Little Gladiator

Chapter 19: I Am A Fighter

"Megatron! Megatron! Megatron!"

Megatron could hear the crowd cheering from behind the thick metal walls separating him from the arena. Bumblebee leaned on his leg as he too mentally prepared himself for the fight to come. Megatron would go first, facing whatever supersoldier Shockwave cooked in his lab. The former senator had truly taken to science since the most fascinating thing to him since the Empurata.

The seasoned gladiator shook his limbs to loosen them while Bee vented deeply. His caretaker was the best in the business. He always came back in time for recharge. He would be just fine. Right?

As if he could hear his thoughts like Soundwave, Megatron, his deep, gravelly voice comforting as always, said, "Bumblebee, do not worry. I will return. I am not Kaon's champion gladiator for nothing."

Hearing his thoughts voiced out loud seemed to calm the sparkling, but there was still something on his processor. "Meggy, do you have to kill it?"

The gray mech knelt to be closer to his charge. "Death is part of the cycle of life. If we were to live forever, there would be no room for new life. It is a balance. It is natural. I wish you didn't have to grow up here. I wish your carrier were still alive to love you. But here we are. Br-"

"Brought together by fate's guiding servo. Free to choose our destiny from there," Bee finished, using a line from one of his caretaker's speeches.

Megatron smiled as the door began to open. He caressed his ward's cheek before turning to the arena. He steeled his expression to face his opponent and stepped into the harsh light. The stands were filled with mechs and femmes, mostly lazy aristocrats. The gladiator raised his arms at the crowd, acting as if he had already won. If his opponent had any sense of pride, he would abandon his hiding place to keep it.

And abandon it he did. An Insecticon about the same size as Megatron ran at him from behind one of the burning piles of scrap metal. It reared its ugly helm to sink its denta into him, but Megatron forced its jaws open, trying to rip it apart. A clawed servo scratched at Megatron's chassis. It managed to slice through the outermost later of armor, but it was a superficial cut.

Megaton twisted the bug's helm, forcing it to back up. The gray gladiator used this opportunity to punch and kick at its torso. One punch sent it flying into the (audience's) safety walls. The Insecticon screeched and transformed into a flying beetle. It charged Megatron, who jumped on top of it and rode it into the ground.

Transforming, it bucked him off and threw him into the air. It changed into its alt again and slashed at Megatron's shoulder. He yelled as energon steadily dripped from the wound. The bug then shot him down from above.

Megatron lay still. The crowd went silent. The Insecticon transformed and loomed over him to land the finishing blow. Suddenly, the gladiator rushed to his pedes and, with a flick of his wrist, extended his blade and thrusted it into the bug's chest. It shuddered slowly and stared at the sword impaling him.

Its orange optics flickered as it fell off the blade, dead.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Megatron raised his arms again. He yelled, "I am Megatron! AND I STILL FUNCTION!"

The crowd roared its approval. The sound was deafening in the most literal sense. Megatron hoped the walls blocked out most of the sound from Bumblebee. Having your audio receptors replaced was not a fun experience, he knew.

"Mechs and femmes in our audience this orn!" he yelled over the crowd's din. "You came to witness a match between a beast," he gestured to the dead Insecticon, "and Kaon's undefeated gladiator. But now, I have a surprise for you. This orn, you shall witness this young gladiator's first match. He has been trained by Kaon's too gladiators, myself included. And now, I introduce you to Bumblebee!"