Scattered Across The Stars

Earned Respect

  Grunts and groans echoed around the arena as gladiators wrestled or ran around the arena's length. Weapons glimmered in the light as mechs picked them up and examined them.

  "Whoa. It's huge," Husk looks around with wide optics. He clutches his book close to his chest and holds Megatronous' hand as they walk into the arena.

  "Yeah, so please be careful when you're moving around in here. I know you just got out of the hospital and all but I still worry," the bigger mech warns as they hiked up into the stands. As Husk was sitting in one of the seats closest to the ground, a group of four gladiators walked over to them.

  "Yo, Megatronous. Who's this shrimp?" one of the gladiators asked, gesturing to Husk. He reached for the smaller mech to poke at him but was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist.

  "I appreciate it if you don't touch my brother, Soundwave. He's just here to observe and read," Megatronous warns, forcing the other gladiator back as he stands between them and Husk.

  "Alright. I'm sure he's safe right there anyways," Soundwave nods, pulling his arm back when the older brother lets him go. He gives Husk a little wave who shyly returns the wave.

  "Anyways, we've got a new shipment of weapons that came in. They haven't been unboxed yet since the big mech wanted everyone there before opening them," the gladiator to Soundwave's right comments, jerking a thumb towards a pile of crates.

  "Great. Let's go check them out. Husk, you gonna be alright right there?" Megatronous glances over at his younger brother.

  "Yeah I'll be okay," Husk nods and watches them head over to the crates before opening his book and reading it. He leans back in his seat as he gets engrossed in the book while the gladiators open the crates.

  "Awesome. There's more shields now," a gladiator grins as he picks up a shield to study it. He hooks it onto his arm and shows it off to a few others who grin at him before tapping the shield with a light punch.

  "Hey! Give me back my book!" Husk shouts as he runs after a gladiator who snagged the book, struggling to keep up with him. He noticed they were close to the weapon crates and grabbed a long rope with a knife embedded into one end then started whipping around in a vertical spin on his right side.

  "Ha! What's that tiny little thing going to do to a big tough gladiator?" the gladiator taunts as he pauses a short distance away to point and laugh at Husk. His laughter covered the sound of a small thunk when unexpectedly his laughter tempered off as he looked down to see the knife embedded into his knee.

  Husk ran over and used the knife to launch himself over the gladiator, flicking his wrist in a circular motion, and the rope wrapped around the gladiator's throat while the gladiator moved his helm to watch him flip over him. As he fell, his weight caused the gladiator to fall backward into the ground, causing dust to fly up.

  "Well frag me. That kid's got spunk in him," Soundwave watches in surprise and awe as Husk gets his book, coughing, then heads back to the stands.

  "Husk? How did you do that?" Megatronous asked, catching up to him. He couldn't believe his optics that his fragile little brother could take down an experienced gladiator with nothing but a rope and a knife.

  "Oh! One of my favorite characters in this book used a weapon like that and I wanted to learn so I got a rope one day and started to practice with it but I couldn't master it," Husk excitedly explains as he dusts his book off and opens it to a page in it. He shows the page to his older brother who reads through a passage before nodding in surprise.

  "Dude, remind me not to piss off that kid," an Insecticon chuckles as he helps the fallen gladiator back onto his feet, removing the rope from around his neck.

  "That little brat. I'll send him to the pits of Unicron," the gladiator hisses as he shoves the Insecticon away and stumbles forward. There was no way a mech that small and easily breakable was going to live for that humiliation that he felt deeply in his spark.

  "No, you won't. You got bested and that's it. You're not touching that kid with the intent to kill," Soundwave stood in the way of the upset gladiator. He was impressed that a kid who just recently got out of the hospital a few days ago was able to use a fighting maneuver from a book to get a precious book back from a seasoned gladiator.

  "Tch," the gladiator huffs, jerking the knife out of his knee and limps over to the medics' area to sulk and get his wound cleaned up. He hated how easily he was beaten by someone smaller and much more fragile-looking than he was.

  Soundwave picks the weapon up, weighing it in his hands, and nods thoughtfully. He walks over to Husk who looks up at him with wide curious optics. Holding the weapon out to him, he smiles gently as Husk slowly takes the weapon from his hands.

  "That was impressive. Mind if I teach you how to properly use this weapon?" Soundwave asked, enjoying the excitement Husk started to show as he clutched the weapon to his chest.

  "I don't think that's a good idea to teach him something like that," Megatronous protested, holding a hand out to grab the weapon. He didn't want Husk to get killed while being in the arena with deadly gladiators and potential politicians who didn't like the way Husk looked.

  "Kid's got skill with that. You saw how brave he was to get his book back. Plus you might not be around to protect him so he's gotta protect himself somehow," Soundwave pointed out, resting a hand on his hip. He grins and jerks a thumb to the gladiators surrounding them. "And the kid's got us to keep an optic on him while you train too."

  "Soundwave's right. Kid's got us to protect him if anyone dares to look at him the wrong way," the Insecticon grins, cracking his knuckles. He liked how brave and intelligent Husk was and wanted to help him learn how to protect himself from people who wanted him dead.

  Megatronous hesitated as thoughts of being unable to protect his little brother but sighed as he realized the truth behind the words spoken. He smiles gently at Husk, rubbing his helm, and looks back at the gladiators.

  "Well, he does love learning new things that books can't teach him," the older brother nods in agreement as Husk cheers, waving his arms around. The gladiators around them chuckle in delight as they collectively think they will protect this young brave mech.