Little Gladiator

Chapter 23: Decepticon

In the medbay, Megatron and Scythe found Hook attempting to relocate Bumblebee's shoulder. The sparkling, trying to hold in his tears, was venting heavily as he bit down on a piece of metal.

"Okay, on 3," Hook said. Bumblebee nodded. "1, 3." Skipping 2 entirely, he caught Bee off guard and moved his shoulder joint back into place. Bee screeched and his optics became wet with lubricant.

Scythe walked up to him and gave him a cold look. Bee immediately wiped his optics and looked down at his lap. "I'm sorry, Scythe."

"Not everyone appreciates these sorts of things, Bumblebee. And you have to be mindful of the messes you leave behind," she told him.

"I know that now, Scythe."

The femme used a digit to tilt his helm up and said, "You and the twins will be cleaning up the paint you used until you are all done. You will also assist Hook in fixing our weapons since you took it upon yourself to replace the ammo."

"Yes, Scythe."

She gave him a soft smile and gently hugged him to her chest. "I must say, you do look good in those colors, Bumblebee."

The sparkling looked down at the blue and gold paint that streaked his now white frame. "I kinda look like those representations of Primus in the texts Shockwave showed me."

"Yeah, you really do," Hook agreed. Suddenly, his optics lit up. "Out. Out of my medbay!" he said, shoving Megatron and Scythe out the door.

"What for?" Megatron asked.

"I have an idea and I need to test it. Tell Shockwave to come here if you meet him. Now shoo!" The two bots stood, stunned, as the door to the medbay shut in their faces.

"Well," Scythe said after a minute. "That was rude."

Megatron's optics brightened in realization. "Bumblebee is occupied right now, correct?"

Scythe smirked in understanding, " Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Most certainly."

"Then let's wash this gunk off before we head out."

x x x x x

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I WAS THINKING!"

Most textbooks described the Badlands between Kaon and the "rest of civilization" as flat, rusty, dusty, lifeless, and boring. However, these books were written by high caste idiots who never left their hab suites.

"WOOO!"

No, the Badlands were anything but that. Flat? They were pockmarked and had jagged pieces of plating jutting out of the ground. Lifeless? They were teeming with life in the form of struthios and lacerti. Rusty and dusty? Okay, that was true, but the rust and dust made for rolling dunes to bash into on a windy day. Boring? Never.

"YEAAAH!"

This was why Scythe, Megatron, and Dagger could be found dune bashing in the Badlands on that bright, Byrd afternoon while Soundwave soared above them. Dagger was skidding and drifting over the hills. Scythe was having trouble getting traction on the "sands," but she reveled in racing off the jagged plates like they were ramps. Now, Megatron...