The Insecticon growled as it took several shots to the back, but it wasn't enough to hurt the beast as it let out an audio-piercing whine and charged at the fleeing Autobot.
She was supposed to pick up Jack today…not fight a bug five times her height! To be fair, it wasn't the worst thing she has ever come across that turned into a dilemma and it wasn't going to be her last hopefully. Although, this was the first time she saw a king-sized Insecticon which dwarfed the common warriors greatly.
"Is that all you got?" She proudly exclaimed which she knew she would regret in a minute or two if backup didn't come soon.
She couldn't contact the others as the Insecticon's internal signals were tampering with her own, rendering her comm. link useless. If only they could see but since everyone was spending the day with their human partners including Ratchet and Optimus with Agent Fowler and June, they most likely were paying any mind to the screens. Jack would just assume she had something to do first without questioning it or calling to base to ask where she was.
It swung its claws at her before opening its jaws and sinking jagged fangs into the dirt where Arcee leapt from. Dragging its teeth back, it snarled but raised its helm to try again. This time, Arcee's leg was pierced.
She gave a strangled cry as the fang dug into her thigh, Energon seeping through the wound as the Insecticon removed its blood-soaked canine after she jabbed one of her blades into its sensitive mouth. It nevertheless seemed to relish the taste as it briefly licked its lipless mouth before giving what sounded like a chuckle booming from its voice box.
Attempting to stand, pain flashed through her frame sending her warnings of limb failure. She had to move quickly but before she could start a pace, the Insecticon's servo whacked her across the field and into a rock face where she lay somewhat unconscious.
Her helm throbbed as she tried to support her upper half with shaken arms. Hesitantly, she peered up at the beastly king who now stalked towards her on all fours, jaws leaking lubricant saliva and her blood. It gave another shriek as pincers beside its face snapped as it drew closer. She snarled at it as she brought herself to at least sit on her calves albeit leaning heavily on one arm to the side.
Suddenly the Insecticon halted its advances when something…or rather someone landed above Arcee. One knee to the ground beside her while they took a battle ready stance.
The femme glanced up at the mech right as said mech roared like a demon, sharp teeth bared in a scowl at the monster before them. The Insecticon answered his bellow with its own as it reared up, proving it was at most twice the height of the mech. That mech, of course, being the least likely person Arcee thought would come to her rescue.
"Stand down, Insecticon! Your lord and master demands it!"
Megatron slammed one of his servos down adjacent to his lowered knee while the other hovered over her, claws prepared to cause bloodshed. The two larger Transformers exchanged another set of roars before the Insecticon snapped its jaws shut irritably and shook its head. Then it charged.
Arcee instinctively ducked when Megatron sprinted over her and watched as the ex-gladiator rammed his fist into the temple of the beast, making the brute stagger back. She observed in detail how the two behemoths clashed, claws raking across each other's frames as fangs burrowed in sensitive areas often vital to try and weaken their opponent. She even winced as Insecticon performed a similar move which caught her by surprise by impaling Megatron's shin and dragging the warlord back until its tooth broke within the metal.
Megatron quickly ignored the pain of the wound and drew his blade as the Insecticon hurled its jaws directly at the silver mech's helm. In mere seconds, Arcee's optics widened as the blade was brought up just in time to be shot through the roof of the king's mouth and through its processor. After a brief moment, its double visor simultaneously flickered from black to red before fading permanently to black.
If memory served correctly, the Decepticon tyrant didn't have the same luck with the warrior Insecticon so why was the king easier to defeat? Then it occurred to her: the warrior was almost his size so it was a lot harder for him to pinpoint a direct weakness and take an opportunity to act. The king, however, was too big of an opponent so Megatron could use his smaller size to evade and scout out every flaw including the fact that the Insecticon's mouth was wide enough to angle an entire weapon inside. Size wasn't everything it seemed.
As she pondered what she had just witnessed, Megatron retracted his Energon covered sword out of the mouth of the Insecticon king before tottering slightly and seating himself to relieve the pressure on his leg. He groaned as his pointed fingers tried to remove the embedded tooth while accidentally antagonizing several nerve clusters in the process which made him wince, but he had no luck in general digging out the intruding canine. To his surprise, a servo was placed over the one he was using for the retrieval of the fang and pushed his away while another began to finish what he started.
"Ah, careful!" The warlord hissed in discomfort.
Arcee shot him a brief smile for reassurance before grasping onto the blood stained tooth and yanking it out of the silver plating with ease despite Megatron's loud growling. She tossed the fang away in a direction she could care less about as leaned back and brought her own injured leg into view, rubbing the wound cautiously.
She smirked, "I guess this makes us even pain-wise?"
Megatron chuckled, "I guess it does."
"Thank you for saving me. You didn't need to though because I would assume since I'm an Autobot, it would have been more beneficial for you to let me get killed. One less soldier or pest to stand in your way as you conquer Earth."
Arcee saw in the corner of her optic his sudden displeasure as he responded, "I would have had I never considered you to be one of the best damned Autobots I think I have ever faced. Not to mention one of the bravest, strongest, and fiery femmes Cybertron has ever produced. You think I am willing to let a beast take away such an opponent?"
A flash of shock and fluster appeared on her faceplates but she tried to hide it by looking in a different direction. "I…didn't think it would matter so much."
Megatron gave a small "humph" as he began to stand, easing on the pressure on his leg as he helped Arcee to her pedes. Just then, a ground bridge appeared and a stoic but concerned Optimus ran through. He peered at the two and their injuries before noticing the Insecticon body beside them.
"Arcee, Megatron, are you two okay?"
Arcee answered first, "We're fine but Megatron here saved my aft today. Turns out this bug wanted to immobilize its prey by taking out limbs, almost succeeded on both of us but he fought mostly. I was rendered a bit shaken by its strength."
Optimus turned to Megatron as Arcee patted the warlord's arm. When she walked to her leader's side, the Prime gave a soft grin, "Then I thank you for saving one of my own, Megatron. I will be willing to return the favor for your allies too in return."
Megatron nodded while Optimus turned back towards the bridge, waiting for Arcee to enter first but the latter stood there. Briefly looking towards the ground prior to locking eyes with the warmonger, she spoke, "Did you really mean what you said to me a moment ago?"
The mech's devilish red optics seemed to soften as he gazed into her cerulean and pink ones. "Of course I meant it, my dear femme. Perhaps even in more ways than one."
His last sentence was whispered but she heard it nonetheless which made her cheeks burn slightly. What she couldn't hear or see was what the mech beside her was thinking. She was blind to notice for the moment how Optimus tensed a bit.
"A-again, thank you for saving me," Arcee bashfully spoke softly.
Megatron bowed like a gentleman and leaned himself against the nearest rock face to tend to his wound while the two Autobots disappeared into the green vortex. He sighed before smiling a little and talking to himself, "If only you knew how much I care, how much I try to avoid hurting you in our war."
He kept his small grin as another portal opened beside him.
AN: It was a last minute decision to add Optimus but I figure he would've been the first on scene. Plus, Optimus' displeasure of Megatron hinting at his liking of the Autobot femme is funny.