Chapter Text
“Damnit, Soundwave, stop protecting him,” Megatron yelled out. He was in the middle of arching his back in anger, tail whipping back and forth, fusion cannon ready as well, when he saw Soundwave continue to sit there, refusing to move or shift from where he was already sitting—guilty already of hiding something.
The blue-white mane or ruff around his neck had already been fluffed out, and the red visor that wrapped around his cat-like features disguised his gaze like usual—making it hard for Megatron to tell if his communications officer had even been listening to him or not; it would have been hard to. Hard when Megatron remembered who the “him” in question had even been.
Starscream was hiding underneath Soundwave due to their clear and naturally apparent size difference; the seeker had buried himself underneath the other—was almost swallowed whole by it—and used it as a means to avoid Megatron’s outburst for the day, for whatever he had or had not done apparently. By the time Starscream was blamed, he had managed to find his way to sneak under Soundwave, his conjunx, borrowing the other’s plush and warm blue underbelly of fur, using it to cover his own aft or to cover him entirely.
Regrettably, to anyone else who may have been a witness to such a strange scene, he looked a little funny. At least, with how his wings and blaster clearly did not fit underneath Soundwave, the cat turned seeker still tried, somehow managing with a little help from his conjunx. It looked like how a baby bird hides underneath its mother.
Soundwave, after checking to make sure Starscream was okay and safe, eventually shook his head when looking at Megatron. “Starscream is not at fault for everyone and himself turning into cats today,” he said, meowing.
“See!” Starscream mewled. “It was the Autobots, I swear, I swear! Mirage came out of nowhere and blasted me and Soundwave!!”
“Fine, I’ll listen to your little tall tale for now, Starscream. Someone go and get me Shockwave!” Megatron hissed out. He threw his gaze over to Thundercracker and Skywarp, the two seekers, while now cats were still rather identifiable despite the similarities to Starscream’s cat form. “And that’s an order. Go—!”
Starscream, however, remained where he was sitting and peered up at Soundwave, who stared back at him through his red visor; neither was sure what exactly to do. They were supposed to be spending their honeymoon like they had planned in peace, but neither could have expected this of all things to have happened. The cat ray gun should have been destroyed, and Soundwave had remembered watching it disintegrate in the seeker’s hands like he promised after figuring out how to stop his randomized transformations, so how did the Autobots get their hands on it?
Or something so similar?
So strange.
⊹₊⟡⋆
Shockwave was in the middle of reading something when he heard something fall and went to go check it out; the sound was loud, but so was the crash that’d caused it in the first place—piquing his sudden and immediate interest. There were only a few possible options that he could think of right now; it was either more femme Autobots trying to steal energon from his base, Autobots from Earth, or something else entirely.
Still, Shockwave felt that no matter what it was, he would be able to take care of it on his own or have one of his little minions chase and capture the invader, but what he didn’t expect was to hear a sharp and sudden meow or for a fluffy white ball of fur to leap out.
“An organic lifeform?” He said, confused as to how something like this could’ve gone undetected on Cybertron for so long until he recognized the metal-like but organic-looking appearance of the cat by the finials on the side of its head, but also the white, green, and red that made up its coat. “Wheeljack?”
Wheeljack stared at Shockwave, dusty white paws in the air as he was held up to the purple scientist's single yellow-shaped optic—scanned and examined by him. He then felt Shockwave start to palpate his face, a servo brought forward to touch his cheeks, ears, and then belly, as if trying to logically calculate how much of a threat the now-turned Autobot scientist could be to him.
“How illogical.”
“Meow.” (I don't know how it happened either, buddy.)
“I should report this to Lord Megatron,” Shockwave said. “But first, I need to put you somewhere for safekeeping.”
His leader, in theory, could find a decent use out of this given how much Optimus cared for his soldiers and their well-being. They were at war after all, despite what little affection Shockwave felt in his spark for Wheeljack after their strange but eventful time together when he was turned into a bunny and captured or babysat by him.
Wheeljack began to meow almost frantically and flail around, anything that could’ve been done to slip out of Shockwave’s purple servo when he saw just where the purple scientists had been planning on putting him—a cage, but it proved to be rather useless, at least he hoped when Shockwave noticed his discomfort and stared at him.
“You don’t want to be caged?”
“Meow?” (Does anyone?)
Shockwave didn’t move after that. He kept his gaze on the cage in front of him; it’d have been easy; he could’ve tossed the now cat-turned Wheeljack into it and be done with the mech for good, called Megatron, and gone back to what he’d been reading. But then he remembered the still wavering and nagging reminder that was hidden deep in his drawer—an orange ribbon—and when that thought was combined with the look on Wheeljack’s face, Shockwave started to wonder if something was wrong with his logic processors today. He’d have to investigate that, however, on his own time.
“If I let you stay with me, will you be good?” Shockwave asked, arm and servo extended outward with the still dangling Wheeljack held by the scruff of his neck. “Will you not cause trouble?”
Wheeljack blinked at him. “Mrrow.” (I’ll try, big guy.)
“I need to make a cat translator.”
“Meow?” (Oh, so you don’t know what I’m saying?)
“I don’t, no.”
And much to Shockwave’s dismay, it turned out that he would’ve needed a cat translator anyway. A cat like Megatron was in front of him or being displayed on the screen for him, his leader meowing angrily while Starscream and Soundwave sat behind him, but they were far too busy grooming each other or being groomed by the other to add anything to the conversation. Not that it’d have helped because all Shockwave had been able to make out was what could only be described as a flamboyant howl, a howl that’d only gotten worse when Optimus Prime was added to the call.
Everything felt like a strange fever dream to Shockwave, who seemed to be the only mech around to witness how both factions on Earth had managed to transform themselves into cats, but how, no one seems to have an answer. Or if they did, then it was lost in translation when Optimus started to puff his chest and Megatron pushed his face into the camera to screech at the other cat-mech louder.
In the background, Shockwave could make out Blaster and Jazz, the two music-loving mechs, now turned cats, sitting side by side with their tails intertwined. And they must have been teasing each other clearly about something, at least; Jazz was because he was soon pinned to the ground by Blaster until he started to cry or meow for mercy.
Wheeljack had been sitting atop Shockwave's chest, the flat, smooth surface of it. He liked how the cool metal felt against his fur; it's been a fight to get up there initially. Shockwave refused to let him have his way and threatened to toss him in the cage again before letting him get his way, which was to curl up and rest on the scientist's large and apparent chassis—the best seat in Wheeljack’s opinion.
Naturally, Optimus was concerned for Wheeljack, though the concern had come after chewing the other out for disappearing and ending up on Cybertron with Shockwave of all bots. The situation was still rather unclear, though. Mirage had hatched a random plan, but the plan had backfired when the gun exploded, hitting them all and transforming them all into cats. But how to transform back, no one had a clue.
Unfortunately, because Shockwave was the only one around with servos, it looked like he’d have to come up with something, or he would if not for the ball of fur in his optic right now. Wheeljack was insistent on rubbing against him as if that was supposed to mean something, marking his claim over the purple scientist; it wasn’t very logical to Shockwave—whatever Wheeljack was trying to do or was compelled to do via his instincts, maybe the organic parts had overridden his Cybertronian circuitry.
But right now Wheeljack continued to rub his cheeks against the side of Shockwave’s face, his plan already in motion. He had started to miss the other mech after they spent time together watching movies; maybe compelled by that, Wheeljack found himself on Cybertron, missing what little interaction they already had before on Earth.
“No,” Shockwave said, refusing to acknowledge whatever ploy Wheeljack had been aiming for. His voice was bland and even. Not even a waiver of emotion. “I have to finish figuring this out for Megatron.”
Wheeljack purred a little louder, the rumble from his chest cavity, akin to how his engines and fans would’ve sounded if he were back to normal, and his gaze never leaving Shockwave, attempting to borrow his feline form and achieve the maximum amount of cuteness right now.
He even rolled onto his back, exposing his soft and plush belly to Shockwave, who started to palpate it with his gun servo. Just a little longer.
“Fine, but don’t move unless instructed.”
Wheeljack let out another meow, a simple thanks, but also a meow of pride for being allowed to nap and rest on Shockwave’s expansive and voluminous purple frame. More purring followed when he felt a servo reach to scratch his chin and ears.
“Illogical, inferior, but Wheeljack.”