The Past Always Comes Back to Bite (RID2015 Fanfiction)

14. Some Call it Karma, Others Call it Winning...

Everything was going to plan.

It had been his plan to have the Autobots find the Automator for him, and now with them all defending the organics in the city, he would have no challenge entering their base of operations and retrieving what rightfully belonged to him. The alarm-disruptor in his possession kept his entrance silent, preventing any warnings to be sent to the Autobots and tip them off.

He'd planned it all out thoroughly... Just like always. His only failures had been because of some unknown variable brought in by some Autobot that should never have been there. It was very frustrating, having his logic overthrown by mere luck.

It was clear that the property also housed humans. It was too disorganized to be only under Cybertronian control. More disorder that he'd have to wade through.

It all seemed empty, quiet... To the point that he didn't even notice at first.

The processor was an odd and yet fascinating thing. It could make you feel extreme pain but have no reason for it, or you could be seriously injured, and yet not feel the pain until your optics saw the injury and alerted your processor of it. It could make you see things that were not there, or warn you of danger when there was none.

This could not be more true than in this very moment. Though he felt a slight tap on his right side, he'd initially not paid it any mind... But when he attempted to move his right arm...It would not. He examined it, dangling limply at his side, and no command from his actuators would even twitch it. His systems did not alert him of any damage, and he felt no pain, instead a numbness.

He pondered this for a brief moment as he continued on his way through the stacks. Logically, there had to be some explanation for the paralysis. No bot lost feeling for no reason. Perhaps a lingering injury from the war was responsible, but all of his systems were at peak perfection according to his diagnostics...

No, there was nothing wrong with his diagnostics, either.

A soft clinking sound alerted him to movement, and he tilted his helm to the side rapidly. Had he not been previously occupied in his thoughts, he might have noticed it, but now it was too late. Something smashed into his optic, knocking his helm back and disabling his equilibrium. He stumbled back a few steps, his foot stepping in something squishy that oozed into the components as he flailed the arm that was still functioning to grab onto something. He found a solid object and grasped it, taking a few more steps to right himself.

Now his systems were alerting him to damage, but to his optic, not his suddenly-bum arm. Whatever it was that had hit him was now embedded into his optic, and his visual sensors were barely functioning because of it. He groaned, using his functioning arm to feel the object before yanking it out of his optical socket.

Whether or not the action was wise was not among his things to ponder at the moment. What had sent the object- which felt to be a metal projectile- flying into his optic was a better question. Or what he'd stepped in.

He could only conclude that the Autobots had booby-trapped their base of operations, a wise and logical decision. But how he hadn't detected these traps was what was currently on his mind. His visuals were mostly dark, rendering him mostly blind as he regained his footing. No matter, he'd been blinded before and still continued his tasks.

He shook his foot in an effort to remove whatever he'd stepped in, but it seemed quite content to remain.

Then came a loud, blaring sound from elsewhere... A proximity alarm.

Perhaps the yard was not as empty as he'd originally assumed.

Other than the alarm, the space remained otherwise fairly quiet. Shockwave was not about to let this stop him. No Decepticon would accept defeat so easily, especially not him. He felt his way through the ever-narrowing passages, wondering what warrior Autobot had succeeded in getting the best of him. "I am aware of your presence..." He called out. "I do not need my sight to disable you."