Here we are at Chapter 56. Time for a few filler chapters now that the gang have completed the first part in their Amity Tower mission. I do not own RWBT or Transformers. They belong to their respective owners. Here's Chapter 56. Enjoy.

Chapter 56: Gladiator vs Soldier

After returning to Atlas following the completion of their mission and getting their official huntsmen licenses, Megatron and his allies prepare to continue with their mission. However, with their new perks, they also work on other objectives, such as missions for Atlas or Mantle itself, protecting the launch site, and even getting to do their own thing from time to time. This would allow them to get a better grasp of the lifestyles of professional huntsmen or huntresses. They would also be working with the Ace Ops on these missions, or training with them at Atlas Academy.

Currently, Megatron and his allies are in their room, preparing for another day of their duties.

"So, you'll be working with Blake and Marrow to protect the perimeter of the launch site?" Dreadwing asks Predaking while he tunes up his cannon.

"Yes. Though, we managed to secure the site, it doesn't mean that there aren't still more Grimm lurking within the tunnels. Those Centinels are a prime example. Until Amity is launched, we can't let our guard down," Predaking sharpens his claws.

Dreadwing turns to Soundwave and Laserbeak, "And what do you intend to do?"

"Soundwave will be with Ruby, who will be with Yang and I here at the academy for some training. I wanted to take this opportunity to see what the Silver-Eyed girl is made of. Soundwave will naturally be there as her guardian," Megatron replies while staring out the window.

"And Yang is okay with that?" Dreadwing asks.

"If it'll help her sister become a more proficient fighter, and teach her more about hand-to-hand combat techniques, then yes, she is okay with it. Of course, I won't exactly go easy on her. But, if things get messy, then Yang and Soundwave will intervene... Probably," Megatron tries to add some humor to it, though the others are not impressed.

"Very well, then. As long as it won't leave her with untold damage. I remember seeing what she did to that Leviathan at Argus. To think that one so young would hold so much power. No wonder the fate of the world has been placed on her shoulders," Dreadwing notes.

Predaking crosses his arms, "Such a heavy burden to bear, for one so young. No wonder Optimus Prime brought us here to help Ruby Rose and her friends,"

Megatron turns back to them, "And that is precisely why we must complete our mission. With that being said, if you require assistance on your excursion... I'll be in the training room," Megatron is the first to depart, with Soundwave and Laserbeak following close behind him.

"Then, I shall be going as well to meet up with Lady Weiss. I believe she is going to talk with her sister. It's been too long since they've been able to have some kind of conversation," Dreadwing leaves next, and Predaking is the last to leave with a sigh.

…

In the training room at Atlas Academy, Yang, Soundwave, and Laserbeak are sitting on the side of the training room, watching the sparring match between Ruby and Megatron. Well, Soundwave and Laserbeak are watching the match, while Yang is simply cringing at what is basically a one-sided beatdown given by Megatron to Ruby. Ruby flies around Megatron with her semblance to attack from behind, but Megatron easily catches the thrown kick at his back and tosses Ruby off to the side.

"If you want to get a clear blow on your opponent, then you need to be less obvious," Megatron notes dryly.

Ruby manages to land on her feet and runs back at him. She uses her semblance again to spiral towards him. When she gets close, she separates into three bursts of rose petals that fly around him. One comes in at him, and Megatron throws a spin kick at it, but the petals burst, and then Ruby comes in from the side to throw a punch to his face. Megatron manages to block it and throws a knee to her stomach, followed by a palm strike to her face. When they separate, Megatron throws a quick glance to Soundwave before refocusing on Ruby. Riby comes up and throws a few punches at his chest and face, but Megatron blocks or deflects them all and then jumps and twirls over her, landing behind her. Ruby turns and jumps to throw another punch, only for said punch to get caught in one of Soundwave's tentacles, which then flips Ruby around before catching her by one of her ankles and hanging her upside down like back in Mistral. Good thing she's wearing shorts this time.

"Soundwave! Really?!" Ruby yells at him as she hangs in mid-air.

"You must always be aware of surprises that might be lurking in the shadows. Your enemies will not always meet you on the same ground as you," Megatron replies, making Ruby cross her arms while Yang laughs at her sister's expense.

"Soundwave, you can let me down now," Ruby says, and Soundwave releases her, though she lands on her butt instead of her feet. "Ow, I didn't mean to drop me on my butt!" she yells, but Soundwave means stoic as always, thought Laserbeak caws as if he's laughing.

"Well, it seems you kids are keeping yourself busy," they hear and look back to see Winter walking into the training room. "Though, I wonder exactly how you can call this 'training',"

"It fulfills a purpose," Megatron narrows his eyes. "And what do we owe the pleasure, Winter Schnee,"

Winter walks up to Dreadwing, "When I was helping Dreadwing recover from his injury, the one you gave him, and help him regain his fighting strength; he told me stories about you. Most of them, none too flattering. I cannot understand why he would want to fight alongside you again after that, and even less why Weiss would be willing to work with you,"

"If you are trying to remind me of my failures as a leader from so long ago, then you needn't bother. I remember them all too clearly. Is there a point to all of this babbling of yours?" Megatron grows impatient.

"My point is that I would like to confirm for myself whether or not you'll be an asset... or a liability to our mission. And I believe there's only one way to figure that out," Winter says as she draws her sword.

Megatron grunts, "Hmph, why didn't you just say so from the beginning. If it's a fight you desire, then I shall happily grant it," he then activates his arm blade.

The two walk into the middle of the training room, while the rest watch the duel with a mix of both curiosity and trepidation. Both fighters stand on opposite ends of the training room and a moment later, they charge. They get close, and Megatron spins around to swing his arm blade at Winter, who meets the strike with her sword. The blades clash as they move past each other and then turn to strike again. Winter makes a side swing at his body, but he dodges to the side and weaves by another strike before making two swings of his own. Winter blocks the swings and thrusts her blade at his face. Megatron moves is head, narrowly avoiding it, and then throws a punch to her chest with his left arm. Winter slides across the floor before charging again with her glyphs under her feet. Megatron fires his arm cannon, but she jumps into the air and lands on another glyph above him. She creates another glyph to send out a flock of small Nevermore summons at him. However, Megatron creates a large hammer in his hands with his semblance and smashes it into the floor, sending out a purple shockwave that blows the summons away. Winter makes another glyph behind her and shoots off of it towards Megatron. Forgoing the hammer, Megatron reactivates his arm blade and the two weapons clash as their fighters glare at each other.

"Well, at least you have some sense on how to fight," Winter notes.

"Oh, I'm just getting started, Winter Schnee. Aside from Predaking, there is only one who can truly stand their ground against me... and you're nothing compared to him," Megatron pushes Winter back and fire more shots from his cannon.

Winter brings out her second blade and jumps along the pillars in the training room to evade his shots. Megatron creates a whip with his semblance and swings it around at Winter. Winter swats the whip away with her blades and then jumps off one pillar at Megatron. Megatron makes a shield this time and blocks Winter's assault before pushing her back. He swings the whip again and it wraps around her left ankle. Caught in his trap, Winter is flung into one of the other pillars before Megatron yanks hard on the whip, bringing her to him. Winter manages to correct herself in mid-air and swings her blades at Megatron. Megatron brings out the arm blade in his left arm and all their blades clash. Megatron pushes Winter back again, but she jumps right back into it.

"Winter sure is going at it with all she's got," Ruby notes from the sidelines.

"Yeah, but she hasn't seen everything Megatron's capable of. He's just getting warmed up," Yang says.

Megatron and Winter exchange a few strikes with their blades, seemingly on equal footing. However, when Winter makes the next attack, Megatron deactivates his blades and catches her wrists. With her wide open, Megatron head-butts her in the face, and then throws an uppercut to her stomach, followed by a front kick to the chest, knocking her back.

"You may be a soldier, Winter Schnee, but I am a gladiator of Kaon. And I was a champion in the pits of Kaon not only due to my savage might... but, also my cunning!" Megatron then creates a pair of large cannons with his semblance and shoots away at the pillars themselves.

The pillars fall down, forcing Winter to move back with her glyphs to evade them while they spring up dust and smoke. Winter looks ahead, seeing a spear suddenly get thrown through the smoke at her. Winter leans to the side to evade it, and it stabs the ground behind her. Winter looks back to see Megatron emerging from the dust with his arm blades out again. Winter creates a black glyph under his feet, pinning him in place. She makes her move and attacks with her blades. Once more, the fighters dance with their blades. Even though Megatron remains in place because of the black glyph, that doesn't do much in dampening his fighting skills. The two fighters seem evenly matches again, but then Megatron makes an opening, allowing himself to get hit by one of Winter's blades in order to fire his arm cannon at her feet. Winter jumps back, giving Megatron the chance he needs to create another whip with his semblance. He swings it around, forcing her further back to evade it. However, she hears some beeping behind her and looks back... just in time to see the spear that Megatron had thrown earlier glow bright and then explode. The blast catches her by surprise, sending her flying back at Megatron, who throws a hard right to her face. She hits the ground, and he becomes free from the glyph. Winter gets onto one knee and looks up to see the tip of his right arm blade aimed at her face.

"Yield," Megatron mutters.

Winter groans, but concedes the match as she holsters her blades, "Fine, you win. Though, that was a dirty move you played back there with the spear," Winter crosses her arms.

"Any true warrior must be aware of their surroundings at all times. And the last I checked, we never set any ground rules for this little sparring match. I told you, I was a champion in the Pits of Kaon due to both my might AND my cunning. Sometimes, you must fight smarter, not harder," Megatron walks back to the others and then turns back to her. "I trust you are satisfied now with your assessment of me,"

"Not quite... But, it's a start. Weiss may not trust you fully, but she at least trusts you enough to watch her back when needed. That's at least enough for me not to consider you an enemy," Winter notes and then leaves the training room.

"Well, that was pretty cool. I knew that both Megatron and Winter were strong, but it was so interesting to watch them fight each other," Ruby breaks the ice.

"It seems you may have to be careful around them or the rest of the military, Megatron. At least, they don't see you as an enemy and at least as an ally," Yang notes, a hand on his shoulder.

Megatron sighs, "Another trial on my path for redemption. It is of little consequence,"

"So, how did it feel to fight the best fighter in the Atlas Military?" Yang asks.

"Well, she definitely has more experience and training than you do-," Megatron begins.

Yang feels insulted, "Hey!"

"But, she's nowhere near as strong as me, and there are still those that can give me more of a challenge than her. But, I suppose it is comforting to have a warrior of that caliber on our side. At least, she taxes my patience less than those Ace Ops members," Megatron notes.

Ruby rubs her head, "Well, let's just focus on that fact that we're all on the same side,"

"Speaking of which... You still have more training to do. I refuse to let you leave this room until you've made more progress with your hand-to-hand combat skills," Megatron points at Ruby.

Ruby takes a step back, "What?! Oh, come on! Haven't I been beaten up enough for one day. It's getting frustrating not to even hold Crescent Rose right now," she turns to Soundwave. "Soundwave, please save me!" she pleads, but Soundwave and Laserbeak remain silent and turn away from her. "Now you decide to be completely silent?!"

Yang laughs, "You might as well take your medicine, Ruby... Of course, you might need some real medicine when Megatron's done with you. I've been through his training regiments... My condolences," Yang mutters the last part as she glances away.

"Yang!" Ruby whines, only to notice Megatron cracking his knuckles and smirking at her.

Suffice to say... Ruby needed to take quite a while to regain her strength before going out on another mission.

…

Meanwhile, Predaking and Blake finish up with their mission as they clear away the last of the Grimm approaching the launch site. Blake twirls in the air, swinging her chain-scythe around to slice through a pair of Beowolves, while Predaking simply burns away a Manticore Grimm from the air with his fire breathing. Behind them, Marrow fires off his rifle to take out the last two Beowolves.

Marrow holsters his weapon, "Well, looks like that's the last of them. That should keep the launch site safe, at least for the time being. Even with that Geist gone, more Grimm will still make their way here with the increase in activity. But, it's not like we have to be here 24/7 exactly. So, let's get ready to head back,"

Blake sheathes her blade, "Good. Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of the cold. Probably from all the time I spent in Vale and in Menagerie,"

Marrow looks back, "How about you, big guy? You doing okay in all this cold?"

"I am adequate. A little cold is hardly enough to quell my flames," Predaking notes, breathing a slight spark of fire from his mouth for emphasis.

"R-Right, good to know. Must come in handy whenever you wanted to roast some s'mores when you can't make a regular fire pit," Marrow jokes.

Predaking stares at Blake, "S'mores?"

Blake sighs, "I'll explains it to you later," With that, the group return to the airship that would take them back to Atlas. While Marrow talks on his scroll to report the mission completed, Blake has her own conversation with Predaking. "Back in your old world, did your kind ever eat anything besides Energon for energy?"

"We never actually ate Energon, though we did require it for life. Although, I'm not that familiar with other cybertronians' way of life, and there were not many historical records on my people even after the war. I heard that some cybertronians enjoyed drinking oil as a beverage," Predaking recollects.

Of course, the thought of drinking oil grosses Blake out, "You... drank oil? That's... a little much," she tries to perish the thought.

"Well, our kind weren't biological in nature, but we were more than simple machines as well," Predaking says, not noticing her discomfort.

"I... see. I'll keep that in mind," Blake replies as they enter the airship.

…

Back at Atlas, Megatron has removed his prosthetic arm and is currently doing maintenance on it. Of course, Yang is behind him, watching him work on his appendage.

"You know, you could always just ask the scientists here to work on that so you won't have to. It would save you a lot of time and energy," Yang notes.

"Perhaps, but in this instance, I prefer to do my own work. The more familiar I am with this new arm, the more proficient I'll be in using it," Megatron uses a screwdriver to tighten some bolts on the arm's inner workings.

"Well, I guess I can see that. But still, it must be tough doing this with only one arm. Here, I'll help you," Yang sits down next to him and grabs another tool.

Megatron creates his semblance arm, "I can handle this on my own. There is no need for your concern, Yang,"

Yang gently coaxes the semblance arm down, and with a single look, gets Megatron to relinquish it completely.

"Please, you've done a lot of things for me already. This is the least I can do for you," Yang says and the pair go to work on his arm together.

"Yang... Thank you," Megatron says.

Yang smiles and playfully nudges his shoulder with her own, and the former leader of the Decepticons shows a brief, but sure smile to here before refocusing on his work.

…

Meanwhile, in one corner of Mantle, Shockwave watches Watts leave their temporary hideout to continue on his part of the mission while Tyrian is out doing what Tyrian does best. With himself now alone, Shockwave pulls out his scroll, which he has modified for his own personal use. Typing away a few keys, he makes a connection.

"...Have they any suspicions?" an unknown voice asks.

Shockwave shakes his head, "None. They firmly believe that I am on their side. Unfortunately, in order to maintain my cover, I've had to help Arthur Watts in his mission for Atlas and Mantle. I believe he will move soon. People will die,"

"We do not have much choice, I'm afraid. However, your time will come soon, Shockwave. I appreciate you helping me with this mission, despite the dangers of it," the voice replies.

"A necessary sacrifice. Please inform me when the time comes for me to see them again," Shockwave says before ending the communications. "...I wonder how you are faring right now... Megatron,"

And that's the chapter. Megatron and his allies get acclimated to their new positions in Atlas, working to help Ironwood on many fronts. Meanwhile, it seems Shockwave has his own secrets, even from Salem's forces. What challenges await Megatron in the near future? Who was Shockwave talking to? Until then, please Read and Review.