After two-and-a-half hours, everyone, minus the patients at the medical ward, returned to the foundry. In it, Bludgeon, Scavenger, and Mixmaster were examining the effigies. There were twelve in all, their names etched into the body, representing Shockwave, Soundwave, Vortex, Brawl, Counterpunch, Punch, Chromedome, Mirage, Nightbeat, Blast Off, Ratchet, and Jhiaxus. The effigies all appeared to be simple metal figurines waiting for decorations to be added onto them, each having slight variations to help resemble the one they represent. They were of pretty good quality as well. "Here are the effigies," Bludgeon told them as he grabbed the Jhiaxus effigy. "Do with them what you want. The Burning will be tomorrow," he said as he walked past them. The group watched him go with stomping feet before crowding and looking over the metal figurines.
"We tried our best. We hope you like them," Scavenger said timidly as he tapped his fingers against each other and curled his shovel-tail around him.
"We're sure you did," Jazz comforted him as he examined them, which seemed to make Scavenger feel slightly better.
"Thanks," he murmured.
"This feels weird," Swindle said as he picked up the one resembling Vortex, which had rotor blades on the back.
"Indeed," Onslaught muttered as he picked up Blast Off and Brawl's effigies, the former having air fins at the back and the legs while the latter was noticeably bulkier than the other ones.
"It does look a bit like them," Rewind agreed as he picked up the Chromedome one, it being leaner and taller than the other were. He looked it over with Wildrider next to him giving him a pat on the back.
"It'll be fine, you cutie," he said, which both comforted and disturbed Rewind.
"Okay," he replied shyly.
"They should," Knock Out said as he grabbed the Ratchet one, it not really having any defining characteristic of the Autobot medic, which he'll soon fix with by painting it white-and-red.
"I can't tell these two apart," Beachcomber said as he looked Punch and Counterpunch over, the two nearly alike. The only real difference was that they had two slightly different head-sculpts.
"Oh, Mirage," Hoist muttered as he looked the sleek effigy over.
"The inquisitive detective, now just another sacrifice," Dead End muttered as he looked Nightbeat over, not having many defining traits to separate it from the other effigies.
"Even as an effigy, my scientific colleague has an unsettling aura to him," Perceptor said as he examined Shockwave's effigy, it having one arm that resembled a gun and a singular optic. "Impressive."
"At least he isn't creepy," Blurr said as he examined Soundwave's effigy and it's blank face. "Glad that silent freak is- gah!" he yelled as the injured Laserbeak suddenly jumped on him and scratched him up with its beak and talons. "I mean I'm sorry he's dead! Please stop. I just got this waxed!"
"Laserbeak, please leave the jerk alone," Skywarp ordered and he did so, returning to his owner and dropping the Soundwave effigy in his hand. "Guess I can take care of this for you."
"Please, do so," Blurr said as he looked himself over. "Damn pet scratch me."
"What you get for insulting the dead," Mixmaster scoffed.
"He's been dead for over two weeks," he remarked. "I'm pretty sure the period of mourning has passed, especially since we're stuck in a life-or-death game."
"He's right. There are bigger things to worry about," Smokescreen agreed.
"Aw, scrap. Why did you agree with me?" the racer groaned, ducking and hiding his face in his palm.
"What? Does my opinion automatically make the one I agree with less valuable?" the gambler asked everyone.
"Considering that you yourself have admitted to being a certified psychopath, yes," Beachcomber told him.
"I haven't been certified, just going by what the psychology journals say," he responded to them. "You have to get Rung to certify me."
"Yeah. He certify me and gave me plenty of anti-psychotic medicine that I didn't take," Wildrider confirmed to them. "He got a bit annoyed at me for that."
"As did I," Dead End grumbled. "Couldn't you take your meds?"
"What? You didn't take your meds, so I didn't either," he told him, earning a glare from the cynic.
"Why am I not surprised neither of you have taken your meds?" Knock Out said to himself. "Would explain a lot of things."
"Well, is there anything else here to do?" Jazz questioned everyone. "We got the effigies, so we should go ahead and prepare them for that."
"Some of us should also go check on Bludgeon, since he knows how the whole ceremony works," Skywarp told him. "I'll go do that if you want."
"I'll accompany you," the spy offered. "If there's nothing else to talk about, let's separate and do our job."
"This is starting to get annoying," Hound muttered as he laid on the med-bay's berth, his chest stinging from the pain. Not helping matters was the other stinging sensations in his left shoulder and thigh that were also from the explosion. He really wished Ratchet were still around. He could've taken good care of him. He was always a good caretaker, as well as a highly capable surgeon. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen anymore because of the psychopath and the narcissistic cynic. Now, the only people with advance medical practice were Scavenger and Knock Out and neither were as good of a caretaker as Ratchet and the former was still in training as well. "Really wish Ratchet was still here."
"You're not the only one," he heard a familiar voice said and turned to see Drift as he was sitting up on the berth, looking at him, the dent in his white head still visible.
"Hey, Drift," Hound greeted him. "How's your head doing?"
"It's fine," he said as he toss his legs over the side. "Just need to buffer it and it'll be fine."
"Good to hear," the preservationist said as he pushed himself up to balance on his good arm. "So, you heard about Ratchet?"
"Yes, I have. Smokescreen planted the bomb while Dead End suicide attempt caused Ratchet to kill Blast Off on accident. He was summarily executed while the ones who actually had dangerous intent were left alone. A bunch of bullshit," he growled before smashing his fist against his berth. "It's nothing but an injustice."
"On that, we can agree on," Hound nodded. "Although some people may not like it. I told Rewind that we should just execute the two bastards once this is all over and he got scare of me. Huh. Doesn't he know that I'm trying to protect him? Doesn't he know the danger that we're in with them here?"
"I bet he does, but he must be afraid of you plotting to murder them while we're in the game," Drift told him, which earned a disapproving look from Hound.
"As if. I'm not going to endanger Rewind like that, you idiot," Hound told him through gritted teeth.
"I never said you would've," the swordsmech responded, annoyed. "I said that they might. Pretty sure you'll try your hardest to get them executed once we kill the headmaster and I'll be by your side when the time comes."
"Ah… sorry," Hound apologized.
"It's okay," Drift said as he got up on shaky legs, one hand planted on the berth to keep him balanced.
"You okay?" he asked as Drift spend some time holding himself firm before he let go and got his gear on him.
"I'm fine. I'm just going to head out," he said as he made sure each of his sword sheaths were in place before turning his attention to Hound. "You?"
"Stay here. What else can I do?" Hound asked him.
"Not much," he admitted before turning his attention to something. "What the hell is that?" Drift asked him and Hound turned to see his ghost orchid right there on a stand.
"Hey, that's my ghost orchid," he said, cheering up as he pulled himself closer to it.
"That's yours? I thought it was a death threat," Drift told him.
"Nah, it's just an endangered plant from Earth. Good to see the container is in full working order. It help manages the temperature in it for the flower," he said.
"Ooookay," Drift draw out, not too comfortable with him liking what obviously wasn't a pretty flower. As he stood there, he heard the Med-Bay doors open towards the racetrack and turned to see Bludgeon enter the area. Bludgeon glared at him before speaking.
"Warrior, are you capable of standing and fighting?" Bludgeon asked him.
"Only one way to find out," he responded. "Wanna spar in the Auditorium, like usual?"
"That is unnecessary since we have a combat room now," he responded.
"We do?" Drift asked and Bludgeon responded with a nod. "Alright. That's good to know that we got an actual place to fight now."
"It certainly is," Bludgeon responded as he walked over to the still Nautilator. "Do any of you know of his condition?"
"No, I don't," Drift said as did Hound. "If you want someone who might know how he's doing, get Knock Out to look him over. I have no idea how to project when someone will wake up."
"The vain doctor… well, he's not exactly acting vain much anymore, but he's acting in vengeance because of his vanity. Sort of turning his vanity to utility. Good to see," Bludgeon muttered.
"He may be vain, but he's still a good doctor. If Ratchet approved of his skills, then I believe he's competent enough," Drift told him.
"That's true," Hound agreed. "If he impresses Ratchet, then he has a lot of talent."
"Huh, we'll see," Bludgeon responded before turning. "Now, do you feel capable enough to head to the combat room?"
"Yeah, I'm more than capable," he said, straightening his stand confidently.
"Hmph, we'll see."
Drift and Bludgeon met up at the combat room and Bludgeon brought him to the combat simulation machine. "I want us to fight to the death, without actually killing one of us, so that we don't hold back. It will be realistic," Bludgeon explained to him.
"Huh, I like that," Drift said as the two of them took a seat and plugged themselves in. His vision went black and he was transported to a square arena in a temple. He was at one end while Bludgeon was at the other. The two stared each down, drawing their blades, before they ran at each other and brought their swords against each other. Drift brought his swords down while Bludgeon kept his single sword up to keep him from cutting him. He pushed up, not letting him gain any ground, before pushing back, making Drift stumble backward. Bludgeon brought his blade down with a guttural yell and Drift held his swords up to block him as well. Bludgeon jumped to the left and Drift was barely able to counter it.
'My reaction time… it has slow down,' Drift thought as Bludgeon continued to slash at him with raw power jumping to the right and slashing across, which Drift dodged by jumping up and slashing at him with his left sword towards his head. He dodged it, but not without nicking his neck cord, making a small amount of energon spill out. The two were apart again and Bludgeon felt his neck to feel a small trickle of energon falling from it.
"The first successful strike belongs to you, but I will strike the decisive blow," he said before sprinting to him at a rapid pace and Drift was only barely able to block that before Bludgeon kept giving a flurry of blows. Drift kept trying to disarm him, but Bludgeon kept moving at a rapid pace and gave him no room to maneuver. Drift kept moving to avoid him, but he was a force of nature and one little slip-up when Bludgeon pulled a fake led to a cut on his left leg.
"Gah!" Drift yelled as he felt energon sliding down his legs. "Not bad," he complimented before he got on the offensive instead, using the fact he had two blades to his advantage to force him to block one but not the other. He got several nicks in and even a rather large cut on his midsection, but nothing was a definitive blow. Bludgeon proved that despite his size, he was surprisingly mobile as he started using his speed to avoid him. As the two fought, Drift started to feel dizzy and he was getting a massive headache. He gave a downward strike and Bludgeon moved to the side. Drift overexerted himself and stumbled forward, giving Bludgeon all the opportunity he needed to bring his blade down on him.
*Slice*
Drift fell to the ground, feeling strange. He groan as he tried to refocus and recalibrate his vision. He looked to left and saw what appeared to be… feet? He looked up the feet to see that they were his legs. He stared at them in confusion before he felt pain at his midsection and looked down at his body to see everything from his midsection down was missing with energon gushing out and wires hanging out from it. At the realization, he could only scream in agony as Bludgeon brought his blade down on his head.
"Guah!" Drift gasped as he woke up back in the real world, exhaling and inhaling at a rapid pace. The pain… it felt so real. His legs were separated from his body and he could feel every ounce of energon draining from him. Bludgeon wasn't kidding when he said it would be realistic. And that headache he felt was intense.
"You were not ready," he heard Bludgeon said and turned to see him stand up again over him.
"What do you mean? Of course I was-"
"You misunderstand. I mean your health is not up to par. You were unfocused. Not paying attention. I sense that your mind was troubled. Your wounds still affect you," he told him and Drift had his head down at that. "You must wait until you have heal before we attempt to fight again."
"Yeah… I guess you're right," he agreed melancholically.
"You're capable of normal movement, but you have a ways to go before you can fight again," Bludgeon told him as he turned to see Jazz and Skywarp approached them. "Yes?"
"Bludgeon, we need to talk about- Drift? Are you okay?" Jazz asked as he saw the swordsmech looking miserable in the chair.
"Yeah, don't worry. I can move around now, although I need to wait before I can fight again at full capacity," he responded.
"Oh, okay," Jazz muttered while scratching his head.
"So, Bludgeon, how exactly do we do this whole sacrifice of the effigies thing?" Skywarp asked Bludgeon as Laserbeak had the effigy of Soundwave in his grasp.
"That? Well, we're going to need a pole for each one. Doesn't matter the material. After that, we need to have an accelerant that can burn at high temperatures. We tie each effigy to its own pole and light it ablaze. It's that simple," he told them.
"Huh, I guess we can do that," Jazz said.
"Anyone can," Bludgeon told them. "I shall set them up, if you want me to."
"Sure thing. And get Hoist to help you as well," he recommended.
"Right, I'm off. Heal up, Drift," he told the swordsmech before leaving.
"I'll try," he responded as Bludgeon left.
With that, most of the day was spent with preparations for the event tomorrow. Bludgeon and Hoist prepped the poles up at the middle of the racetrack, as it had plenty of room for them to use. The others prepped the effigies, decorating them for the event. It was about seven when they finished. They met up at the lunchroom and decided to do it tomorrow at night.
"So, you think he will wake up tomorrow?" Bludgeon asked Knock Out as they were looking over the still form of Nautilator. The only other person was Hound, who was blissfully unaware of them thanks to the painkillers Knock Out prescribed to him.
"It all depends on Nautilator. Waking up from a coma takes a lot of willpower," Knock Out explained to him. "His pulse is fine. His health is good. All that it really takes is for him to wake up, whenever he wants to."
"Alright," Bludgeon nodded.
"I offer no guarantees. It may help if you stay with him. Some say that the voice of a loved one will help wake them, but this is merely speculation," the doctor told him with crossed arms. "Are you considered a love one?"
"Probably the closest he has to one," Bludgeon told him and Knock Out nodded.
"What a shame," he muttered dispassionately before he walked away. "He really has had a sad, lonely life." Knock Out left the room, leaving Bludgeon alone with Nautilator. The metallikato expert gave a sigh before he took a seat next to Nautilator on a chair.
"You hopefully heard the doctor," Bludgeon said to him. "I shall stay with you through the night. Hopefully, my presence will wake you from your deep slumber." Nautilator stayed still as Bludgeon spoke again. "I need someone to protect, someone who I can give my life to, and I hope it will be you. Don't prove me wrong, Nautilator. I expect us to walk out together along with anyone else that is alive."