"Hah- think fast!"
Megatronus doubled over as he took a laser blast to the back, before quickly spinning to try and knock the beast from the air. But his bulky frame did not give him nearly enough speed to catch the tiny darting minibot as Lazerbeak easily darted out of the range of his sword.
He stood venting frantically for a moment, frowning as he inspected the cheering crowd lining the stands. Cheering for his opponent. He grimaced, before whirling around in time to block another quick jab from the lithe mech trapped in the arena with him.
"Whoa! Quicker than you look, aren't you, big guy?" Soundwave smirked, dancing out of the way of heavy swipe of Megatronus' blade.
"Faster than I need to be to finish you off," Megatronus snarled, stepping forward as Soundwave raised his arms at the cheering masses.
"Aw, come on, Megs. Whatever happened to the mech who wanted to bring down the caste system? I thought you were going to free us all?" Soundwave sneered as a quick slash sent him darting to the left, "I'm just one little bot, if you think you can take down the high caste then I should be easy mode!" He laughed as Megatronus brought down the blade as ferociously as he could, only to miss as Soundwave executed a quick dodge. Lazerbeak went in for another round of attacks from Megatronus' flank while he was distracted trying to rend his sword out of the ground.
"You fight like a coward!" Megatronus roared and Soundwave chuckled, darting out of the way of yet another slash and landed a solid blow to one of Megatronus' shoulder guards, sending it flying.
"Nah," Soundwave snorted, "I fight like a winner. Not a spoiled bot who thinks he can wish really hard and make the caste vanish."
Megatronus flung his blade at a surprised Soundwave, who didn't manage to get out of the way in time. The blade lodged itself in his chest plating and the crowd went mad.
"Are you ready to yield?" Megatronus jeered coldly. Soundwave ripped the blade from his torso, before throwing it to the ground. Energon poured freely from the gash, but it was too high to put his spark chamber in any real danger.
"I've never lost a pit fight. You'll have to kill me if you want to win." He panted.
"That can be arranged," Megatronus assured.
There was a long pause before Soundwave finally spoke, "What would you be? Without the caste? A scientist? A senator?" He spat, all pretense of jeering gone.
"A Prime," Megatronus said, and the crowd went silent. Soundwave's optics widened.
"That's treasonous," he hissed, and Megatronus snarled.
"You talk to much," he said, before rushing forward, unsheathing his steel talons. Soundwave's visor clicked shut over his face and he jerked his arms up as shields, dropping two large cables from his midsection quickly. Lazerbeak dove in for another round of attacks, dropping Megatronus to his knees just as he ripped off Soundwave's left arm.
Soundwave gave a wretched cry and dove forward, tangling his cables into Megatronus' armor with a fierce desperation as his mangled arm socket leaked a steady flow of energon.
The special jointing of his legs gave him the leverage to push down Megatronus's chest as he ripped at the plating with his remaining arm, his extra appendages keeping Megatronus' arms at bay. He tore through the armor quickly, and the white hot glow of Megatronus' spark finally began peaking through the cracks as Soundwave tore through the auxillary locks.
Megatronus rolled to the side quickly, his greater weight pinning his adversary in the dirt. Soundwave scrabbled desperately, his arm's oversized width typically a boon, doubling as a shield, now his enemy, making it easier to hold down. Megatronus tore off both grasping cables at the root from Soundwave's midsection and he shrieked in pain. Megatronus noted his enemy's vents clicking on and off uselessly, most likely damaged as well.
Lazerbeak came swooping in for a rescue attack, careful to stay just out of reach as usual. Megatronus leaned up, shielding himself and accidentally releasing Soundwave's arm. The smaller Cybertronion jerked his remaining limb upward, grasping at torn plating and managed to tear off he last layer over Megatronus' spark chamber, and the bright glow glinted off his visor. His servo shot forward, but Megatronus' anticipated the attack and grabbed it by the wrist, jerking forward and tearing it off at the elbow before launching it at a startled Lazerbeak, whom it knocked out of the air with a loud crunch.
"Lazerbeak!" Soundwave screamed, and Megatronus grabbed him by the throat, putting pressure on his audial sensors. He went silent.
"Anything left to say?" Megatronus panted, Soundwave's visor reflecting the light of his own spark back at him. "Nothing? What happened to that sharp wit of yours?"
Soundwave remained silent.
"Not so proud now, are you?" He tightened his grip, and was rewarded with the familiar sound of crunching and static popping, "Go ahead. The next words you speak will be your last, I promise. I suggest you make them count."
Soundwave's visor lit up suddenly, showing internal systems configurations. He opened up his voicebox controls, and swiftly deleted them.
Megatronus just stared at him for a moment, before he broke out in laughter, "I expected you to YIELD. You really do intend to die here, don't you?" Soundwave's visor tilted down infinitesimally, a nod of confirmation.
"And what did you want to be, Soundwave?" Megatronus said, far quieter, so the crowd could not hear, "Surely a dead miner is not the legacy you desired." Another tilt, to the side this time. "I WILL destroy the caste system. Whether you live to see it remains up to you. But my cause could certainly use someone of your… Dedication."
A long pause, and a quick nod. Megatronus rose up out of the mud and off his opponent, raising his arms to the crowd, "I am victorious!" He cried, and the crowd lost itself to the cheering. A few industrial workers ran onto the field, followed by a black market medic. They carried Soundwave and his limbs off the field, and at his violent insistence, his minibot as well. Megatronus remained at the center, basking in the glow of a thousand cheering spectators chanting his name so loudly it shook the very ground he stood upon.