Little Gladiator

Chapter 38: Crystal Remains, Hissy Fits, and Tomorrow's Thoughts

He was back in the arena. Megatron stood with one pede placed on his defeated opponent, his weapon arm held high in the air. On his other side was Bumblebee, who now grown and holding his own sword in the air. Scythe was running to him with a sparkling balanced on her hip. It was a silver and blue femmeling with bright yellow optics. Surrounded by his family, the gladiator relished the feeling along with the defending roar of the crowd.

"Megatron! Megatron! Megatron!"

"Megatron!"

A voice from the real world startled him back to reality.

There was no arena. There was no Scythe. No sparkling...

Something shifted on too of him. He looked to see Bumblebee, looking as if nothing had happened, recharging peacefully over his spark.

Well, at least he had one sparkling.

"Megatron, look at me!" Hook ordered. But when Megatron turned to face him, the medic gasped.

Dagger took a look to see what had the medic so shocked. "Dude! Your optics!"

"What's so concerning about them?" Megatron asked before muttering, "And don't you dare 'dude' me."

"They're red!" Hook said.

They were right; the gladiator's optics had refused to turn back to their normal color. They were now a bright crimson and it seemed they were stuck that way.

"Come on. We haven't much time. The only reason why the Elite Guard isn't here yet is because they're a bunch of ninnies," Hook said

"Scythe," Megatron remembered. "She... She's-"

"We know," Hook replied softly. "And I can imagine that the unconscious slagger over there is the one responsible for it. If you want, we have more than adequate holding cells."

Following what Hook was saying, Megatron smirked and stood up with Bumblebee on his arms. Even separated, he could now feel his spark blazing right next to his own. He could feel the steady influx of love pouring through both sides.

Oh how loved being a sire already.

If only he had a sparkmate to share it with.

Megatron walked over to the flakes of rust that were all that remained of his lover. He took a servoful and held it up to the core. "Please. Keep her safe for me, Primus. I'll follow her in one orn, some orn," he whispered.

Her remains glowed as brightly as Crystal City at sunset as they swirled into the core. One larger piece passed through his chassis and settled into his spark.

I love you, darling.

'I love you too, dearest.' 

x x x x x

Back in Kaon, Sentinel was thrown into one of the many unused cells under the arena. Back when Pitbull was still the pitmaster, these cells had been packed. Viruses spread like mini plagues and bots had been dying left and right. Thanks to Megatron, the place had been cleaned up a little and some had even been turned into nice rooms for others to live in.

Not that Sentinel even knew what had been going on under the arena complex. No one in the upper castes did. But now, the Prime would be getting a taste of what Kaonians used to suffer through.

He'd be getting a whole mouthful later if he would get his pede out of his intake.

"MARK MY WORDS, DECEPTISCUM! YOU'LL PAY FOR CROSSING ME! CYBERTRON WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU!"

"I don't need them to," Megatron said. Not that Sentinel was even paying attention. The gladiator just walked away while the idiot threw his hissy fit.

x x x x x

After a long orn of enduring Hook's full body examinations...

"I'm afraid those optics aren't going to change back any time soon."

Speaking to supporters...

"Leave me alone for one fragging klik! My lover just got murdered before my very optics!

Speaking to Sola and Luna about broadcasting a speech...

"Oh my Primus! Those optics!"

"Honey, you look angry."

"Then stop making me angry."

And asking Orion if they could appear before the High Council soon...

"Believe it or not, I recently asked Alpha Trion about that. Unfortunately, we have to wait for a few megacycles."

"How many?"

"Five."

"Five."

"Five."

"Feevay!"

"Yes, sweetspark. 'Feevay'."

Megatron was finally back in the safety of his quarters, Bumblebee curled up right beside him.

The gladiator thought about all that had happened ever since he had chosen to keep the little newspark. He overthrew the pitmaster. He experienced the 'joys' of being a caretaker. He became Scythe's lover. He was now the leader of a revolution.

Ha. If he kept going along this path, he'd overthrow the High Council and rule Cybertron itself.

Na. That would never happen.

That wasn't a bad idea though. The High Council was too old and lazy to realize that real action needed to be taken. They may need a forceful servo. If push came to shove, Megatron would...

He was distracted from his thoughts when Bee chirred sleepily and whispered, "Goodnight, Sire. Love you."

Megatron's spark swelled with love and he decided he could leave his thoughts for tomorrow. For now, he would enjoy every moment he had with his son.