Soundwave slid his pedes along the slick chrome floor of the arena. Internal systems were running a myriad of errors ranging from nominal to critical, but he didn't have time to go over the diagnostics in detail. This was a timed match, and he was losing.

Megatronus was a far larger mech, his hulking shoulder pauldrons and overbearing chest giving him the heft and forward momentum needed to jam an iron sword straight through Soundwave's far slimmer chestplates. It had missed his spark chamber, luckily, but had severed an important secondary energon line and he was leaking pretty badly.

He had forty five seconds remaining to kill Megatronus, or his perfect record was gone. That meant a decrease in payouts and substandard energon rations and he was not ready to compromise just yet.

Megatronus made his move, the one Soundwave had been waiting for. A heavy swing of his favourite blade, slicing through the air and where his helm had been just moments ago. He allowed his pedes to slip out from under him on the slick surface, input cables dropping and grabbing the surface behind him. Before his slender fingers even touched the ground, balancing the precarious position, he slammed his pedes forward and into Megatronus' massive chest plates, sending him stumbling backward with a snarl. Thirty-eight seconds.

Soundwave shoved himself forward with his input cables, and landed just shy of the energon puddle. A new one was rapidly forming at his pedes, but he brought his arms up, jabbing at Megatronus, who was still off balance, chest caved in in two places where Soundwave's pedes had struck. His input cables, combined, were able to restrain Megatronus' left servo, but he was still blocking with his left arm against Megatronus' right talons, groping for his spark chamber.

Thirty seconds.

Soundwave dug into the thin outer plating over Megatronus' chest, prying at the transformation seams where the thicker metal below met, aiming for the spark chamber. Do or die time.

With a sickening wet crunch, Soundwave's upper left forearm crumpled under Megatronus' cold talons and dropped, useless, to his side. The same talons moved upward to his chest and he wrenched his right arm with his input cables, moving his right hand from Megatronus' spark chamber to the shoulder, yanking an exposed coupling off and jamming it into the shoulder rotor.

Megatronus screamed with a juttering pause as Soundwave ripped the arm off and dove back into shredding the chest armour. Megatronus' pause didn't last more than a second, and soundwave felt the warmth of an energy canon charging beside his head.

The buzzer sounded and his servos stilled.

Venting heavily he paused for a moment, Megatronus heaving beneath him, canon still charging.

"Frag you," he spat, after a moment. Soundwave recorded the phrase and played it back to him.

They had gone back to fighting when the match enforcers dragged them off of eachother, the crowd roaring in frustration over two undefeated champions tieing what had been the most anticipated match of the cycle.

It was a full cycle before they met again, this time, for a rematch. Huge crowds, an event the arena had been plugging for months with massive payouts for the survivor. Ten minutes to kill your opponent. Same day, same time, same place.

Same results.

The crowd was unhappy. Megatronus was unhappy. His talons were slicked with glittering blue energon and he was missing a leg. His opponent had faired little better- missing both his input cables and his entire pelvis and midsection crushed. The fight had been more frustrating this time, having to disable two deployers instead of just one, but he had managed.

After he'd broken the cat's spinal strut, the other gladiator had ripped out one of his optics with an input cable- a messy, emotional reaction that had cost him the appendage.

These timed matches were really really not working out.

Worst of all, the faceless gladiator kept replaying soundbytes from the match of the crowds cheering his name- soundwave, soundwave- when the medics left the arena's medbay. Strapped to the medical slab there was little he could do but ignore him, even as Soundwave slowly notched up the volume to near unbearable levels until someone would come in and tell him to stop.

Megatronus was pretty sure he hated him. He was also pretty sure he was a better gladiator, but he had still tied. Again.

The next time they fought was after they'd been shoved from the medbay, repairs sufficiently finished, both prickling with energy and frustration.

Megatronus couldn't remember which one of them had suggested a sparring match, but if it had been Soundwave, he would give the fragger credit at least for good ideas.

Standard rules for a sparring match- first to pin their opponents wins. No injuries that required a medbay to fix. No deployers, no weapons. Just a good old fashioned scrap.

They stood on opposite sides of the ring, rigid and still. Soundwave was the first to move, dodging quick to the side and jerking forward to flank him. He wasn't fast though, and Megatronus moved to counter in time, ramming his solidly built frame into the lithe mech serving as his opponent.

Soundwave stumbled backward and for a moment, it looked like the match would be over too quickly, but his input cables dropped and snaked out, grabbing Megatronus' ankles with a fierce yank. His pedes jerked out from under him, Soundwave nearly falling on top of him, but he brought up a knee and slammed it into the UAV, sending him sprawling to the arena floor.

Megatronus scrambled back to his feet at the same time Soundwave did, slamming his fist forward in an uncontained punch that Soundwave brought up both arms to block with a sickening crunch. He frowned and straightened, falling back on his haunches as the UAV turned his cruahed arm wings over, inspecting the damage.

Soundwave looked up at him, visor screen displaying a red x.

"I did not lose," Megatronus said, "It was a foul. It's an entirely different concept."

Soundwave made the x bigger and gestured with his destroyed, sparking arms.

"They're not even that badly damaged- I suspect with a decent hammer and a little clever wiring you wouldn't even need a medbay-"

Soundwave turned away, towards the medical ward.

Megatronus felt the guilt rising in his EM field and quashed it before Soundwave could notice. He had, technically, cheated. Honour dictated he rectify the situation.
He strode forward, not too quickly, to join him in stride, "I suppose repairs are on me then."

The other gladiator swiveled on one pede to glare at him. At least, Megatronus assumed he was glaring, without traditional optics or a faceplate it was difficult to tell.
His visor flared to life with a diagnostics scan and an estimated cost of repairs. The number recalculated, adding "severe emotional trauma" and a large sum of rations tacked on to the end.

Megatronus grimaced.

"You can't be serious."

The number went up slightly.

Megatronus narrowed his optics. He really, really hated this guy.

The third time they met was nearly a cycle later, but not quite, both waiting under the arena for different matches. They had plenty of time before they were on and Megatronus found himself watching the match through the low end dugout walls with mild interest.

"He's going to feint left," he said, matter of factly, before the mech he had gestured at did. Soundwave nodded in approval and pointed a slim finger at the opponent, quietly playing back the roar of a cheering crowd on his visor. Megatronus frowned.

"He's not going to win. Look at the way he's moving- he's got internal damage. He's going to leak himself dry."

Soundwave's visor lit up with a series of calculations and percentages and ended with a number and a currency unit. Megatronus grinned.

"Bet on it, eh? Fine, I'll bite. He's not going to win."

Soundwave's visor clicked off and he returned to watching the match.
The smaller one that Soundwave had bet on was all flurries of light attacks and quick dodges, even if they were slowing down. The larger mech could crush them with a single blow if they could actually hit them- in the end, the smaller one managed to get an entire arm in between the larger's layered chest plating to rip out a bundle of wires and the larger came to a shuddering halt as their connections rerouted, giving the smaller one time to tear through their spark chamber.

Megatronus was fairly certain that if, beneath his visor, Soundwave had a faceplate with a mouth, he would have a scrap eating grin on it.

His visor flared up with the currency amount.

Megatronus frowned and looked back out at the arena and the large corpse being dragged away by the vehicons.

"I'll pay up if you win your match today," he said tightly, "so do try to get killed out there. I'm running out of rations to waste on you."

Soundwave stood up a little straighter, and though Megatronus was at the very edge of his tight EM field, he thought it seemed pleased.

Soundwave, of course, won.
Megatronus was made aware of this while he was in lower Kaon, tipping back mid grade and watching someone else's match- because really, who cares if that fragger survives- on the holovids when he got a ping on his private comm.

His private comm he hadn't given Soundwave the number of.

Message: Soundwave: Victorious. Prize: Desired.

Megatronus frowned. It was a decent amount of rations he owed. He tipped back the pint of mid grade and considered it.

Technically, it was energon.
He pinged Soundwave his coordinates.

Soundwave was less than pleased to find himself in a bar. He was also not going to show weakness in front of this afthole and he pretended be ecstatic, taking the high grade he'd been offered as payment with enthusiasm, going so far as to actually open up his hidden intake and knock some back.

The look on Megatronus face was nearly worth it- it was rare to see a mech these days who hadn't adopted the faceplates modeled after the popular organic species, but he had never lost the taste for his practical visor.

It stopped being worth it when the high grade hit his tanks and his optics started to swim.

He was entirely aware that a crowd was gathering- two of Kaon's favourite gladiators in a low end bar, not trying to kill eachother, was an interesting sight. He ignored them, settling himself down at Megatronus' table across from him as Megatronus pushed another tankard of high grade towards his servos.

He accepted, of course, not ready to admit defeat. He waved a thin servo at the bartender and gestured to Megatronus and the tankard, buying him a drink.

"Why, thank you, brother, what a kind gesture!" Megatronus growled in that low end accent that was starting to grate on Soundwave's processor. The tankard slid onto the table and Megatronus tipped it back stubbornly, despite obviously already being close to a full tank.

Soundwave clicked his visor on to a recording from the match, his opponent crushed beneath one of his pedes, the crowd cheering his name, servos out and spattered with shimmering cerulean.

Megatronus just smiled and tipped back his glass, "A mediocre turn out, hm? I'm sorry, brother, you must be terribly disappointed."

Soundwave clicked his visor off as Megatronus waved for another drink. Soundwave accepted with tense servos, glad again he didn't have standard optics to betray his frustration by twitching. He tried to ignore the silence of the bar's patrons and the bartenders nervous glances.

"So," Megatronus purred casually as Soundwave waved at the barkeep for another, "our next match is coming up soon. I do hope you've got your affairs in order, I would hate to have to deal with some grieving ex who blames me for your loss." The barkeep practically dropped the glass on the table before running away.

Soundwave, to his credit, tried very hard not to react, taking a long drink and tilting his helm to the side. He raised both servos in a casual shrug and Megatronus raised an optic ridge.

"Oh, none? I'm sorry, I really should stop overestimating you, how rude of me."

And that was his limit. Processor swimming, high grade pumping through his overcharged systems, he brought his visor on screen, played the "ready, set, fight" from their first match and launched himself across the table.

Megatronus obviously expected the attack and had both forearms up to block before Soundwave even reached him. They both smashed through the chair Megatronus had been seated in and went tumbling to the floor, a flurry of sloppy punches and kicking pedes, clawing at eachother while Megatronus yelled obscenities and Soundwave played back audiobytes of crowds cheering for him loud enough to be heard on the streets.

The bar's patrons scattered and recondensed into a cheering circle chanting both their names. The bartender scrabbled to get out of the way and the bar's security wavered uncertainly, not wanting to get fired but also not wanting to get killed.

Megatronus and Soundwave rolled around on the floor kicking and biting and clawing like inebriated sparklings.

Soundwave made a halfhearted grab for one of the sides of Megatronus helm, jutting out to the side with one of his input cables, but Megatronus just grabbed it and tossed it away. Megatronus tried to jab his talons up and into the shifting plates of Soundwave's armour, trying to get a grip to tear it off, but his servos slipped and dipped too far and Soundwave shuddered under him before yanking the servo out of his side and kneeing Megatronus in the crotch armour, earning him an OOF and a similar shudder.

And just like that, their intakes crashed together, awkwardly (oh Primus, he should have upgraded stupid stupid stupid), fingers threading in between armour, and when had his input cables found their way around Megatronus' neck?

The crowd mumbled uncomfortably and inched away before dispersing entirely when it become apparent their weird half-fighting half-making out wasn't going to stop of its own accord and the bar's security finally made a decision, dragging them both out by the pedes into the street and locking the door.

Megatronus stumbled to his pedes screaming about rights and slamming a fist into the door while Soundwave blearily grabbed at his shoulder pauldrons and tried to turn him around, pin him against the wall, he wasn't done-

From inside the barkeep's voice floated out, making vague threats about calling the enforcers if they didn't leave.

Soundwave pinged him the coordinates to his habitation block.

Soundwave found himself glaring across the field. This was their third official match, and Soundwave was determined it would be the last. Third time is the charm.

Megatronus shifted across the way, adjusting his grip on his sword, light glinting off his- had he polished his aft? Oh Primus, what a pit spawned fragging piece of-

The buzzer sounded and Soundwave's two deployer drones dropped and shot off in opposite directions.

Megatronus rushed him, blade up and he skirted quick to the side, jabbing at Megatronus' sword arm with two quick servos. Megatronus' anticipated the attack though, and blocked with the hilt. He skipped back and out of sword reach, caluculating probabilities.

Megatronus was rushing him again already, but stumbled when Ravage cut forward and bit down hard on his leg, tearing off a chunk of lower plating. His optics went down to assess the damage and kick at the drone, and the distraction was enough that Soundwave launched forward again, input cables diving into the sensitive crooks of Megatronus' elbows, locking into the joints. It was a risky move, with his shoulders and wrists still free, but it gave Soundwave and his extra limbs the advantage. He tore open Megatronus' chest plating with his servos, but the larger gladiator seemed to panic and rolled his significantly larger chassis over on top of him.

Soundwave locked his elbows over his chest, pushing Megatronus back and off of him, and tried not to shudder when he heard the claws at the end of his input cables crunch when Megatronus snapped his joints shut. He shut off the neural sensors before the input reached him and retracted them, stumbling back and running diagnostics. Lots of crushed plating, twisted lef forearm- damage wasn't too bad, but more than he wanted. Megatron had his chest plating torn open like a flower, spark chamber locks just visible- soundwave's visor brightened, the ends of his inputs were still caught in the joints- his arms were going to be very stiff, unable to bend all the way.
Soundwave relayed updated protocols to his deployers and rushed forward again as Megatronus hefted the blade over his shoulder. A shot from Lazerbeak hit him in the forearm, throwing off his aim, and a bite from Ravage to the leg had him locked into position, stumbling off balance. Soundwave dove forward for the spark chamber, servos grasping and diving to tear it out-

And Megatronus servos were on his hips, moving upward along his angled midsection, running over the recoiled drop points for his input cables, talons lingering on glowing energon lines-

His servos faltered before they reached Megatronus' spark chamber as his fans kicked on with an embarrassing whir and the next time Megatronus' hands found him, it was a solid punch to the helm that cracked his visor and sent him sprawling.

Pit spawned fragging piece of scrap! That had to be against some kind of rule!

Megatronus had kicked Ravage away, and Lazerbeak was circling for another round of attacks as its weapons rebooted.

Two could play at this game.
He dropped his cables again, leaning forward dangerously with low, light steps toward his enemy, bouncing lightly on the backs of his pedes. Megatronus took a slow, heavy step toward him, both their processors running calculations.

Megatronus moved first this time, right out of Lazerbeak's range and toward him, blade raised, but Soundwave was ready with the first duck and slammed his fist into Megatronus' faceplate. His servos were small and his arms not very powerful, but the blow was mainly a distraction and his other servo found its way in between transformation seams, looking for something important to yank out while tickling at sensitive erogenous wires. Megatronus was obviously not amused even as their combined weight toppled them backwards and his hands scrabbled at Soundwave's legs, trying to yank him off and maybe even throw him- even as his own fans clicked on. His face said it all and Soundwave ran the ragged ends of his torn inputs up megatronus' sides lightly, in just the way he knew he liked, and Megatronus groaned in some kind of horrible frustration before he managed to shut off his fans and jam his talons into Soundwave's chest plates. The panelling came off with a crunch, and Soundwave shoved an input cable into the hole in Megatronus chest, coiling around his spark chamber. Megatronus gave an audible gasp as his fans clicked right back on and Soundwave squeezed, even as Megatronus talons froze on his own spark casing. A few inches of movement from either of them and death for the other was certain. But neither could do anything without prompting the other to do the same.

It was a deadlock.

Soundwave ran a calculation of what to do, just as the buzzer sounded, rendering the process irrelevant. There was a tense silence across the stadium before the booing started.

He looked back down at Megatronus, who was still gripping his spark chamber. He narrowed his optics with a grunt.

"I fragging hate you," he said.

Soundwave played his words back at him.