Little Gladiator

Chapter 10: Ping

Note: You know I don't own anything.

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"That's it, Sweet Bee. Left punch, right punch, left kick, right kick, repeat. Great form!" Scythe praised Bumblebee. At 32 vorns, the little sparkling was doing very well. He could kick and punch with near flawless form and already knew a Cybertronian's most vulnerable weak spots, most below knee level. He seemed to grow even sweeter and even more determined, pushing himself to be smarter and stronger while still being their little light.

At this moment during second shift, it was Scythe's turn to impart her knowledge to Bumblebee. She worked with Dagger every orn during second shift while Soundwave taught Bee useful tactics during first shift. Third shift comprised of a mock battle with either Soundwave, Scythe, Dagger, Megatron, Ravage, or Laserbeak. First shift had academic lessons by one of Megatron's newest followers, Shockwave.

Shockwave could be described as cold, though it was more precise to say that he was emotionless. He had once been a lively mech, sharing drinks and memories with his fellow senators. He had already been arguing for more rights for the lower castes when he heard Megatron's speeches. But an greedy senator had seen to it that Shockwave could no longer argue for equality with an empurata. This only made the purple mech more convinced that the higher castes were corrupt and needed cleansing. He was happy to join Megatron then.

But that's besides the point. Right now, things are about to escalate.

PING!

Megatron, the self-appointed and crowd approved pit master, answered the ping to his comm. The caller ID read 'unknown,' but to have someone figure out his number was very disturbing.

"Who is this?" he asked.

::Is he dead yet?:: a mech whose voice he didn't recognize asked.

"Is who dead yet, may I ask?"

::The bitlet, of course.::

Megatron's spark fell to his pedes. "Why?"

:

:I only sold him to you because you said you would kill him! If I'd known he was going to live, I would've offed him with his carrier.::

"Why do you need him dead?"

::Can't have Cybertron knowing that I have a potentially better heir. Besides, I don't want some byproduct of a pleasurebot to inherit my rule.:: He sounded haughty and aristocratic. From the way his vents wheezed, he must've been old too.

"Who are you?" Megatron demanded.

:

:I am more important than you and every other turbo-dog in Kaon, that's who I am. Now, you better have that little piece of scrap dead by AllSpark day. If not, I will have him killed, you killed, and whatever idiot you shoved him off to killed. Am I clear?:: Megatron could hear him coughing violently on the other side. Yeah, really old.

"Crystal," Megatron growled before cutting off the connection and blocking the number.

The gladiator sighed heavily and looked back to his little Bumblebee. He had gotten to know such a wonderful little sparkling over the past 31 vorns. He couldn't believe someone wanted him dead.

"I know, right?" A voice came from behind him.

"Again with the mind-reading, Soundwave?"

Soundwave ignored the question. "He doesn't want Cybertron to revolt against his leadership, of which city-state I don't know; he killed his carrier, whom he likely abused; and he's old."

"You gathered that from listening in on my comm?"

"Pitbull also said that the mech is his sire, making Bumblebee related to a noble and someone near the bottom of the hierarchy."

"Hmm."

"Hook's scans also show that Bumblebee is Iaconian-Praxian and exactly half and half of each. That narrows down the leaders, and his carrier is also pure-blooded."

"That's a lot of information to start with," Megatron said, impressed.

"I've got a lot of empty space in my processor. Shockwave is helping me learn to hack. Might as well use all this helmspace to store data," Soundwave said.

Megatron looked at Bumblebee, who managed to hit Dagger's funny strut. The poor mech was writhing on the ground partly for show and partly from actual pain while Scythe and Bee laughed at the funny noises he was making. "Well then, let's start looking into this. I'd like to rip out his spark before he extinguishes Bee's"

"Agreed."