Little Gladiator

Chapter 9: No More

::Fellow Cybertronians! For too long we have chafed under the pit master's rule, but no more. For he is dead!:: Even from the office Megatron could hear distant cheering from his peers.

:

:But what's to keep something like this from happening again? Another ignorant master. More mindless deaths without recognition. For that is what I, what we, came here for: recognition.::

::We came from a life of poverty, and hunger, and hardship. We came seeking recognition, a calling, a voice to call our own! Many of you, like myself, started out nameless. Just a string of numbers and letters. Many of you, like myself, were tired of watching your peers die or be abused around you while nobody gave a frag!:: He could just imagine Scythe swearing to beat him up for cursing over the PA where Bumblebee could hear him. If he were conscious, that is.

:

:But though we came here seeking a better life, too many of us are still dying. We are made to fight for the crowd's amusement. They throw their credits to us because they have nothing better to do than sit on their fat, lazy afts-: Oh he could totally imagine Scythe tearing into him :-and cheer for the deaths of our friends, our brothers- and sisters in arms. But no more!::

::Even here, we are suppressed by the caste system. The arrogant nobles are amused by our deaths as if we are just puppets in a show! The pit master throws us into the arena to fight as if we are just toys for him to break! But no more!::

::No more can we tolerate this blatant abuse of rights! No more can we allow the mindless deaths of our comrades! No more can we permit an ignorant master to crush us under his pede!::

::So I ask you, brothers, sisters, friends, are you willing to stand behind me? For together, we can make right the wrongs of the caste system. Together we can fight for our freedom rather than our lives. Together we can work towards a better future for not only ourselves, but for all of Cybertron. Are you with me!?:: Megatron could hear the rallying cry of his name through the office walls. A chant that he had heard just last orn.

"Megatron! Megatron! Megatron!"

"Megatron!" Hook burst into the office. "Come on, you big lug. Before you leak to death."

Megatron allowed himself to be led to the medbay. The hallways were lined with mechs and femmes cheering for him, pledging to follow him until the end. Until a better tomorrow. At one point, the crowd was so dense Hook had to brandish his blasters to scare everyone out of the way.

Finally, they made it to the medbay, empty except for two mechs, a femme, and a sparkling. Hook led him to an empty berth next to them and started to work on his wounds.

"An energy lash. Never knew Pitbull had it in him," Hook commented.

"Neither did I," Megatron agreed. "How are the others?"

"The adults will be just fine if they recharge for now and take it easy later."

"And Bumblebee?"

"He's pretty resilient for a newspark, but he'll need to stay here for a few orns, possibly a cycle or two. I want to be able to monitor him easily in case something happens."

Megatron nodded, then winced when Hook started patching up a particularly sensitive part. He only grunted once, though, when Hook had to shove his armor back into place.

Hook patted him on a spiked shoulder and said, "Okay. Just rest for now." He noticed the gray mech looking over to Bumblebee. He smiled and carefully handed the bitlet to him. "Don't touch his wings, don't hurt him, don't drop him, and don't disconnect anything. Other than that, don't let the scraplets bite." He smiled and settled on a berth himself before dimming the lights.

Megatron checked his chronometer. The end of fourth shift already? He looked to his friends, deep in recharge. He watched Bumblebee curled up over his spark. 'Wow,' he thought. 'Time really flies when you're with family.'

Megatron closed his optics, and knew no more.