The Best Friend A Bot Could Wish For. The fourth volume of the adventures of Septimus and Echo. By kelsium42.Chapter one- guess who?

Hello tiny humans, I'm Septimus Prime. The thirteenth of the thirteen, and the youngest of my siblings. My partner, Echo, Told you the story of how we met one another, but she is busy talking to Micronus right now. I guess you fleshes will just have to pay attention to me this time. So tragic.

Hmm lets see, what story to tell you... oh I got it. I will tell you about the time that my girl scared the scrap out of me.

I will start by saying that it had been thirty years after I had met Echo, and bonded to her. We were well accustomed to each other, my little girl had become so strong that she could lift me completely off the ground. She could take out more of my evil brother's soldiers, than that of a whole team of full sized bots.

We had been together so long I began to forget any time I didn't have her. My girl was all I needed, but even with all her new strength, she was not invincible as I would soon be reminded of. We were in my ship on route to meet up him one of brother's near a small planet with no name.

"So which of your siblings are we meeting?" Echo asked me, curious.

Even though we had been together thirty years, my girl had not yet met all my brother's. Our war had pushed us apart, and far away from one another. I was sad that Echo wouldn't get the chance to meet my sister, but I knew that Solus would have loved her.

"We're meeting up with Alchemist, remember. He likes to tinker, and drink... a lot." I answered her cheerfully.

"So you two get along well then." Echo snickered.

She was in her usual spot on my shoulder, as I piloted the Bluejay toward the rendezvous point. I chuckled, then tilted my head to pin her under my side face guards. She yelped as I trapped her, and pounded her small fists against my cheek.

"Hey! Get off big head!" she protested.

"I don't have a drinking problem. You threw out all the high grade, Echo." I laughed keeping her pinned.

"And I had to push half a ton of it into the airlock. Glutton!" she snapped back at me.

She wiggled one of her two short handled axes out from under my head. At the sight of the light glinting off it, I let her up. I didn't dare keep her trapped when she was armed, I didn't want to explain to Prima how I lost another finger to my Minicon.

She sat up, and growled at me. I shrugged, making her stumble. The Bluejay was the fastest ship of its time, so we soon came into view of my brother's lab. Echo fell silent, my brother was in trouble.

The laboratory looked like it had lost a fight with meteor storm. The outer hull was heavily damaged, and was peppered with huge gashes. The bodies of Autobot soldiers drifted through space around us, pulled out when the hull fractured.

My spark immediately started to fear for my brother. I eased the Bluejay into one of the tears, and jumped out, Echo transforming into her shield mode. I held my arm out and she jumped onto it effortlessly. I activated my gravity boots, and sprinted down what was left of the lab.

I knew that if Alchemist was attacked he would have holed up it the quarantine area. My brother liked to experiment with different chemicals, and sometimes that could be dangerous. The quarantine area had thick blast shields, in case my older brother tried to blow himself up, or when I played with his experiments.

We reached the quarantine, and to my relief the blast shields were down. They appeared to be undamaged, which raised my hopes even more. Echo popped off my arm, and started to check the area for any survivors. I raised my hand, and knocked on the blast doors of the quarantine.

"Alchemist! Brother are you there?!" I shouted as loudly as I could.

"Septimus. The doors are too thick if he is in there he won't hear you." Echo pointed out knocking on the door too.

"See if you can find anything will you. I will figure out how to get to my brother." I ordered her.

"I will call Prima as well. He should be able to send us some..." she started, but I cut her of with a shake of my head.

"No, we got this. We don't need his help right now." I argued.

"Septimus, don't let your pride get us killed. We need him." she argued back.

"Echo, we can handle this. Now just do what I told you, and go see what you can find." I barked angrily.

She grumbled, but ran off toward the main control room. I turned my attention back to doors, and placed my hand against them.

"Disable quarantine. Authorization code 845B9, Septimus prime." I barked at the control panel.

"Authorization denied." It replied.

I repeated my authorization code, but was denied again. Upon demanding why, the panel told me that I was not permitted due to my frequent ruining of my brother's stuff.

"Oh come on Alchemist really. Fine then." I drew my sword from my back, and plunged the blade into the blast door's seam. I cut through with only a little trouble. My fire sword could cut through anything, a gift from my sister, I kicked the doors down, they flew off the hinges.

I bolted into quarantine calling out my brother's name. I ducked as a soldier's mace whistled by my ear. I grabbed the soldier in a head lock, immobilizing him.

"Stand down. I am one of your Primes, where is Alchemist?" I barked at the soldier releasing him.

He didn't get the chance to answer, because I saw Alchemist kneeling among his injured soldier's tending to their wounds. I pushed the soldier that attacked me aside, I got to my brother, and he stood to look at me.

"Septimus, thank our father. You could not have come at a better time." He said relived.

"What happened?" I asked.

"One of the Fallen's death squads. They came and blew the lab to bits, I think some of them might still be onboard. You brought someone with you right, little brother? Please tell me you didn't try a rescue on your own." He said.

"No, I have... Echo!" I gasped as I realized my idiocy.

I had sent her off on her own, when there might still be enemies on the wreckage. I tried to contact her through the radio, but she didn't answer. I tried again, but only heard static.

"Echo, come on answer me!" I called.

"What?" came her voice from behind me.

I wheeled around to see her on the floor behind me, two dead enemy soldiers at her feet. He sighed in relief, I needed to have more faith in my girl. I tilted my head to my shoulder in invitation, and she skipped up me like a ninja.

My brother saw her and cocked his head. He frowned, his expression showing his annoyance with me. He rubbed his eyes with his hand, and groaned.

"You only brought a Minicon? Septimus, you are a fragging fool. We need to get these troops off of this station, and you only have a Minicon." He growled irritated.

"Hey. That was rude. I called Prima. Four rescue ships are on their way, so don't insult me." Echo snapped glaring at Alchemist coldly.

"Hey I told you not to do that. I told you we could manage without him, Echo, you traitor." I snarled at her.

"And he told you that you were getting too cocky, and that you were irresponsible. From what you just said, he has a point." She snapped back.

My brother stared at her in astonishment, his frown turning into a smirk. "So outspoken, you let her behave that way, little brother?"

"I would have never let her speak to me that way if she were my Minicon. She would be as meek as a ..." Alchemist yelped as Echo sprang from my shoulder like a tiger.

She pulled his head backward, and let his own weight tip him over. She turned him over and pinned his face to the floor the same way she did to Sideswipe later in her life.

"I am not your Minicon, I am his. Insult me again, and I don't care if you are his brother, or a Prime. I will cut out your spark, and give it to Megatronus as I present." Echo said coldly and sincerely.

Alchemist looked at her with wide terrified eyes. He had never seen a Minicon so powerful before, aside from Micronus himself. I picked my girl up off of him, and leaned my hand down to help him up.

He swatted my hand aside, and pushed passed us to work on another soldier.

"I don't think that was the best way to make friends, Echo." I joked.

"It worked with Nexus." she replied flatly making me chuckle.

"Sir? the rescue ships are arriving." I random soldier reported to me.

My sour mood returned. I didn't want to talk to Prima, I was responsible, he was wrong about me. Echo had climbed back to my shoulder, and softly tapped the side of my face.

"Sep, please just let him help the wounded." She begged me.

"He can help them but you can give him the report. I don't want to." I said stubbornly, setting her on the floor before turning my back to her.

She sighed, but did as I asked. I waited for her to come back, but was startled when Prima put a hand on my shoulder instead.

"Septimus, I am proud that you were wise enough to call for backup. Perhaps I was wrong to call you immature. I am sorry." He said, making me feel even worse.

"I didn't call you Echo did," I snapped shrugging off his hand, " she met you at the loading dock."

"No she didn't. I thought she would be with you." Prima reported confused.

"I told her to help you load the wounded. She didn't show up?" I asked equally confused.

"No... I never saw her." he replied.

I was confused as to why she wouldn't have met him, but I knew how strong she was. She probably just got distracted by something.

"Ah, she probably got lost. She is fine." I said confidently.

"That doesn't sound like her. Are you sure she isn't in danger." Prima asked worried.

"Echo is fine, she is tough enough to handle any problem." I growled still angry with him for believing me childish.

He left to help load some more wounded onto his ships, and I stood there feeling pissy. I started marching back to the Bluejay thinking that Echo would be waiting for me there. I was so wrapped up in my own childish anger I didn't care that when I got to the Bluejay, I just took off out the destroyed lab without Echo.

I figured she would hitch a ride with Prima, and meet up with me at my brother's hospital near our location. I wasn't concerned about her in the slightest. Only what she would do to me later for leaving her, but I wanted to be alone.

Chapter 2- I am an idiot.

I waited at the hospital for what seemed like ages. I don't like being bored, so I tried everything to entertain myself, but without Echo I found that harder than usual. At one point I saw a pretty female doctor filing her nails by the energon storage room.

I smiled and approached her, hoping to maybe have her help with my boredom. Before I got to her though Prima suddenly stepped in my way. I gasped and flinched, waiting for an angry Echo to pummel me at any moment.

"What are you doing, Septimus?" Prima cocked his head at me.

"Waiting for Echo." I answered from inside the ball I had curled up into.

"She isn't here?" he asked once again making us both confused.

I unrolled myself and looked me brother in the eye. Echo wasn't with him, but that meant that she hadn't got off the laboratory. Suddenly my spark filled with dread.

"Wait, she isn't with you?" I asked hoping I was wrong.

"No, no one has seen her since you sent her to me, but she never arrived then either. Septimus did you leave her there?" he answered his last question ashamed of me.

I didn't wait for him to ridicule me again. I bolted for the Bluejay, cursing myself for being so stupid. Prima called after me, but I wasn't stopping for anyone. I was back at the laboratory within minutes. I sprang out of my ship and ran down that damaged corridors.

"Echo? Echo where are you? Come on, I am sorry for leaving you. Please answer me!" I screamed through the ship, but received no answer.

"Echo?!" my voice boomed, as I called her name again.

Then silence was almost more terrifying then the whole Alien franchise. What scared me more was the scene that I found in the main control room. Echo had most certainly been here.

Several Decepticon bodies lay dead on the floor, Echo's slash marks across their throats. I searched the bodies hoping that she would still be here just stuck under one of her kills, but when I found her two small axes I knew she was gone.

A message was scratched into the floor beside her axes. The note made my spark almost stop glowing, as I realized who had attacked the lab, and who had stolen my girl.

Septimus Prime, thank ye kindily fur the feisty Minicon. She will be champion, or a fine meal for my fighters. Let the game begin.

I knew very well who had written the note, the bad spelling, and terrible grammar meant only Rawhide could be the culprit. He was the one who started the pit fights at Kaon city, you knew the ones that would later birth Megatron, yeah those fights. He was a greedy pig, that made Bots fight to death over energon.

I looked at Echo's axes in my hand, and cursed myself again. I really was a foolish, arrogant, child. It was my fault that Echo had been taken. My pride had made me take her for granted, and now she was going to pay the price for it.

"I'm going to fix this Echo, you will not be a slave again, I promise. Hold on, I am coming." I whispered to her, clenching my hand around her blades.

I raced back to the Bluejay, already knowing where I was going.

Chapter 3- the game is on.

Echo woke in a cell, her head pounding, and axes missing. She remembered heading toward the ships, when she heard a noise and went to investigate. Next thing she knew she was fighting loads of Decepticons, more than she could handle. They knocked her out, and that was her last memory before waking up in the small, cold cell she was in now.

Echo sat up, because she had been laying down, and looked around her. There were many cells like hers around her, all of them filled with Bots. They were so scarred and battered that Echo wondered how they were still alive. They appeared to be under the floor of a great platform, but Echo heard the noise of cheering above her, and knew that it was an arena.

A huge trapdoor opened above the bot next to her, and she watched as he ascended through it. The trap door closed again, and Echo listened as the cheering became screaming as the bot that just when up died. Suddenly the roof above her opened and the floor of her cage pushed her out into the arena.

"Oh scrap." She cursed as she came face to face with a giant organic lizard.

The bot that had preceded her was in its mouth, or rather half of him was. The other half was on the ground in front of her. Echo backed up, unarmed she didn't stand a chance. She backed into a rack full of weapons. She immediately grabbed the Minicon sized battle ax, and turned back to beast.

"Honored guests please welcome, Echo the Minicon. The scourge of Jawcracker, and returning to the ring. The Marethatar from Cron." an announcer's augmented voice boomed over the dust covered arena.

The monster bellowed and charged Echo its tusks aim for her spark. Echo ran at it without fear, and with one stroke chopped off the lizard's head. It rolled away as she stood on the body, the crowd silent with shock. Echo raised her battle ax, and screamed at the crowd for her release. They only exploded with laughter, and Echo flinched as she heard another trap door open. She turned to see a freighted bot, barely old enough to call himself a full grown mech.

He charged Echo with only his fists. He swung, but collided with nothing, as his torso separated from

his abdomen. With every opponent Echo fought a new body got added to her pile, and the louder the crowd cheered.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I do believe we have found our newest contender." came the announcer's cold voice.

Echo hated that she had to kill people didn't deserve it, but she knew that if she wanted to stay alive for Septimus to rescue her. She couldn't let any opponent, get the jump on her.

I returned to Prima to tell him of Echo's capture, and he said he would send a whole squad with me to get her back.

"What? But she is only a Minicon. We should turn our focus on fighting Megatronus, not rescuing insignificant Minicons." Alchemist protested.

I clenched my hand into a fist, and punched my brother in his eye. He yelped and fell to the floor, his eye completely destroyed. Prima barked at me, and grabbed me before I kicked Alchemist.

"She is not insignificant, you disrespectful drunk. She is mine, and if I have to, I will fly to the ends of the universe to save her. I got her captured, and I will not abandon her, ever!" I shouted at him, letting him see my truly furious nature.

"Septimus calm yourself. Echo will be alright, we will save her. Alchemist is your brother, stop." Prima pleaded still trying to hold me back.

"Megatronus is my brother too, and look how well we get along. Never speak about Echo like that again." My threatening words made both of my brothers stare at me with horror.

I never got this angry, especially not at my own brothers. I was angry with Alchemists treatment of my best friend, but more other I was angry at myself. I should have known better than to leave her behind.

"Septimus, we will rescue Echo. You must calm down, your scaring the troops." Prima joked.

The soldiers around us were actually hiding behind their chairs, and under the counsels. Seeing me not my usual cheerful self, made them scared. I growled at them, and the scrambled over themselves to run from the room like frightened cats.

"I just want her to be safe." I sighed.

"She will be. You know how powerful she is, she will coat that arena in her opponents' blood." Prima tried to reassure me.

"That is what I am worried about. What will she be when I get to her, and will she ever forgive me this time. It is my fault, I let her down. You were right about me, I don't deserve her." I said hating myself.

"Little brother, I have never seen you care more deeply for anything, than how you care for her. You both belong together, you might not deserve her, but she chose you anyway. Do you think Echo would have made the wrong choice, because I don't." his words did comfort me, but I was still scared.

"What if there is only pieces of her left when we get there?" I asked telling my brother my worst fear.

"That won't happen. Get in that ship of yours, you can get there long before us. Use your sword, and save her. We will be right behind you." Prima pushed me toward the door and I ran for the Bluejay.

Before I left I poked my head back in the control room, and gave my brother a questioning look.

"Just to be clear. I do have permission to use my sword for... well... you know. Reinforcements?" I asked skeptically.

Prima nodded and shooed me away. I pushed the Bluejay to her full speed, and swore to myself that would send anyone who got between me and Echo to the Allspark.

Chapter 4- give me back my Mini.

I arrived at the pits, and immediately cut down town guards at the entrance. I ran in, and soon realized that I was seriously outnumbered five to one. I put my sword back on my back, and hid the bodies of the two I had already killed.

I scanned one of them to adopt his white and green armor. I then followed the path to where the sponsors watched the arena below. I couldn't see Echo, only two organic beasts tearing each other to pieces. The beasts had come from the floor of the arena through trap doors. I found the stairwell that led down under the arena, was horrified at how barbaric the creatures in the cages were being treated.

The only food the organic things got was the other organic monsters they had killed. The Cybertronians were give energon cubes if they won, if not, they died. Then a saw a smaller cage at the very back off the prison.

I recognized the small, ten foot blue body curled up inside it immediately. She looked as beat up as the other prisoners, but unlike them her cage was adorned in things that people had thrown to her as gifts. Above her cage was a plaque that read champion, in bold letters.

I went to her cage, and got a closer look at how scarred her once shining armor had become. I reached in and gently brushed her back.

"What did they do to you? I am so sorry." I whispered.

Suddenly she sprang to her feet and grabbed my hand. She had been hiding a battle ax, and used it to swiftly chop my hand completely off. I fell backwards with a scream, energon erupting from the stump of what was my hand.

"Hey! I needed that!" I yelped at her.

"Release me, and you might get to keep the rest of your appendages!" She snapped, kicking my hand back out of her cage.

"Echo! You crazy midget it's me!" I barked my armor once again becoming dark blue.

"Septimus? I didn't recognize you." She smiled happy to see me.

"Obviously!" I said hold up my stump, that was still bleeding.

"Sorry," she apologized, "are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah I will be fine. Prima should be here in the next hour or so." I told her.

"Septimus watch out!" she barked.

Suddenly I was grabbed by four guards, and pulled away from Echo. My sword was torn away from me, and the guards had pushed me to my knees. I looked up at Rawhide's horribly disfigured face.

He looked like a potato. If the potato had a child with a warthog. He was fat and covered in bumpy, puffy lumps. He had fancy jewelry on, and his teeth were gold plated. He knelt and picked up my severed hand.

"Isn't she just this deadliest creature you have ever seen. Killed my last champion on her first day, truly a coldblooded killing machine." he said gesturing to Echo with my hand.

Echo growled like an animal at him, and shook the bars of her cage. "You harm him, and I will show you how cold of a killer I can be." she promised him.

She wasn't mad at me for leaving her, that was good, but she still cut off my hand. Rawhide laughed and threw my hand to a giant organic snake. It ate it and I winced as my hand vanished down its gullet.

"I can do whatever I want to him, shrimp. If fact, imagine how the crowd out there will cheer if they learn of a one handed Prime in the arena. He will be devoured, and I will let you watch." Then he ordered his guards to drag me away.

"Septimus!" Echo called after me, I tried to break free but I couldn't.

"Echo my sword! I need my Swor..." I didn't get to finish, because Rawhide hit me in the face with his huge rifle, knocking me out.

Chapter 5- don't mess with my girl.

Ok any of fleshes that read this writer's previous tails of me and Echo's adventures should now that if there is one thing you do not do. It is harm me in front of Echo. Now, Echo she can harm me, a lot, but if anyone else does it... well.

Echo watched them drag me away, and began to hurl herself against the side of her cage. She knocked it over, and it fell from the pillar she had been set on. She fell next to my sword that the guards had just left on the floor. Which was terribly rude, by the way. She reached out and touched the tip of the blade. My sword shivered, and shrunk to her size. It flew to her hand, and instantly burst into flame.

"What do you say? Shall we go get our dummy back?" she asked it, to which it responded by burning brighter.

"Thought so." Echo slashed the bars of her cage, and they melted like butter. She broke free, and ran after the guards who had me.

A few of them got in her way, but they had only seen a blue flaming blur, before they had lost their heads. She sprinted after me as fast as her little cute legs would... ow... oh, um sorry, the writer just threw a bottle at my head. Echo might not be here, but my writer is just as mean.

Any who. Echo raced toward me, she caught up to me, and I had come to. I called her name as I was flung into the arena. The gate closed behind me cutting me off from her. I knew what happened to the guards that had thrown me though, since I heard them scream, and energon pooled out from the bottom of the gate.

The gate opened again, and my girl stood there, my sword tiny in her hands. We didn't have time to celebrate being together again though. A loud roar from behind us ruined it.

Rawhide had released every prisoner he had, both organic and mechanical. Echo and I both felt our blood chill. Then I remembered my that Echo had my sword.

"Echo trade you!" I shouted tossing her her axes, while grabbing my sword with my one hand.

The horde charged and I plunged my full sized sword into the dirt. The dirt suddenly came to life, forming into dusty beings with fire in their eyes and mouths. Hundreds of these warriors crawled out of the floor and surrounding seats. I pulled my sword from the ground, and pointed it toward the mob.

My army charged destroying the horde, then they captured Rawhide. Dragging him to the arena by his feet. He was begging for his life and promised he would stop the games. He wouldn't make bots fight any more if we would only let him live.

"Whoa." Echo said touching my leg.

It was the first time she had seen me use my sword's power. Prima forbade me from doing it when I might have used the army to... impress a girl. I know, go ahead laugh.

I knelt down and reached down with my stump, so she could climb on. She scrambled up to my shoulder, and wrapped her tiny arms around my neck.

"Sorry about your hand." she giggled.

I smiled, and laughed. I looked at my handless arm, I knew Alchemist could attach a new hand for me, but it was still a funny reminder not to startle Echo again. It was then that my brothers warship descended from the clouds to hover above the arena.

"Alright that's a wrap I guess." I said dismissing my army.

"What is wrong with you, big goof?" Echo said slapping my head.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You were supposed to rescue me, not me having to recuse you. You need to learn how a rescue mission works." She teased.

I laughed longer that time. I waved to Prima as he ran across the arena to us. He grabbed my handless arm, and gave me a panicked look.

"Her fault." I said pointing at Echo.

"Hey!" she protested kicking the side of my head.

"Come on you two. We already picked up your ship, little brother. Go get that taken care of." He said rolling his eyes.

We followed him into the ship, happy to be back together. I swore to myself that day that I would never leave Echo again. When she need me I would be there, and we would never be apart again. I didn't deserve her, but that only meant that I would treat her better then anything I would ever have again.

I know Echo told a longer story, but if you want the longer story you will have to ask her. She is back from Micronus, and I have to go before she finds the oil I spilled on her bed. Oh no she found it, I'm in trouble, hope you enjoyed, I got to... run!

The end.