Hey, guys, Nexus here.

This is a story that kind of explains Wildfire's past. You know, the character I threw in with Jazz in my one-shot, Rebuilding. It's going to take place during Exodus, the first Transformers novel in the ongoing series.

Before we continue on to the chapter, here's a table of the estimated time measurement comparisons between human and Transformer measurements (as copied from my other Transformers story, which I will be releasing "soon"):

Giga-Cycle: 100 years

Tera-Cycle: 10 years

Orbital-Cycle: 1 year

Vorn: Month

Mega-Cycle: Week

Solar-Cycle (or just Cycle): Day

Breem: hour

Klik: minute

Nano-Klik: second

And SIS, I'm planning on editing the one-shot I wrote up earlier so that it can be a bit better, but it's going to take a little bit for me to get it fully rewritten with what you and Wolf suggested. And yes, it will get elongated into an actual story.

Presenting Origins!

Chapter 1

"Wildfire! You're on!"

A red and orange Cybertronian looked up from polishing a vibroblade that was normally kept hidden in her left arm, right above her servo. The optics, a clear blue that rivaled the glow of Energon, were hard with a guarded look that hinted at experience in times and places that called for the use of a weapon - or multiple, if need be.

The Cybertronian sheathed the blade with a clench of her servo and stood up from the crate on which she had been sitting. "Rules?"

"First wound," the other replied - a black and white Cybertronian mech with blaring red optics. "It's a newbie."

"Newbie, huh?" A sneer made its way across the femme's face. "This is going to be fun." Wildfire walked over to the door that led from the underground tunnels to the gladiator pit above. "Has this greenie got a name?"

"Yeah. Electro, or something." The mech made a careless waving motion. "Probably has something to do with where he used to work or something."

Wildfire nodded slightly, a minor amount of interest mixing with the serious look on her face. "Okay, then. I wonder how he's going to fight..." She turned and headed out through the doorway, her optics adjusting instantly to the blaring light that shone down from the ceiling of the gladiatorial arena.

The constant cheering of the crowds only increased as the fiery-colored femme appeared on the rocky arena floor far below them. She looked around the arena, the fiery piles of scrap dancing in the peripheral.

Taking note of a flash of blue, Wildfire turned her gaze to the other side of the arena, catching sight of a rather nervous-looking light blue mech who was doing his best to keep a determined look on his face, despite the obviously terrified look in his blue optics. A newbie, that much was certain - only this one was more nervous than the others the femme had fought in the past. Others were over-confident of their abilities, and rushed into battle without a problem.

This one looked like he was ready to hit reverse.

Wildfire sent him a malicious smile that told the mech exactly what she hoped to do, causing him to stiffen up into a battle stance. At least he knew an unspoken promise when he saw one. Crossing her arms in front of her, she brought them back to her sides quickly, drawing her vibroblades in a flourish, earning yells from the crowd at the sudden movement.

The mech's optics widened, and his neck cables convulsed as he mimed a nervous swallow before bringing his fists up and clenching them, the nervous look returning.

He didn't have any built-in weapons, Wildfire realized. What sort of idiot got into the gladiator business without getting weapons first?

Well, this fight was going to be easier than she had originally expected. Her surprise quickly leaving her face with a neutral expression, Wildfire dashed forward, arms behind her so that she could pick up speed and give a good swing when she got close. Because it was first wound and not kill, the femme was planning on taking an arm or a servo, at least, so that the Energon leakage could be clearly seen.

Of course, the crowd might want her to finish the rookie off...

Wildfire reached the mech and brought her left arm around for a swing, prepared to knock off one of her desired targets. To her surprise, the Cybertronian managed to dodge the attack by leaning back, then found herself skidding backwards with a hit to the chest.

"They didn't tell me Wildfire was a femme!" the mech called out. It seemed that Wildfire's actions managed to get the fighter out of him.

"And they didn't tell me you'd be weapon-less," Wildfire snarled in return. "How do you expect to win here?" She dashed forward again, bringing her blades around for another attempt at inflicting damage. This time, the mech didn't move, instead catching the blades on his crossed arms.

Grinning, Wildfire dug the blades deeper into the mech's armor, only for her optic ridges to shoot up upon discovering that they wouldn't go in.

"New alloy," the mech stated, noting the look. He started to push back, Wildfire's feet digging into the arena floor. "I found it much more useful."

Wildfire let out a grunt. "So you did some homework. Good." She started to push back, not exactly liking that they hadn't gotten to any fighting yet. "You'd better not have done it for just defense!" The femme pushed with what strength she had as she spoke the last word, hoping to force the mech off-balance in order to gain some leverage in the fight.

The mech, who was definitely starting to appear more confident, didn't seem at all fazed by Wildfire's attempts to unbalance him. However, his body wasn't prepared for the force that was provided, and he was sent tumbling backward onto his backside. "Oof!"

Wildfire was on him in an instant, slashing with her vibroblades in order to try and deal some damage to the mech. However, the alloy appeared to not only be covering his arms, but his chest, as well.

The mech glared at her, then pushed her off and jumped to his feet. "There's a reason I don't carry any weapons," he muttered.

"Oh?" Wildfire and he started to circle, neither taking their optics off the other for a moment. "And why is that, greenie?"

The femme got her answer when an electric shock passed through her systems, and her circuits froze up and she stumbled backwards. Looking over at the mech, she caught sight of a pair of pure electric whips that spiraled down his arms and dangled from his servos. Above them, the crowd was shouting in surprise upon seeing the weapons the gladiator was carrying.

"My name isn't Greenie, Electro, or whatever else they told you," the mech stated. "It's Jolt."

Wildfire shook her head as her systems sent warnings to her processor concerning possible EMP damage. The gladiator ignored it - she figured that she had suffered worse. "Jolt, huh? Suits you." She felt an energy of some sort build up in her chest, and a sneering grin appeared on her face. "Just like Wildfire suits me."

There was an explosion of energy as fire appeared out of nowhere on Wildfire's arms, curling around the limbs and entering her vibroblades, earning gasps from those who didn't know and loud cheers from those who did.

Jolt's optics widened, and Wildfire took her opening. Dashing forward, she brought her blades together and slashed through Jolt's upper right arm.
So the alloy didn't cover everything. Good, because otherwise this battle would have become rather tedious.

The crowd started yelling out different phrases that essentially demanded she finish the mech off. Wildfire, ignoring the yells, simply turned and walked out of the arena.

"You could have made it a little more showy," the black and white mech stated as Wildfire walked in, sheathing her blades. "They don't get as loud for you as they do for-"

"Yeah, well, I'm not him," Wildfire responded stiffly. "And make sure that greenie gets to a medic - if he's going to be of any real help, it'd be with his arm back on to make sure he doesn't leak any Energon. Now better than later, Barricade."

Barricade raised an optic ridge at the femme's attitude, but said nothing. Instead, he turned and ran off, yelling for someone to find one of the medics who had decided to help out when they weren't on-shift at their actual jobs.

Wildfire watched him go with an indifferent look, then sat down on the crate she had been using as a seat before being called out to fight in the arena. Almost instantly, her circuits froze up again - an after-effect of the electricity that was most likely coursing through her systems. Clenching her denta in annoyance at the pain, she clenched her servos in order to try and divert her attention elsewhere. This caught the attention of a passing figure.

"Wildfire, something wrong?"

The femme gladiator moved her gaze slightly, catching sight of a red and white figure who looked like she had stopped mid-step.

"Just some electrical interference, First Aid," Wildfire responded through her denta. "Jolt took me off guard a little."

"The newbie?" First Aid came over, prepared to give Wildfire a quick scan in order to determine what sort of course of action to take concerning Wildfire's freezing systems.

"Yeah. The fact that he picked a name for himself..." Wildfire shook her head, flinching a little from the movement as another surge hit her systems. "I didn't get a full name until a few Orbital-cycles ago."

"Who knows how long ago he might have had his name given to him? He could have been given it at the Well of AllSparks, for all you and I know." First Aid nodded slightly and pulled back. "The surges should stop in a cycle or two. Nothing in your systems appears to be permanently damaged."

"Good." Wildfire relaxed her face as the wave of pain past. "I wouldn't want to be hindered the next time I got into a fight." She looked up at the medic. "Who's looking after the new kid?"

"Barricade ran off yelling something about finding a medic who had traveled here from Iacon." First Aid shrugged. "I doubt that he's going to be around for long, though."

"So it's a mech."

"Aren't they usually?" First Aid shook her head. "I doubt that he's going to be staying for long, although his help is greatly appreciated."

Wildfire noticed a look in First Aid's soft blue optics. "You like him, don't you?" she asked with a sly smirk.

First Aid gave Wildfire a look of surprise. "W-what! No! You have to be joking!"

"I crack jokes when I find the need to." Wildfire was enjoying getting the reaction out of the medic - it wasn't often that the two managed to converse, and the electrical surges were causing the warrior-femme to become a little more loosened up emotionally than normal. "Usually when I want to insult my opponent."

First Aid sighed, but a smile still remained fixed on her face. "The electrical surges must be affecting your processor. There's no way you can act like this normally. I recommend staying away from that arena for a few more cycles than normal. I'm going to tell the boss." She turned and walked off without another word.

Wildfire watched the medic go with a smirk on her face, but it soon faded to an indifferent look as she thought back to the fight she had just participated in. Jolt's actions in the arena were unusual - even more so than who she had fought in the past. And that technique...

No one was able to expel electricity like that. At least, no one that Wildfire knew of. Cybertronians who were capable of creating pure energy weapons were unheard of, and Wildfire never liked to reveal her own ability all that often. It made her feel like she was going to be hunted down by members of the scientist caste and forced to participate in experiments that kept her from the arena - which was really the only thing that she truly enjoyed, other than looking into ways to upgrade her vibroblades or the cannons that shared the storage space in her arms.

She preferred physical contact with the opponent, feeling the metal bending and crushing underneath her force. The cannons worked best for taking down some of the slightly larger opponents, allowing her to wound, then go in for the kill.

It seemed, however, that Jolt was incapable of using his weapons - or even getting an upgrade, for that matter. The electricity must be more involved in his systems than the fiery power Wildfire carried.

The femme shook her head. This wasn't something that she was interested in. Jolt wasn't her problem, like she wasn't his.

Still...it would be nice to get some of that alloy he had been wearing added to her own armor...

Here you are, then - a bit of an explosive introduction to who Wildfire is and what she does. Don't be afraid to suggest stuff to me, as I'm hoping to IMPROVE this, not just let it sit in some first draft-like form. Favorite - Follow - I don't care! Just give me a few reviews to work with, here!

See you next chapter!