KrissyKat91: We've all read AllSpark!Sam fics, Autobot!Sam fics, or some combination of the two, but I don't think this has ever been done before. Let me know what y'all think.

Ch. 1: Transformation

Sam was worried. The sky was dark gray and overcast, even though the weatherman had said it would only be partly cloudy, and there was a strong ozone scent in the air.

Pulling his head back through his bedroom window, Sam went about unplugging all the electronics in his room. If a lightning storm was coming, he didn't want to be responsible for the house burning down.

...In fact, he should probably unplug everything else, just in case.

Texting his parents, Miles, and Mikaela to tell them why they wouldn't be able to call the home phone for the foreseeable future, he made his way through the house, pulling plugs as he found them.

He had just unplugged the TV in the living room when it happened.

The electrical storm arrived with a vengeance, and Sam felt every hair on his body stand on end. Then an incredible, indescribable burst of pure power erupted from deep within him. It was almost like that time when he was six and had had the bright idea of sticking a fork in an electrical socket (needless to say, he'd never done that again), but a thousand times worse.

He just barely managed to stagger to the front door and call for Bumblebee before blacking out.

Sam groaned as he came to. Opening his eyes (and immediately noting the sharp clarity that hadn't been there before), Sam was surprised to find himself in the Autobot medbay, a place he was familiar with, but in a position he'd never been in before: as one of Ratchet's patients.

"Sam? Are you awake?"

At the sound of the voice, Sam lifted his head to see the obnoxiously chartreuse form of the Autobot CMO.

But something was wrong.

He was on the exam table, and should have been about level with the bottom of Ratchet's chestplate. Instead, he found himself looking down at the medic. He had thought of many things to call Ratchet in the time he'd known him, but short had never been one of them.

"What happened?" he asked, or tried to. What came out was a long, low hiss followed by a growl.

Sam froze, eyes wide.

Ratchet winced. "Sam, I need you to remain calm while I explain what happened to you. Can you do that for me?"

Sam nodded slowly, not daring to take his eyes off of the medic, for fear of what he would see if he did.

"Very well." Ratchet paused, apparently gathering his thoughts. "It seems the sudden surge of electricity from the storm triggered the leftover radiation from the AllSpark. From what I have been able to discover, the energy, having never directly dealt with creatures of flesh-and-blood before, seemed to think your organic state was some kind of disease, and sought to remedy the perceived illness. It—it turned you into a Cybertronian, Sam."

"...Autobot or Decepticon?" Sam attempted to ask, trying not to panic when a questioning rumble came out instead.

"I surmise you are attempting to ask which faction it chose."

Sam nodded.

"Your specific type of Cybertronian went extinct by way of the Decepticons not long after the War began. It is neither Autobot nor Decepticon. I believe you might most associate your new form with the mythological creatures known as dragons."

At that, Sam's eyes almost bugged out of his head. Head turning slowly on what he now realized was a far too long neck, Sam took in the black armored, quadrupedal body, the massive, burnt orange wings, and the blade tipped tail...

"Sam, you are a Predacon."

...and promptly fainted.