Still scribbling random scenes from post-movie with no real plan of where I'm going with them, but I may as well post up anything that works as a one-shot!

Set within hours of TF:TM ending: Springer and Arcee do a recon trip to Polyhex and we find out what happened to Shockwave. NB: the first part is quite heavy on asexual romantic brooding, so decide your own tolerance for that before reading on. Otherwise, everybody's still pretty traumatised by the whole Unicron thing.

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Polyhex Fallen

When Springer and Arcee volunteered to scout out the Decepticon base at Polyhex, they were given orders to use their car modes rather than risk Decepticon air space. Springer had no objection. The feeling of the road passing beneath his tyres while he accelerated hard out of Iacon did much to clear his head. This wasn't his first time on Cybertron—nor Arcee's for that matter—but their experience was very limited and neither of them had been able simply to *drive* without fear of enemy fire. Today, there was open sky above and clear (for now) road ahead.

"Y'know, if you told me last week that today we'd be taking a road trip across Cybertron, I'd have been less surprised!"

She laughed, probably for the first time since they'd left Junk. "Five hours ago, I'd not have believed you if you told me we'd be alive now!"

"I'm still not sure I believe it! Which reminds me, thanks for having my back in there."

"Likewise!"

There had been a moment in Unicron, around the seventeenth time he'd accepted they weren't making it out alive, that he'd happened to catch Arcee's optics as they struggled to hold off those nightmarish clawed cables. She'd flashed him a tight smile without missing a shot, and it had occurred to him that there was nobody he'd rather die alongside.

Abruptly they ran out of road, and as his tyres squealed to a stop at the brink of a chasm, Springer reminded himself to keep more focus on the present. Arcee wasn't much better, swerving hard to avoid him and the edge. Both transformed and surveyed the damage: a deep rift extending for miles either side of the road; beyond, they could see at least three more running parallel to it. From the ground, they missed the pattern of Unicron's left hand which had raked through the area a few hours earlier.

"Pretty sure this is new." Arcee had diligently pored over the extant maps of Iacon's surrounding area for a training exercise the previous month. "Looks like we've reached the attack zone."

Springer linked his arm with hers and jumped them both over the rift, a move they'd practiced so many times that it needed no words. In the same situation, Hot Rod would surely have made some tease about her clinging to him, but the cultural ideal of "romance" had always struck Springer as heteronormative organic mimicry (or a sentiment to that effect until he had learnt that specific phrase from Perceptor). While Springer had done his share of flirting, it had always been more about ego than the other person.

It was only when he had met Ultra Magnus that he had found himself invested in somebody else. He wouldn't have characterised their relationship as romantic, and it certainly wasn't demonstrative, but he had literally crossed the universe for Ultra Magnus and when their century-long journey reached its end on Earth, the cynical Springer had signed up to the losing side of a war rather than leave his friend.

Yet in that desperate flight through Unicron, Springer hadn't spared a thought for his old shipmate. As he jumped them over the next three rifts, he wondered when Arcee had started mattering more to him than Magnus.

Unicron's thumb had not gouged as deeply as the fingers, instead leaving a broad valley of crumpled metal which they tackled on foot. It was here they found their first body—or rather half of a body: the tail-end of a seeker, one leg fallen out of the transformation.

Springer flashed back to the battle again and consciously suppressed a shudder. He had never been the spiritual type, but: "Thank Cybertron Rod found the Matrix."

"Do you think he'll be OK?" Arcee asked as they moved on.

"I think even the Junkions need a head to fix somebody. Or did you mean Rodimus?" She was clearly unimpressed, so he made an attempt at gravity. "Whatever upgrades the Matrix gave him, you can see it's still Hot Rod in there. He'll come through it all right. He always does."

"But as our leader?"

Springer shrugged. "How much has changed, really? Matrix or no matrix, Kup's going to keep looking out for him and it looks like he and Magnus have come to some sort of agreement. Those two know what needs doing, and they won't let *him* do anything dumb."

"Rodimus and Ultra Magnus don't get on," Arcee reminded him.

Springer couldn't deny that, but he was thinking of how Ultra Magnus had avoided him earlier. If Magnus was actively rejecting his input, then he must believe he had the situation under control. Sometimes Magnus was wrong about that sort of thing, but Springer was willing to give his way a chance. "They'll figure it out or Kup will."

There was a creak under their feet, and both stopped, reconsidering the ground ahead of them. Springer didn't fancy trusting his weight with it, and he backed up several paces for safety's sake before transforming to helicopter mode. Arcee waited where she was, absently catching his landing skid as he passed over her but still frowning over the topic of conversation.

She had always had a bad habit of hesitating. It had regularly driven him crazy over the past three years, but three years had given him ample occasions to see in her the same sense of purpose that he had followed in Ultra Magnus. He wondered if how she felt about Rodimus should bother him. It did, and he didn't know if it was for Rodimus' sake or his own.

Regaining the road, which was intact for the next few miles at least, they reverted to their wheels. It was easier to continue the conversation when he couldn't see her expression. "All we can do now is have faith in the kid, Arcee. He'll need that much from us."

"You're right." *That* was a rare concession. She sighed, convincing herself. "Things are going to be different, and we have to adjust. We're still a lot better off than we were—either this morning or last week."

Springer agreed, but optimism was a fleeting companion. A minute later they had to detour around the wrecked hulk of a control unit. There was no way of telling where it was originally from, but it was still emanating the heat of whatever explosion had flung it there. They logged the location for salvage purposes and continued towards the devastation of Polyhex.

***

Racked on the ruins of Polyhex, Shockwave woke in agony. Attentive to emergency protocol, he was running a diagnostic even before he accessed his memory files. Current condition: incompatible with sustaining life. Deep lacerations on all sides of his frame had compromised the housing for his laser core; any attempt to discharge his weapon mode would result in a terminal explosion; the same outcome might be achieved by a jarring impact. Besides this, the energon supply to his processor had been severed, leaving only the emergency reserve. Simply staying online would kill him in a matter of hours. The most favourable course of action would be to enter stasis, and hope for external aid before external detonation.

But then there were his memory logs and his external scans. The tower in which he had watched over Cybertron for nine million years had been toppled by a single swipe from Unicron's hand. Shockwave had been buried beneath the wreckage, but it had been a second impact which had caused most of his injuries followed by an upheaval which had flung him here. He was, he believed, some two hundred yards west-south-west of his original location, in the rubble of a hardware repository.

Above him gleamed Cybertron's stars. Other streaks of light no doubt had their origins in the recent battle, but there was no further sign of destruction nor of Unicron.

This is death, thought Shockwave before an alternative perspective occurred to him. This is afterlife. He disabled his chronometer.

The sound of engines filtered through his warped audio processors and presently he detected an aircraft passing slowly over the city. "Blitzwing," he murmured. The Decepticon triple-changer was executing a systematic sweep of Polyhex' environs; as he passed over Shockwave, he slowed, hesitated... and moved on. Perhaps he thought Shockwave already dead; more likely he did not care to go to the effort required to save him. In due course, Blitzwing finished his search pattern and rose for orbit, leaving the planet behind him. Shockwave watched him go and did not regret being left.

If Polyhex were dead, then Cybertron was dead; Shockwave would die with it. At the last, he would be watching over his planet.

With no chronometer, any time was eternity; at *some* time, there were more sounds, footsteps. A second triple-changer came into Shockwave's field of awareness, but this one was an Autobot, treading cautiously as he surveyed the area. Revulsion raked at Shockwave; the Autobot's presence in his city at its most vulnerable was a violation, yet he was powerless.

Springer's optics went over him before registering what they had seen. Shockwave saw the expression on his face when he looked back, looked closer, and he glared malevolently, answering sympathy with hatred. Fear lurked at the back of his mind that the Autobot might attempt to ‘rescue' him.

On Saturday, July 1, 2023 at 4:59:46 AM UTC-6, Velvet Glove wrote:

> Still scribbling random scenes from post-movie with no real plan of where I'm going with them, but I may as well post up anything that works as a one-shot!

I would posit that female fan fiction writers really seem to like Springer. I'm not sure what it is about him, specifically. But I've read enough fanfics to detect a pattern.

Because I have a very analytical mind, most of my feedback for a story like this would be something along the lines of, "But wait a minute, didn't they actually say x in the movie?" or "but in the third season, they said y" because I am a huge continuity freak. But I have no such feedback, which I hope you will take as a compliment, because it means everything you wrote fits seamlessly into the cartoon universe as I understand it.

Poor Shockwave. More and more, I wish that we had gotten the earlier version of "Five Faces of Darkness" in which it was Shockwave, not Blitzwing, who was the lone Decepticon to question the Quintessons' intentions and who, eventually, was exiled from the Decepticons by Galvatron. That would have made for a much better story (you can tell Shockwave is ancient in the extreme just by looking at him). This might even have meant that "Starscream's Ghost" could have been a Springer-and-Shockwave story instead of a Sandstorm-and-Octane story, which would have to be modified slightly (I have a tough time imagining Shockwave flying around in gun mode trying to prove he's not just an "older model") but it would have just made for a much better canonical send-off. As it stands, we basically have to go, well, he doesn't show up since the movie, except for a random earwax-colored guy in the "Five Faces of Darkness" opening credits and a couple of weird Constructicon-colored guys, so we just sort of assume he's dead or something.

Also, the 1985 Autobot Cars really got a raw deal. I mean, I can definitely accept that Prowl and Ironhide and the rest were all old product, so yeah, blow them away in graphic detail. But, a lot of the 1985 product got to stick around after the movie. Dinobots. Insecticons. Constructicons. Mini Autobots. Even Dirge and Ramjet and Thrust got to be part of season three. So, I don't think it's fair that Hoist and Inferno and Grapple and Tracks and Red Alert just vanished. Skids I could care less about.

Anyway, your writing is always welcome here. It's inspiring me to write some stuff of my own, too, so you're putting some positive energy into the Universe.

Zob (has way too much unfinished fan fiction, but what else is new?)

On Sunday, July 2, 2023 at 10:59:23 PM UTC+1, Zobovor wrote:
> I would posit that female fan fiction writers really seem to like Springer. I'm not sure what it is about him, specifically. But I've read enough fanfics to detect a pattern.

I've definitely known at least one female fanfic writer who couldn't stand Springer, but by and large, I'd say the TF:TM makers set out to a create a certain type with Springer, and by god, did they succeed. I don't think your gender or orientation matters... Most of us are at least a little bit in love with Springer.

Anyway, I won't deny my raging fangirl crush on Indiana Jones-bot, but I'll also note that Springer is an insanely versatile character. He can be the hero, the foil, the muscle, or the go-to for a one-liner. He's a people person, so he can have Insight into other characters' feelings and motivations, but (and this is key in a universe where characters tend to either perform a skill flawlessly or lack it completely), he can also Be Wrong About It. Finally, there's canonical reference for him being on good working terms with just about *every* Movie and beyond Autobot, which is, honestly, pretty implausible in a military ranking system, but very very useful. Basically, Springer's presence makes any fic 37.2% easier to write.

> Because I have a very analytical mind, most of my feedback for a story like this would be something along the lines of, "But wait a minute, didn't they actually say x in the movie?" or "but in the third season, they said y" because I am a huge continuity freak. But I have no such feedback, which I hope you will take as a compliment, because it means everything you wrote fits seamlessly into the cartoon universe as I understand it.

I'm pretty confident in my Springer, but I'm *delighted* to get this (absence of) feedback for Shockwave, who I've struggled with writing before. I'm very much driven by the relationship dynamics between characters, and Shockwave doesn't do much in the way of personalised interactions. He fascinates me, but I'm still pinning him down.
> Poor Shockwave. More and more, I wish that we had gotten the earlier version of "Five Faces of Darkness" in which it was Shockwave, not Blitzwing, who was the lone Decepticon to question the Quintessons' intentions and who, eventually, was exiled from the Decepticons by Galvatron. That would have made for a much better story (you can tell Shockwave is ancient in the extreme just by looking at him). This might even have meant that "Starscream's Ghost" could have been a Springer-and-Shockwave story instead of a Sandstorm-and-Octane story, which would have to be modified slightly (I have a tough time imagining Shockwave flying around in gun mode trying to prove he's not just an "older model") but it would have just made for a much better canonical send-off. As it stands, we basically have to go, well, he doesn't show up since the movie, except for a random earwax-colored guy in the "Five Faces of Darkness" opening credits and a couple of weird Constructicon-colored guys, so we just sort of assume he's dead or something.

The Sunbow Marvel Archive was the biggest revelation for me in returning to the fandom. I think when I left we pretty much just had some dialogue scripts from the Metrodome DVDs, and now there is so much glorious information.... Shockwave really does make the most sense for the Blitzwing role. Blitzwing is so left-field for that... I wrote a fanfic once where I tried to explain it by giving him a run-in with the Quintessons, but it had to be *so* contrived to fit in with cartoon continuity. It's very unsatisfying.

(Sidenote: The little Blitzwing appearance in this story is to leave me an opening for a Blitzwing / Astrotrain dialogue or larger Decepticon scene, but haven't figured out where to go with it yet... Honestly, it's pretty awkward accounting for the Decepticons between Unicron and FFoD. Was it a linear deterioration on Chaar or was that where they ended up after following a different path? Neither seems plausible, IMO.)

That said, I think it's appropriate for Shockwave to be a casualty of Unicron, because it really hits home how the Decepticons have finally lost all grasp on the planet, but he deserved a canon send-off. His is actually a very old scene for me, I wanted to do a death of Shockwave way back when, and worked out this idea where he was so badly injured that firing a shot would kill him... and he does it anyway, but I couldn't spin it into a full story. It would probably have been easier if I hadn't killed off the entirety of Elita One's group in an earlier fic... Arcee kind of has to sub in there; I don't recall ever figuring out a better target. Story-wise, I'd *like* him to have died trying to take out Galvatron, who pretty much betrayed everything Shockwave valued when he sold the Decepticons into Unicron's service.. Unfortunately, it would be really difficult and contrived to get Galvatron down there while keeping cartoon continuity. (So when Rodimus threw him out, he actually crashed onto Cybertron first... and then Shockwave blasted him back into space again! Because Shockwave's totally that powerful!)

> Also, the 1985 Autobot Cars really got a raw deal. I mean, I can definitely accept that Prowl and Ironhide and the rest were all old product, so yeah, blow them away in graphic detail. But, a lot of the 1985 product got to stick around after the movie. Dinobots. Insecticons. Constructicons. Mini Autobots. Even Dirge and Ramjet and Thrust got to be part of season three. So, I don't think it's fair that Hoist and Inferno and Grapple and Tracks and Red Alert just vanished. Skids I could care less about.

Yeah, the next snippet I've got revolves around the Ark crew, so I've had to do some research on who does and doesn't appear after the Movie. It's so random! Even the ones that do only have very generic bit parts. Meh... Anyway, I'm pretty sure you'll have more fodder for continuity errors whenever I get that one edited and posted.

> Anyway, your writing is always welcome here. It's inspiring me to write some stuff of my own, too, so you're putting some positive energy into the Universe.

Yes! Don't leave me doing *all* the fanfic around here!

Velvet Glove (who, let's be honest, would keep writing stuff regardless, but it's so refreshing to get other people's takes!)

Great story! This feels like a deleted scene from TFTM; cut for time and flow in the theatrical release, but restored on DVD to flesh out the narrative. In a perfect world, we could use AI to voice, score, edit, and animate stories like this to create a companion piece to TFTM....

I liked your treatment of Shockwave - it adds shading but doesn't rewrite (unlike IDW's continuity, which essentially turned him into Kevin Bacon). Shockwave's arc always interested me; he loyally and successfully served as Megatron's regent for four million years, then gracefully yielded command once he discovered that his liege had somehow survived, then rose to perhaps his greatest height as the administrator of a Cybertron decisively conquered by the Decepticons...only to fall victim to something that no one could have foreseen. You have to feel for the guy - felled by a literal deus ex machina.

As for Springer - I see him as the high school prom king and the captain of the football team in one; all the machismo but without the toxicity. He swaggers but he doesn't bully. He's Mr. Popular, but he never goes for the limelight. He has the heroic build that lets you know he can handle business. Girls want him, guys want to be him. What's not to like?