The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 35

This was not the first time that Shockwave felt close to becoming one with the All Spark.

Ever since that blasted experiment of his, Fortress, rebelled, he had endured a long and tortured existence.

The bot that Shockwave had created from the old body of his dear friend, hoping to relieve his despair to some extent by creating a replica of his friend, tearing his creator apart by giving in to his innate savagery, and reducing the old scientist and councilor into the mess he is now.

All of this, because Fortress felt wronged. Because he believed that he was made simply to replace the Monster of Kaon, which enraged the Cold Constructed bot.

To some extent, Shockwave acknowledged that it was indeed a lapse in judgment to make him exactly as Maximus, going so far as to give him an advanced hacking suit that mimicked Maximus’s outlier power, along with installing all of Maximus’s combat skills into the young bot.

But the old Decepticon still believed that the majority of the problem arose from what he had mixed into Fortress’s C.N.A., hoping that he would not perish like Maximus supposedly was.

A decision that backfired on him spectacularly.

As he felt his spark thrum slowly, losing its radiance and power, Shockwave could not help but chuckle wryly to himself, looking at the data in the virtual space that his consciousness had retreated to within his brain module.

Indeed, he was no stranger to almost dying. Even now, as he watched the vitals of his brain module and spark fade rapidly, he did feel all that surprised.

While it might appear to be an effect of the shoddy Shadowplay that he had performed on himself all those millennia ago, it was, in fact, because he had grown tired of everything.

So much so that he was no longer afraid of dying. He would welcome the end as an old friend, especially to escape his current fate.

His only regret would be that he would not be able to see his old friend one last time. Especially after Fortress used the knowledge of his survival to taunt the old mech all the time ever since Maximus’s exploits with the Star Seeker came to light.

“Forgive me, Maximus. I failed you. I failed our people. I even failed myself.”

With that whispered apology, the old bot readied himself for the end, all the while keeping an eye on his vitals so that he would at least know what happens when a bot dies.

However, fate had other plans for the old bot.

Suddenly, Shockwave felt pain. Pain the likes of which he had only felt when that damned Autobot shot his optic and caused the spacebridge to collapse on him, throwing him randomly on Cybertron.

However, instead of succumbing to the pain, his cold mind latched onto a single fact.

He was feeling pain, not just in his brain module and spark chamber, but all across his body.

Something that should be impossible since Fortress had torn him apart and used him as a macabre decoration in his former lab.

Watching his vitals, Shockwave felt a semblance of shock pass through his thoughts as he watched his vitals rise rapidly.

Whatever was happening outside, it was healing him in some way.

Quickly, the old scientist tried to access his physical systems, mainly his optics and audio receptors.

To his surprise, they did not need much coaxing like they always did after Fortress destroyed him. His senses responded to him immediately, just like they used to before everything.

Without delay, the old scientist opened his mono-optic, and came face to face with the disappointed and relieved look of his old friend.

“You are awake. That’s good.”

“…Maximus-“

“Later. You will talk later. And trust me, you will talk, because there are a lot of things I want to know, starting with why there is a Clone of me roaming the planet. But all that is for later. For now, shut up and let the Cybermatter do its job.”

“….Wow, I’ve never seen you tear into someone like that before.”

Shockwave did not have the energy or freedom to move his head yet, but based on the voice, he could tell that the speaker was a femme. Her words made his old friend turn to the other side with a glare.

“You stay quiet as well and stop squirming. If you don’t stay still, the bath will take longer to cleanse the Rust storm’s effects from you.”

“Geez, fine. No need to be so grumpy.”

Assured that this was no optical illusion, Shockwave finally succumbed to his need for stasis and went offline, for the first time in a long while, allowing himself to relax fully.

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I stared down at Shockwave’s body that was being healed by the Cybermatter, the liquid slowly repairing the devastating damage done to his frame.

During my travels, I had heard of what happened to my old friend after that bastard Alpha Trion’s actions. I heard of how he tortured the Prime as revenge.

Truthfully, I felt touched that he cared so much about our friendship. On the other hand, I was also livid that he would do something so stupid as to perform Shadowplay on himself.

But what is done is done.

Right now, I do not care about any of that. I only care that my worst assumptions had been for nothing, and my old friend was still with me.

Primus knows how afraid I was ever since I returned to Cybertron and saw its state.

With the silence in the lab engulfing my mind, I let myself drift off into memories of a time long past.

Yes, there would be time for talk later. For now, I just want to bask in the relief that I felt, knowing that I finally met one of my old friends, even if it was under very bad circumstances.