the rule of the Senate and bring back equality for all. He had climbed from the deepest depths of the mines and into the tallest podiums of the Gladiatorial arena where his voice was heard the most. He had preached the injustices of the Senate, the oppression of their rules on those who had no choice in how they were created. The many Cybertronians succumbed to the brutalization and torture for even thinking of free will. Many heard his voice and chanted along with him, many wanted the same freedom that this bot had preached about but were to scared to voice it, now though? They saw one bot dare to challenge the Functionists despite their oppressive power and come out on top, and thought: ’He’s selfless enough to put himself at risk to help others despite his conditions, who am I to not join him?”
One bot changed everything.
That everything though? It was the worst everything that a bot could change.
What came after his preaching? Well war. . .
War beyond the scope of anything the universe had seen.
War wasn’t anything new, it was a simple of cycle of life and most times the intentions behind it were mostly for the betterment of others, just with different ways of doing so.
But like... take that concept and mix it with everything I had just said about the Cybertronians and what do you have?
War on a Galactical (maybe even universal) scale.
War where not a single planet in its wake were safe from these beings, these nearly unkillable beings.
War that lasted so long it eventually took the life of its planet’s originator.
Planets from across Galaxies heard the destructions the Cybertronians wrought against each other, neighboring planets were decimated or destroyed by these technologically advanced and powerful gods. Death and Destruction with every orbit Cybertron had taken, every rotation it completed. Naturally other planets chose the right idea to steer clear from these beings. Many people who were deemed foolish or brave tried to interfere in the war.
Peacekeepers tried to end it but only get accidentally stomped, shot down, or even give up (In some cases the war outlasted their lifespan).
War Profiteers all took this as a perfect chance to sell weapons, however many didn’t get far without their weapons being stolen, sold out, deemed obsolete, or even them being killed regardless.
Imagine that, literal money makers of war did not want to risk it.
This had been going on for millions of years, and other planets that had luckily survived it’s destructive path had been left to pick up the parts the Cybertronians left and rebuild.
Eventually, like all else, the war had ended.
Well not really ended but it had mellowed out, now bots eventually just got tired of the constant fighting, for a war that had lost its purpose in the first 10,000 year. Many bots, from both sides, had decided to stop the needless fighting and focus on repairing what they had destroyed, starting with their home planet.
Things were rocky, still is, but it wasn’t so bad...
However, a common trope with the Cybertronians (or life in general) is that it usually takes one bot to make things go from bad to a megaton worse.
The Offer
Spotlight: Shockwave
600,000 years of planning
That is how long it took for him to achieve this, to reach the final phase of his plan.
Regenesis
And with it, the power that granted him the very codes to reality itself
Enduring the struggles that the war had brought and stringing it to his favor, silently using higher ups within the Decepticon ranks that would be detrimental to his plans if they had known, ensuring those who opposed him died trying.
It all came down to this very moment to fulfill everything he needed to do.
Everything is about resources. Shockwave has always recognized this, and while those around him pursued power and politics and other petty concerns, the master scientist focused his superlative intellect on defeating entropy and securing the future of his species. A game-player and king-maker, Shockwave plans for everything, and while the shadowplay inflicted on him by the Senate may have robbed him of his emotions and morality, it did nothing to curb his ambitions.
That was the main reason behind Regenesis, to fully realize the potential variables that could assist in his vision for Cybertron.
Here he stands, in front of the two who impacted his life the most.
Megatron, the Decepticon Leader that started out with the ambition for equality, but soon devolved into tyranny for power.
Optimus Prime, former known as Orion Pax, the Autobot Leader that stood with Megatron but eventually strayed from his vision once he deemed it too inapt.
Both looked to make Cybertron into their vision.
Both became blind after fighting for so long.
However, Shockwave had never lost his sight, not even after his subjugation to empurata from the Senate. If anything, he only saw beyond the extensive scope others could see.
Ideologies and Morales were nothing but a variable that needed to be cancelled in order to substitute the whole equation.
In essence, he was grateful for what the Senate had done to him, otherwise he would not have gotten this far. The idea of emotions or morale would have hindered his progress, making him as short-sighted as the fools that thought to oppose him.
Everyone believed in something to give them purpose, to push them forward when no one else would.
Whatever, whoever they served were written on their chassis in the shape of the factions they stood by.
Shockwave however, may have the Decepticon insignia on his chestplate, but truly that was merely an alliance to gain the resources needed.
In the end, he served only one master. Pure Logic.
“So now you destroy the universe, Shockwave!? You have gone mad!”
Megatron grunted, barely dodging another blast from Shockwave’s Hyperflux Cannon. The beam carved through his chassis like a superheated blade, eradicating armor as though it were fragile alloy.
The Decepticon Warlord charged forward, energon crackling violently through his systems as a blue digital aura engulfed him. His left arm shifted, reconfiguring into his Energon Mace, glowing a furious violet that bled into the aura surrounding him.
His optics burned with that familiar red glow of defiance Shockwave had observed for cycles uncounted — even in the face of overwhelming power.
“RAAAAHHH!”
Megatron swung with absolute force. The mace expanded mid-arc, its sheer velocity shrieking through the air as though reality itself were being cleaved.
“I destroy nothing,” Shockwave stated.
The weapon never reached him. It collided with the energy field surrounding him.
CLANG!
Megatron’s optics widened. “Wha—!?”
Shockwave understood the reaction. Very few beings could survive — let alone withstand — an attack from Megatron at full power.
“I ensure the universe never was,” Shockwave continued, stepping forward, “save as eternal fuel for Cybertron.”
Megatron snarled. “Nonsense!”
His arm shifted instantly into the Fusion Cannon, firing point-blank.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
The blasts shattered harmlessly against Shockwave’s barrier.
Unphased, the scientist advanced.
Megatron retreated, swinging his mace again — only for Shockwave to vanish from his position.
“Tch!”
Megatron spun just in time to see him reappear behind him.
Shockwave delivered a single punch.
BOOM!
The strike was minimal in motion, yet catastrophic in result. Megatron was launched across the cavern, smashing through stone and carving a ravine upon impact.
He groaned, forcing himself upright, energon dripping from his mouth. “I should have killed you all those years ago!”
“And yet you did not,” Shockwave replied evenly. “A demonstrable failure.”
His cannon charged again.
BAM!
Megatron narrowly evaded the beam, but the explosion hurled him violently across the chamber. Another shot followed instantly.
Calculating in microseconds, Megatron fired behind himself, using the recoil from his Fusion Cannon to propel himself sideways. The maneuver worked — partially. The secondary blast destabilized him, slamming him into the cavern wall.
Shockwave continued forward.
With each step, the air fractured. Space warped. Time distorted in subtle ripples around him. The Time Drive’s energy bled from his frame in a cosmic violet haze, corrupting the atmosphere itself.
“You are too late to stop my plans, Megatron,” Shockwave iterated. “Cybertron’s rebirth is already inevitable.”
“A Cybertron of rote existence?” Megatron groaned, pushing himself upright. “No struggle? No change? No history? No life!?”
Shockwave aimed his cannon directly at him.
“Overshields!” Megatron barked.
His aura flared, forming a transparent blue sphere around his frame.
The beam struck regardless.
The shield shattered instantly. Megatron was blasted through the cavern once more, crashing and tumbling violently before finally skidding to a halt.
Shockwave descended slowly, hovering before extending his unweaponized palm.
Gravity intensified.
Megatron slammed into the ground, pinned immovably.
“Precisely,” Shockwave stated. “I create paradise.”
He approached with measured steps, the confidence radiating from him not emotional, but mathematical. The Time Drive had granted him power beyond previous quantification. It leaked from his chassis like radiation, distorting reality in his wake.
“I admit disappointment at your failure to recognize the parallels between my objective and your own.”
He stopped before Megatron, red optic flaring.
“This is, after all, the ultimate conquest.”
“The Decepticon cause was never about that!” Megatron roared, systems flashing critical warnings across his internal HUD. With immense strain, he attempted to rise. “We fought for peace! For equality!”
“Indeed,” Shockwave replied, his monotone carrying unmistakable sarcasm. “The lowliest cassette equal to the highest senator. Each life valued the same as your yellow companion.”
Megatron’s vents hitched — a minute reaction, yet unmistakable.
“Bumblebee was not my—”
“You were enraged by my termination of him,” Shockwave continued smoothly, “yet millions of Autobots perished by your hand — directly or indirectly. All life is equal.”
A fractional pause.
“I simply assign it a quantifiable value. Zero.”
“NO! You twist my beliefs!” Megatron shouted, forcing an arm upward in defiance.
Shockwave increased the gravitic pressure. Megatron was crushed back into the stone.
“Did I?” Shockwave asked.
His optic flared more intensely.
“You sealed this outcome the moment you executed Sentinel Prime. It was evident your ideals had long since degraded before I joined your cause.”
Megatron strained futilely as the Hyperflux Cannon charged to full output.
“Unfortunate,” Shockwave concluded, leveling the weapon at his former leader, “that you will not witness this… new Cybertron. Be glad that your story will live on... as a precautionary tale”
The chamber fell silent — save for the rising hum of annihilation.
CRASH!
A massive explosion thundered from the top of the cavern as two figures descended, one of them tackling Shockwave with enough force to make him stagger slightly before he could even fire, releasing his hold on Megatron.
“Enough! Shockwave, what are you doing!?” Optimus Prime yelled, straining as he gripped Shockwave’s cannon arm. Prime’s aura flared the same digital blue Megatron had used earlier.
“I have become the end, Pax…” Shockwave replied.
With a slight burst of energy, he flung Optimus away just as Ultra Magnus charged in, his body glowing blue as well. Magnus transformed his hands into his Path Blasters, firing as he closed the distance — every shot ricocheting harmlessly off Shockwave before they could reach him.
“I’ve heard that one before,” Magnus remarked dryly, slamming his shoulder directly into Shockwave—only to stop dead in the space between them. “The h-heck!?” he strained.
Optimus appeared at Shockwave’s flank, firing a massive, devastating blast from his Ion Blaster—powerful enough to level planets with less structural integrity than Cybertron three times over.
Shockwave simply extended his hand and caught the blast.
Silence fell for a fraction of a second.
“Scrap…” Ultra Magnus muttered, optics wide as he remained suspended in place.
Shockwave turned his helm toward the Autobot commander. “Futile…”
He released his grip.
The captured blast shifted direction instantly, screaming toward Ultra Magnus.
BOOOOM!
The explosion launched the Cybertronian across the cavern and into the wall, which collapsed inward on top of him.
CRASH!
“Magnus!” Optimus called out, shock and concern breaking through his composure before his gaze snapped back to Shockwave.
Shockwave barely registered him, he knew Ultra Magnus was well within the same tier as Prime and Megatron in terms of durability. He is alive, but well out of the fight for the time being.
Megatron had already repositioned behind the scientist with his energon mace raised high to strike.
“You never learn, Megatron,” Shockwave observed, evading the incoming blows with effortless precision.
Each strike carried enough force to crater a planet’s — yet none connected. Shockwave moved with unnerving fluidity despite the density of his armor. Even he registered the anomaly.
The Time Drive’s energy rendered the mass of his chassis negligible. The added velocity, combined with the gravitational distortions bending around him, reduced his weight to irrelevance — even with the Dead Universe contained within the device integrated into his frame.
“You will not win!” Megatron declared, spinning into a roundhouse kick.
Shockwave leaned back just enough for the attack to pass harmlessly before his optic registered movement in his peripheral.
Optimus Prime charged in, his hand transforming as he summoned his energon axe.
SHINNK!
The one-eyed strategist caught the blade mid-swing with absolute ease, the residual force circled around him in a frightening arc that sliced the entire cavern in half. His optic flared brighter as he pivoted and fired a blast at Megatron, who backflipped out of the way just in time.
CHKK—CHRR!—CHRRKK!
Megatron transformed mid-flip into his Cybertronian tank form, landing heavily as he charged his main barrel. Energy bled from the muzzle in a violent purple haze as he locked onto his target.
SHOOWM!
Shockwave simply pulled Optimus directly into the line of fire.
“Wha—!?”
BAM!
The explosion sent Prime soaring above Shockwave and into the cavern ceiling before gravity reclaimed him, slamming him back down with a pained groan.
Shockwave capitalized instantly, firing at Megatron before the Decepticon Warlord could process that his intended target had shifted.
BOOM!
CHKK—CHRR!—CHRRKK!
The blast struck Megatron squarely, sending him tumbling violently across the cavern floor. He transformed back mid-skid, skipping against the stone until friction halted him. He lay face-down against the cavern floor, systems flickering — temporarily out of commission.
Then Shockwave turned his attention to Prime, however the Cybertronian was nowhere to be seen.
HONK! HONK!
Shockwave turned just in time as Optimus Prime charged at him at full speed in the form of his semi-truck, ready to ram him across the arena. The attempt stopped dead in its tracks in the space between them. The force, however, did not dissipate — it harmlessly obliterated everything behind its intended target, carving an opening so vast and deep it appeared as though a planetary drill had bored through the cavern.
“We were friends, Shockwave!” Optimus Prime called from his truck mode, engines roaring as he pushed against the invisible barrier. The warped space between them prevented escape, allowing Shockwave to backhand him like an unwanted subject. The strike forced Prime back into his bipedal form.
Optimus attempted to advance again — until he slowed abruptly. Time crawled to a halt within the field surrounding him, courtesy of Shockwave.
The Decepticon Scientist raised his cannon arm, prepared to fire.
Then something occurred that he had never anticipated.
Hesitation.
Shockwave did not hesitate. Ever.
He understood that pausing for even a fraction of a nanoclick could prove catastrophic to any calculation in motion. Logic dictated that time was a constant, unyielding variable — it did not pause for sentiment. Why, then, should he?
It became clear that the Time Drive’s temporal distortions were corrupting him, dragging forth putrid remnants of a past existence he had long since compartmentalized.
“Friend… were…” Shockwave muttered.
Memories surfaced — of his life as Senator Shockwave, before the mutilation, before the “corrections.” He suppressed them instantly and fired, blasting Prime across the cavern.
“NO! There is no ‘were’! There just is! And I am all there is!”
Shockwave’s energy spiked violently, his godlike aura erupting outward at an alarming rate. Space warped. Time fractured. The planet itself trembled as causality bent around him.
“You, your past, your future! I am all that was or ever will be!”
He advanced, helm shaking slightly as more of reality cracked behind him. Blinding white light seeped through the fractures. The sky convulsed as time distorted across the universe itself — moments from countless lives, planets, species flickering overhead like a shattered chronal tapestry cast across the galaxy.
Shockwave stopped before the fallen Prime, his singular red optic locking onto him.
It was predictably clear what Optimus intended now.
“Given that you are no match for me physically, I expect you shall attempt to reason with me?”
“I fear that would make for a more stilted conversation. After all, we’ve been strangers for the last four million years.”
Shockwave’s finials — the horns flanking his hexagonal helm — twitched at that statement.
“The Shockwave I once knew — my Shockwave — was full of life. He would laugh at the world one minute, throw punches at it the next.”
Prime grunted, expending nearly all remaining energy just to sit upright.
“That Shockwave died when the Senate took scissors to his brain and carved his personality into new shapes… You died in an instant — one twist of a scalpel and it was over. Me? I bled to death slowly. A thousand battles. A thousand cuts. Every Autobot casualty a reminder of my failings as a leader. And when I sacrificed the Matrix to save Cybertron only for the people to reject me, I realized I was spent. All I had left to give was my name.”
He drew a strained breath.
“I owe my resurrection to someone who remembered me at my best. Let me do that for you, Shockwave. Let me remind you who you were — who you can be again.”
Orion Pax had always possessed a talent for rhetoric. In the past, Shockwave would have dismantled such appeals with effortless logic.
Now, however—
He offered no reply.
Without a word — and in an uncharacteristically petty display meant to obscure how deeply the words had penetrated — Shockwave fired point-blank at Orion, sending him hurtling across the battlefield. Prime slammed into the walls of Iacon’s caverns before collapsing to the ground with a pained groan.
Megatron limped toward Pax’s struggling frame, steam rising from his armor where Shockwave’s blast had nearly torn through him. Energons leaked from Prime’s chassis, sparks dancing across dented plating as he forced himself upright through system warnings.
“It’s always about you, isn’t it?” Megatron muttered. “No one wants to hear about your latest midlife crisis.”
Even at the brink of annihilation, Megatron could not suppress his argumentative instinct. Irritating. Predictable.
“Trying…” Pax grunted, struggling for coherence. “…to tell him… that people can change…”
Even through damage and exhaustion, he persisted in preaching.
Megatron paused.
His optics settled on the Autobot insignia still affixed to Bumblebee’s limp frame. Without warning, he tore it free from the fallen scout’s chest, sparks bursting from exposed circuitry.
Both Pax — and Shockwave — registered the action.
“What are you doing, Megatron?” Pax asked weakly, watching as Megatron held the symbol outward toward Shockwave.
Megatron did not answer him. His focus remained fixed on the Decepticon Scientist.
“SHOCKWAVE! You may hold the universe — all of space and time — in the palm of your servo… but I hold something greater.”
Shockwave processed the statement.
What variable had he overlooked?
“Once, this symbol represented our oppressors — the corrupt Primes and complicit Senators who forced us to follow our function, to live and die according to class. To serve.”
Megatron paused, selecting his words with unfamiliar care.
“You stood against them. And in retaliation, they twisted you into an unfeeling, uncaring creature.”
Shockwave’s optic did not waver as Megatron brought the insignia closer to his own chest.
“It has taken me until now to realize they did the same to me — by allowing me to destroy them. This symbol belonged to Bumblebee. My friend. He fought for freedom — true freedom — inspired by a Prime unlike any before him.”
Pax looked up at Megatron, confusion evident even through failing systems. Shockwave’s processors echoed the same uncertainty.
“My life has been dedicated to fighting this badge… but no more. As of today, I am a different being. And if I can change…”
No.
“So can you.”
NO.
This should not be happening!
He had calculated billions of variables—trillions of predictable outcomes before he even started this damn plan! He went through every speech! Every sentence he had expected from these two troublesome Cybertronians! He expected many things during this encounter, planned them himself! He was meant to be the apex in superiority, every quantifiable probability tested and responded to accordingly!
However, the one thing he never saw—never even occurred in the vast banks of his mind had happened right in front of him.
There was no way in the pits this is true!
“No! You are trying to confuse m-me!” he stuttered.
Shockwave never stuttered.
“Argh! You know unless I can focus, I lose c-control of the Time Drive!”
PZZT!
“Gah!” Shockwave screamed, clutching his helm as his optic blazed uncontrollably, his aura flickering violently against his chassis.
“No… we’re trying to help you gain control,” Megatron responded.
He stepped to Pax’s side, his optics briefly lingering on his rival before nodding once — a silent confirmation.
“Of yourself. Of your past… of the person you were.”
Pax simply nodded.
“Because you do remember who you were… don’t you?”
Senator Shockwave.
He remembered.
He remembered the life he had led before the mutilation inflicted upon him by the Senate.
He remembered the students he had mentored — Outliers and function-runt misfits alike — training their abilities for the betterment of Cybertron’s future.
He remembered the pain. The screams. The desperate cries for help as they carved into his mind and reshaped him into what he became.
And now?
Now he remembered the fatalities he had inflicted upon bots who had not deserved it. The betrayals he had orchestrated. The lives he had ended in pursuit of “logic.”
It hurt.
“URRGH! M-My brain!” Shockwave doubled over, clenching his helm as memories flooded his databanks. Old files forced themselves into empty partitions at the back of his processors, reorganizing at speeds far beyond what he could safely integrate.
“What have I-I done?” he whispered to himself.
The horrors. The experiments. The subjects he had condemned. Each recollection repeated like a recursive error loop, reminding him what he had become.
“What h-happened to me!? What have they turned me in-into!?”
His chassis began to overload.
The Time Drive’s energy destabilized within him, fluctuating violently as its power surged beyond containment. The only force that had ever allowed him to regulate it was the cold, painless logic he had adhered to so absolutely.
It had been the final thread holding his fragmented mind together.
That thread had now been severed.
“Fight it, Shockwave!” Pax called, forcing himself forward despite the energon leaking heavily from his wounds. “Think of our bench!”
Bench?
“The Ark 1 Memorial Park — our bench by the inscription! Next to the energon bar that was never open!”
Which bench?
“The bench with the broken leg!”
Wait… that bench?
“Remember? You said, ‘Forget overthrowing the Senate — I’d settle for a decent bench!’”
He did remember.
The day he and Pax had discussed dismantling the Senate’s corruption. The day they spoke not of conquest, but preservation — of treating Cybertronians as equals, not functions.
He had been the one Senator among them who still possessed a spark.
The only one whose integrity was not performative.
How long ago had that been?
“…And I fixed it myself in the end, didn’t I?”
Shockwave slowly turned toward Pax — his old friend from another lifetime.
“M-My greatest achievement… from fixing a bench to breaking the universe?” Shockwave let out a soft, incredulous sound. “How did that happen?”
He chuckled.
Despite everything.
Despite the collapsing spacetime and the destabilizing Time Drive embedded in his chest.
He chuckled.
An action he would never have permitted. An emotional display he would once have categorized as inefficient.
“So… that’s it?” Megatron asked cautiously. “We’re done? You can shut down the Time Drive now?”
His voice was hoarse, but unmistakable hope flickered in his red optics.
Unfortunately, it was not so simple.
“There is no ‘over,’ Megatron,” Shockwave replied quietly. “There never is. I am integrated with the Time Drive.”
He turned toward Megatron, earning a raised optic ridge as the implication began to process.
“Which means?” Megatron pressed.
Silence.
Shockwave looked down at the device fused into his chestplate, energy pulsing through its structure like a dying star.
Then he set his optic on Pax.
“Which means I must ask Orion Pax one last favor.”
Silence again.
Orion and Megatron exchanged a glance before turning their optics back to Shockwave.
It was clear what needed to be done.
With visible hesitation, they raised their weapons.
Orion Pax, however — ever the orator — needed to speak one final time.
“On behalf of everyone you helped,” he began, lifting his Ion Blaster and aligning it directly with the Time Drive. His optics never left Shockwave’s. “Every Outlier you mentored. Every function-runt you took under your wing. Every naïve young law enforcer whose eyes you opened. Every miner you ensured was safe.”
Megatron raised his Fusion Cannon in tandem, mirroring Pax’s stance as he waited silently for his former enemy to finish.
After everything between them — after cycles of hatred and war — the decision weighed equally on both.
“Senator Shockwave,” Pax said steadily, “I promise you I will remember you as you were.”
Those were the last words he heard.
Death.
That was the expected outcome of Shockwave’s story.
After everything he had done, after every life he had mercilessly taken in the pursuit of his race’s self-preservation, he believed that was what he deserved. He had spent almost his entire existence fighting. First, he fought to help others, only for that path to result in a punishment that shattered his very being. Then, when stripped of his morals and emotions, he still clung to grander ambitions of saving Cybertron. But the path he had chosen had been paved with unethical decisions, monstrous acts that eventually caught up to him
He had never expected to be one with the Allspark—not after all the atrocities he had committed in the name of logic.
Every Cybertronian was intrinsically tied to that realm; it was where their sparks were forged. Though he had never consciously entered it until now, his familiarity with near-death experiences throughout the war should have given him at least a vague expectation of what the Allspark would feel like.
And yet, he was not in the Allspark.
No, this place was different.
It bore a similar energy signature, familiar in its essence but subtly deviating from the original. If anything it seemed far more... potent.
Then, a voice called out to him.
“Shockwave...”
The former Decepticon scientist froze. His finials and wings twitched at the sound, his systems momentarily stalling. Slowly, he turned—and what he saw shattered the rigid walls of logic he had adhered to for eons.
This was impossible.
It was the only word his processors could conjure, the only thought that echoed within his fractured mind as he beheld the figure standing before him.
Primus.
Shockwave had never believed in gods. Not truly. He had dismissed such notions as the fabrications of the weak, myths designed to comfort those unable to face the void of uncertainty. He had spent his life adhering to the unyielding laws of logic, where efficiency equaled success, and belief in the intangible was an equation that could never yield satisfactory results.
Yet here he stood, facing the very being he had long considered a fable, a mere story created by hopelessly ambitious Cybertronians desperate for something to believe in.
His entire body twitched involuntarily, a subtle reaction only a god would notice. If Primus did, he chose not to acknowledge it.
“I see you are well.” The god’s voice was deep, resonant, and ancient, his divine blue optics lingering on Shockwave as if peeling back the layers of his being, gazing directly into his spark.
Shockwave required precisely 2.645 seconds to formulate a response.
“Why am I here?”
His tone was neutral, but his mind raced. If Primus had intended to judge him, he would have done so already. That meant there was another reason for his presence—a reason Shockwave could not yet calculate.
Primus raised an optic ridge at the bluntness of the question but seemed unsurprised.
“Why are you here?” he echoed, testing the question as if savoring its weight. “Considering you, I would not expect you to waste time on trivialities. You are a scientist, after all.”
Then, to Shockwave’s astonishment, Primus smiled.
Shockwave did not know how to respond to that. He had calculated thousands of potential outcomes, but the progenitor of all Cybertronians greeting him with amusement was not among them.
He was about to speak again, to demand clarity, but Primus spoke first.
“You are here because I have chosen you.”
Chosen?
That single word sent a cascade of subroutines firing through his neural processor. What did Primus mean? Why him? What could he possibly be chosen for?
Primus chuckled knowingly, as though reading the chaotic swirl of thoughts within Shockwave’s mind. He could explain, of course—he had all the time in existence—but thanks to a certain individual he was working with, Primus much would rather have Shockwave uncover the answers himself.
“Well, most of them.” Primus muttered fondly, almost as if reading Shockwave’s own thoughts.
Shockwave stiffened at the cryptic remark but remained silent as Primus continued.
“I saw the intentions you held in your life as a Senator. Even after you were broken beyond repair, your focus remained the same—the survival of Cybertron.”
Shockwave hesitated. That was true. But it was also a half-truth.
“That may be so,” he admitted, his tone carefully measured, “but my intention was to reshape Cybertron in my own image—”
“And yet, despite your methods, you prioritized Cybertron above all else.” Primus interrupted, his voice calm but firm. “You placed me over every other life in the universe. It seems to me that not all was truly taken.”
Shockwave’s single optic dimmed slightly. Technically, that was accurate, despite his twisted methodologies.
Seeing no logical rebuttal, he merely nodded.
Primus smiled once more.
“Good. But debating ideologies is not why I have brought you here.”
Before Shockwave could fully process the implications of that statement, Primus raised his hand. The ethereal blue energy surrounding them coalesced, forming an orb that hovered just above his palm.
“This, you recognize.”
Shockwave’s optic flared as he examined the sphere. Earth.
He nodded, waiting for Primus to continue.
“However, this is not the Earth you are familiar with.”
Shockwave’s helm tilted slightly.
“This Earth exists in another dimension, vastly different from the one you encountered in your own reality.”
Another dimension? The implications of such a revelation were staggering.
“You will be sent there,” Primus continued, “to combat a great evil that has taken root within that world. I cannot tell you as I myself do not know.”
Shockwave processed this information rapidly. A great evil? And he had been chosen to fight it? Furthermore, how would Primus know that this great evil even existed if he didn't know the identity, and why this realm specifically? The information and probability of information was impossible to quantify without further data.
Primus seemed to sense his skepticism. “Consider this a trial. I have seen both your ruthlessness and the care you once held before you were shattered. While your errors were many, it is the result of a forced path you never truly wished to take under other circumstances.”
Shockwave’s finial horns twitched. His optic flickered with something unreadable.
“You have spent your existence planning, fighting, betraying, and making enemies. But you have also wasted your life more than you have lived it.” Primus then gestured to the world floating before them. “I want you to go there, no longer as a Decepticon Scientist, but as your own person. To learn, to grow, to start anew and redeem yourself.”
Shockwave stiffened slightly as Primus’s statement, the word ‘redemption’ was a foreign concept to him.
“I know,” Primus said gently. “But just as Megatron has shown and Orion has proven, all beings have the capacity for change.”
Shockwave’s mind reeled back to that moment—that moment when Megatron had donned the insignia. The memory still haunted his databanks.
“I believe you too are in need of it. However, there will be conditions. Tests you must face.”
Shockwave’s optic locked onto Primus. Conditions?
“Three more Cybertronians will be sent to aid you. Ones I myself and the Primes have personally handpicked for you. Do not expect leniency though, as they could likely be your best ally or your worst enemy. Your job is to find a way to work around these handicaps, as they will be needed for the fight ahead.”
That was…intriguing. An unknown world. An unknown enemy. Potential allies with uncertain loyalties. Too many unquantifiable variables. The probability of perishing before even encountering this great evil was uncomfortably high.
But the prospect of a clean slate… that was something he had never considered.
A world where the sins of his past are forgotten.
With a single nod, he spoke at last.
“I accept.”
Primus grinned. “Good.”
POP!
And with that, Shockwave was gone.
Primus exhaled softly, an amused smile on his faceplate.
This will be interesting.
Primus perked up at the sudden swirl of energy rippling through his domain. He turned his helm toward the disturbance just as the energy coalesced into a figure—a woman whose presence was undeniable despite the blinding light obscuring her body.
Not enough to affect Primus’s domain as a whole, but noticeable nonetheless.
She looked almost… lost and incomplete. Part of Primus’s spark flinched at the punishment dealt to her, and for so long.
“Brother?” the woman called softly, genuine surprise in her voice as she beheld him. “Is that you?”
“Greetings to you too, sister,” Primus returned, floating closer. “It has been a long time…”
“How… long?” she asked. She looked around, clearly unsure of where she was. “How long have I been sealed? Why am I suddenly here?”
Primus drifted forward, placing a massive hand upon her shoulder to steady her. “For quite some time now—nearly over ten thousand millennium… And I myself have endured much within my own world.”
“Own… world?” she repeated, confusion threading through her tone.
Before she could press further, Primus continued.
“I have given much thought to everything that happened between us… And I would like to restart the project we once shared so long ago.”
“Pro… ject?” she asked, her mind straining to recall events that led to her current state. “Brother, I… do not remember anything of the sort. I only appeared here after I felt a ripple across the realms... ”
“My doing, I assure you,” Primus said gently. “I ask only that you trust me and provide help when you can as I can’t do this alone. It took eons to regain enough power needed to interact with your world and bring a fragment of you here.”
Though her face remained obscured by light, Primus could sense her hesitation. The uncertainty was understandable—she had awakened suddenly after ages beyond counting, thrust into a reality she did not recognize.
However Primus could also tell that she knew him, enough for her to remember their relationship and he’s sure she remembers him enough to trust.
“Thank you. I promise—you will return to what you once were,” Primus vowed, pressing a fist to his chest. “And all will return to how it was meant to be.”
The woman looked at Primus, her breath hitched slightly as it echoed across the realm. She stared at him long and hard, almost as if trying to find doubt in his eyes, but there was none, only conviction, the same one she had subconsciously grown accustomed to despite all these years of dormancy.
And that told her all she needed to know.
“Thank you...”
(AAAAAAAAANNND CUT!
Wow the word counts been crazy reduced...
Oh huh?! Oh its you. Happy to see you made it to the end of the chapter.
As you most likely figured out this story is of course a Percy Jackson and Transformers Crossover, however its not gonna be the usual media like Prime or Bayverse. As you can see from these events, this is a separate storyline from what most people come to know from the Transformers Media... unless you’ve read the comics.
Yup that’s right, this is the IDW Universe we’re talking about, this is the universe I’m mainly drawing from. Now I’m sure some of you are wondering but let me explain. See I decided to use the IDW universe because of two reasons. The first being that in this universe the Cybertronians here literally have enough power and strength to match and/or rival most of the gods in Olympus. Literally Megatron is on par with Zeus in that regard. So because of this, it’ll allow for some juicy character development and humbling and I can still keep the characters relevant enough to not be demigod human ally merchants. The second being that Shockwave is the most interesting character (IMO) in that universe. I feel like if someone was there with him during that whole travel back in time incident, he wouldn’t have actually fallen back to his old ways, so I thought it appropriate for Primus to intervene. Besides removing him from the timeline doesn’t necessarily change the story’s events all that much and it can be fixed with some slight writing so this isn’t damning like let’s say, pulling Optimus when he’s about to die in Transformers Prime protecting the base in Beast Hunters, cause the implications of him not being there would be catastrophic.
In all honesty it’s kinda annoying people tend to overlook the fact that Cybertronians had fought in a war that lasted millions of years, so when I see them do stuff or pull stuff out that sounds so dumb for hyper intelligent beings who fought for millions of years it hurts, even in IDW or other continuities they fail this. It’s why I liked Prime, the Cybertron games and others that play this part well, and you really get to see it in their characters as War Veterans.
Also I feel this is the perfect point in Shockwave’s life where his character development and redemption would work best, since he’s at his weakest mentally here. The sight of Megatron becoming an Autobot and the existence of Primus disproving the last remnants of logic he holds is definitely gonna rattle him. Will he remain the same? Yeah? Kinda? I’m not gonna rush his redemption as I want it to take time, especially with what I have planned.
Primus and Gaia (yes the woman is actually Gaia... buuuut not in the way you think) have a much better interactions I plan on diving into. Though it'll take a LOOOOOOOOONG time before we get to that ballpark.
Now if you’ve read the comics I’m sure you’re wondering why Primus isn’t with the rest of the Guiding Hand. Remember, I said MAINLY from the IDW timeline. Events of this current timeline has IDW as its basis buuuuut other involvements of the story can still happen, capuche? Also the Guiding Hand still do exist... just not in the way you'd think. Anyway, before I continue I’d just like to mention a few things.
Firstly, I’ll admit I do use a little AI to help with this stuff. BUUUUUUUT I only use it for mild editting. I actually write the entire draft myself and get the thing to sort out punctuations and all that. If you guys don’t like that fact, it’s fine, no one’s stopping you. However the Poster Art I did draw all by myself on my own. It's not crazy but it's better than my old one. Which old one? Oh yeah I forgot to mention.
I was at FF.net before but I've decided to expand. I've fully moved to AO3, but I wanted to expand here and test my luck. I may or may not still post Chapters in FF.net anymore.
Next, YES there WILL be ships. I have to make that very clear. There will be ships. Of course I’m gonna stick with the cannon ships from the main Percy Jackson series, but just know that there will be god/goddess to Cybertronian ships (cause frankly they’re the only beings able to keep up with a Cybertronian’s life span). If you don’t like it, oh well. Just make like Vegeta’s hairline and recede. Besides it’ll actually be important to the story.
Lastly, I am NOT gonna make Shockwave human. I REAALLLY hate the idea that fanfic writers of transformers take away the one thing that makes a transformers character cool... they transform. They might as well create another character at that point. There are some nuances, some that either have the human being able to transform certain parts of their body into their Cybertronian form and all that but still, no. So Shockwave will remain in his Cybertronian build and design, I mean canonically speaking the Cybertronians will retain their metallic shape no matter which dimension they end up in. Just ask Angry Birds. That aside though I’m still going to change one tiny tinieee little thing that’ll make Shockwave’s integration into the universe much more comfortable. What is it? Read the next chapter to find out.
That aside I hope yall have a good one.
CIAO!)
