"Nautilator is awake?" Jazz asked, happily surprised as most of the group met back up in the cafeteria. The only ones who weren't in attendance were Knock Out, Nautilator, Hound, Drift, Bumblebee, and Dead End.

"Indeed, he is," Bludgeon nodded to them. "Knock Out said he should be good for attending the ceremony."

"That's good to hear," Perceptor nodded. "How did he take the news of Ratchet's and Blast Off's demise?"

"He was shock, as we all were, however, he's taking it well," Bludgeon informed him. "He has also been informed of Smokescreen's and Dead End's betrayals. He is not please."

"A betrayal? That's a bit harsh," Smokescreen commented with a sly grin, which earned a fierce glare from Bludgeon in return.

"You are despicable," the metallikato expert said to the gambler.

"I'm starting to like those comments," Smokescreen smiled at him.

"Shut it," Swindle warned him with a glare of his own and Onslaught backing him with his too.

"Whatever," Smokescreen scoffed as he looked away.

"So," Jazz cut in, hoping to get back on track, "meeting at the VOF at 9PM is still on, right?"

"Of course. I think that will be enough time for Nautilator to feel better and to start walking again," Bludgeon told him.

"It still seems entirely reasonable," Mixmaster agreed. "We should be ready to go for it."

"I see no reason to halt proceedings," Onslaught agreed.

"I like burning things," Wildrider said with a wide smile, which made Perceptor cough awkwardly.

"That means he's okay with it, as am I," Perceptor told them.

"So no objections?" Jazz asked and no one said anything against it. "Good. Glad we can come to a consensus."

"We've been good at coming to a consensus if it meant saving out lives," Hoist remarked

."That's true…" Bludgeon agreed with him. "We've been fortunate for coming to the right conclusion these past few trials, especially the last one."

"Yeah, we were lucky with that one," Rewind agreed. "We were lucky to get through that alive."

"Yes. Things are getting tense," Perceptor agreed.

"Tell me about it," Skywarp grumbled. "That fucking bear is insane for forcing us to kill each other."

"I bet you he'll make the argument that he's not making us kill each other, he's only incentivizing us to kill each other," Beachcomber remarked sarcastically. "That piece of shit."

"He's certainly a devious and uncouth individual," Perceptor agreed. "He has successfully manipulated us into killing ten of our group."

"And we hardly understand why he's doing this to us," Smokescreen stated. "Even for me, I find his line of logic a bit nutty."

"You're easy. Simple greed and self-preservation," the scientist replied back to him. "However, this bear… he does it all for despair?"

"It is certainly a strange reason," Jazz agreed.

"I call it stupid," Smokescreen said to them. "There's no point in despair."

"He would obviously disagree with you, that damn bear," Onslaught cursed. "He obviously finds a purpose in it, no matter how insane it is."

"Seriously, there must be something wrong in that head of whomever controlling the damn bear," Swindle told him.

"Understatement of the year," Smokescreen remarked. "Even you have to admit I have a better motive than that asshole."

"You're still one of the biggest assholes ever," Swindle remarked. "It's just that he managed to surpass you somehow and that is very disturbing."

"This person controlling Monobear is obviously mentally ill," Mixmaster commented.

"Whether he's mentally ill or not is irrelevant. He forced us into this position. He must suffer for it," Bludgeon told them. "They deserve no sympathy for forcing us into this plight."

"Had no intention of giving them any. Being mentally ill does not mean one is predisposed to committing violent acts," Mixmaster told him. "This, however, is a very extreme case."

"Regardless, we can't exactly let that mastermind live, right?" Beachcomber asked the group.

"Depends on what's going on outside," Jazz told him. "If everything's fine, then we'll just arrest him and sentence him."

"And if it isn't okay outside, we'll take justice in our own hands," Onslaught stated. "Vortex, Brawl, and Blast Off must be avenged."

"As must everyone else," Rewind stated. "I didn't like everyone who has died, but they didn't deserve death."

"And we must save everyone else we care about," Mixmaster said as he placed a hand on Scavenger's shoulders. Scavenger looked back at him in surprised before nodding in agreement with him timidly.

"And we will," Jazz said to him. "Now, I believe we're done here, or at least I am. I'm heading on out."

"As am I. I wish to make sure Nautilator is still fine," Bludgeon told everyone.

"Guess we're done here, then," Onslaught said as he and his subordinate stood up. "Might as well take our leave."

"Yeah, I'm going to see if Deady's willing to come to the event as well," Wildrider told them before turning to Perceptor. "Want to come with?"

"I might as well so you don't cause trouble," Perceptor agreed as he stood up.

"Alright, let's go!" Wildrider yelled as he practically flew out of the room. Perceptor gave a sigh before following behind him. That gave people the go away to take their leave and spread out for the rest of the day until the ceremony.

Hoist hummed to himself as he worked in the Repair Bay on a datapad he broke and was fixing. He just wanted to spend time by himself. He did not want anyone near him. He didn't exactly trust them to not betray him. He trusted Mirage and he was a killer. He trusted Smokescreen and he was a serial killer and a legitimate psychopath. He was not good at trusting one's character, although Mirage was well-intentioned. He was an actual friend. Smokescreen on the other hand-

"Hey, Hoist! How are you doing?"

Speaking of the spawn of Unicron. "Smokescreen. What the hell do you want?" Hoist questioned him as he turned to see the gambler resting beside the behemoth, near where Mirage met his end.

"Just came to see how you're doing. We are friends, after all," Smokescreen insisted.

"You use me, you bastard!" Hoist said with a accusatory finger. "You made me check the stands so that I can send everyone over to the stands by the bomb!"

"Yeah, I sorta did that…" Smokescreen admitted. "A pragmatic choice on my part. The more people injured, the less I had to worry about investigators. It ended in failure, but you can't blame me for trying."

"Yes, I can, you psycho!" Hoist yelled at him. "You planted the bomb and you painted the false rust. It's all your fault!"

"Hoist, this could've been avoided if you just examined the 'rust' more carefully and realize it was fake," Smokescreen pointed. "You just gave it the most cursory of examinations before okaying it. Why did you do that?"

"I… i-it looked like rust from a distance," Hoist stated.

"Huh, you idiot," Smokescreen insulted him. "You're better than that. We BOTH know that," he said to him. "You got lazy. Complacent. Never thought that rust could be part of a heinous plot to kill people." Hoist looked crestfallen at that before looking away.

"No… I didn't," Hoist admitted, upset. "I screwed up. If I just looked at it a bit closer, I could've figured out the ruse you planted. But I didn't. I got fooled by you. My friend. My enemy now."

"I'm still not your enemy," Smokescreen told him.

"Yes you are. You considered us your enemies," Hoist told him.

"No, I didn't. You are my friend. I'm just the type of friend who wouldn't mind letting you die," Smokescreen said to him.

"You're a terrible friend," Hoist said with a bitter, angry laugh. "Don't need me to say that, but why should I consider you a friend now?"

"Well, you need someone," the gambler laughed at him. "Admit it, you're one lonely fucker. You can't have no one watching your back."

"And you wouldn't hesitate to stab it," the repairer pointed out.

"Yeah, but at this point, if I stab you in the back, I'll be signing my own death warrant," Smokescreen told him. "I want to work with you now, not against you."

"So you say," Hoist murmured. "You haven't given me enough of a reason to trust you since you broke it."

"True. All the trust I gained from the fourth trial is broken now. The only thing I can do is attempt to rebuild it with you, provided you let me," Smokescreen said to him earnestly. "I'm being genuine for once."

"I doubt that, but I think you do want to live and you understand that the only way to do so is to solely work with us for now on," Hoist told him.

"Well, guess that's a start," Smokescreen said as he offered his hand to shake. "Deal?" Hoist looked at the hand before looking back at him before reluctantly shaking it roughly.

"Deal."

"Oh. H-hey Rewind," Jazz greeted Rewind outside of his door. "What do you need?"

"I want to know more about that datapad I saw. You know the one," Rewind said to him and the spy sighed at that.

"Rewind… I honestly don't know what to make of it myself," Jazz told him. "Please, leave me alone to look at it by myself. I work better alone."

"Jazz, please, I have to know," Rewind said to him.

"And I will once I finish looking into it. I'm making as much progress as I can. I should be done soon," Jazz assured him.

"But I want to know now! No, I have to know!" Rewind said to him.

"And you'll know about it in due time," Jazz assured him. "Just please, give me time. I'm still doing research so I know Chromedome's full involvement in it."

"Are you serious or just stalling to keep me from knowing what you know?" Rewind asked him. "You and Prowl always liked keeping secrets to yourself."

"Don't compare me to Prowl!" Jazz yelled back at him. "I'm different then that sociopath."

"Then prove it!" Rewind said to him.

"Later!" Jazz yelled before slamming the door shut.

"Jazz!" Rewind yelled as he banged his fists against the door. "Let me in, you bastard!"

"Troubles?" he heard a voice on his left asked and turned to see Dead End standing there, a scowl on his face and his left arm still missing with a metal cap covering the stump.

"You can say that…" Rewind sighed. "You?"

"About the same. I'm still alive," Dead End remarked.

"Why are you so insisted on dying? All it does it make everything worse," Rewind growled to him. "If you weren't suicidal, then Ratchet and possibly Blast Off would be alive."

"I am well aware of that… it is honestly a shame. I attended on him getting out on the backs of my death," Dead End stated.

"As well as mine and rest," Rewind pointed out.

"Yes. Your life is as meaningless as mine," Dead End said to him matter-of-factly.

"You're such an idiot. All life is valuable," Rewind told him as he stepped closer to the one-armed mech. "Why else do we exist?"

"We live to die," Dead End told him. "I see nothing valuable in that."

"We don't live to die! We live to survive," Rewind told him. "We live for the betterment of everyone around else. You only care for your own self-destruction."

"According to you," the poet cut in. "That may be your interpretation, but I find it the wrong one and you think yours is the right one, thus we are at a standstill."

"Only because you're an idiot," Rewind said to him. "I've suffered and thought about suicide like you did, but now I don't. You can do the same."

"No, I can't," Dead End stated. "Your depression was temporary. Mine is permanent," Dead End stated to him.

"No, it isn't! You just have to be willing to face it," Rewind encouraged him.

"There's nothing to face. It's only what I am," Dead End stated as he turned. "I'm heading back to my room. Don't you have a friend in need at the med-bay? I'm sure he would like you by his side or are you afraid to go see him?"

"I… he wants you dead," Rewind stated bluntly.

"Does he now?" the cynic asked him.

"Yeah."

"Hmph, tell him to knock on my door if he wants to do so," Dead End said as he stated walking. "I'll embrace the moment."

"You can't be serious," the minibot stated.

"I am," Dead End finished the conversation as he walked, leaving Rewind by himself again. The archivist gave a small sigh.

"This is too much…" he whispered before he started walking off in the other direction.

Literally five minutes later, Wildrider was knocking on Dead End's door. "DEADY! Me and Perceptor went to the store and got you some fun stories!" Wildrider yelled out to him.

"These rooms are soundproof, Wildrider. Only knocking will get his attention," Perceptor said as he held his head in an annoyed matter, the knocking and yelling annoying him

"Oh, shut up," Wildrider said as he knocked even louder on the door. "DEADY! SPARKY! OPEN UP!"

"Sparky is not sentient…" Perceptor moaned. "He is a plushy."

"No, he isn't! I hear him talking to me when we're alone…" Wildrider said fondly as he reminisces on it, weirding Perceptor out.

"You're not serious… are you?" the scientist asked him.

"I am," he stated seriously with a glare at the bot.

"Right… understood," Perceptor said as the door opened.

"What have I done to earn this racket?" Dead end questioned them as he stood in the doorway.

"Deady!" Wildrider cheered as he turned back to him and gave him a big ugh,

"Guah! Stop hugging me, you oaf!" Dead End yelled at him. "You're crushing my spinal strut!"

"Sorry!" Wildrider apologized as he pulled back and showed off a bag of datapads. "For you, a collection of stories and poems for your endearingly depressing spark."

"I wouldn't call it endearing," Perceptor said behind Wildrider as Dead End grabbed the bag and began looking through the datapads.

"Let me see. 'From the Well to the Pit,' 'Morphogenesis,' 'The Life of Sinners,' 'The Three-Dimensional Shadow,' 'Sadness…' Quite a lot of interesting stories," Dead End admitted.

"Thanks! Perceptor suggested a few of these, as you can probably tell. I have no idea what the frag morphogenesis is," Wildrider told him.

"I'll teach you about it later, if you want," Perceptor said to him.

"Hmph, anyway, why are you here? It can't be for just this," Dead End said.

"We're burning things!" Wildrider yelled at him.

"Uh-huh…" Dead End murmured before turning to Perceptor. "Translation?"

"We'll be having a memorial today, burning effigies of the dead teachers plus Jhiaxus," Perceptor told him.

"Really now? Interesting. I suppose everyone else is going," Dead End guessed.

"Bingo!" his fellow Stunticon said. "We'll all be there, even Nautilator."

"Has he awaken from his coma?" Dead End questioned them.

"Just this morning," Perceptor said to him. "Bludgeon filled us in on it at lunch."

"Hmph… he's got strength of will," the poet admitted. "I'll give him that."

"Indeed he does," Perceptor agreed. "Anyway, please consider coming to the ceremony. It'll help comradery around here."

"And I'll knock on your door until you come if you don't!" Wildrider yelled at him.

"Guess there's no getting out of it," the nihilist sighed. "Very well. I shall come."

"Yay! Oh, and bring Sparky! He likes fire," the manic told him.

"I'll do it…" Dead End sighed, defeated.

"Very well. We'll leave you alone for now," Perceptor said to him.

"I would prefer forever, but… thanks for the datapads. It's thoughtful of the two of you," Dead End told them before closing the door.

"Whelp, I've done my good deed for the day," Wildrider said as he put his hands to his hips and puffed his chest out with a smug grin.

"Indeed, you did," Perceptor said with a pat on the shoulder. "Now, let's go."

"They're drunk," Swindle said to Onslaught as they observed Bumblebee and Drift drinking together with their arms over each other's shoulders and talking loudly.

"Very drunk," his gestaltmate agreed.

"Should we leave them alone?"

"They need to be sober enough to attain the ceremony," Onslaught reminded him as he stepped towards the two. Swindle sighed before he followed behind him

"Great…" the salesmech muttered as they went over to the two, who were reminiscing about the past.

"And so I had to go NECK DEEP in enemy territory just to CONTACT base again after getting my head CRACKED in," Bumblebee told Drift, awkwardly placing emphasis on certain words.

"Woah… what happened next?" Drift asked.

"What happens next is we take both of you to your rooms so that you can sober up for the ceremony today," Onslaught said as he placed a hand on both of their shoulders.

"Get your hand off me, you damn dirty Con!" Drift cursed as he pushed the hand off. "I drink whenever I want."

"YEAH! Like, LEAVE us aLONE," Bumblebee told him.

"I swear, the way you're stressing words and syllables is giving me a headache," Swindle grumbled to them before going over to Bumblebee. "Come on, let's get you out of here," he ordered the yellow bot as he grabbed his hand.

"But, I don't WANna…" Bumblebee whined as Onslaught struggled with Drift.

"You're not taking me out alive!" Drift yelled at Onslaught as the stool started tipping over and yelled as he fell before going quiet as he hit his head on the bar counter before hitting the floor. "Ugh…" the drunk swordsmech moaned.

"Well… guess that works," Onslaught said as he shrugged his shoulders as Swindle lifted Bumblebee away from the counter.

"Oh, COME ooooon… I want MORE!" Bumblebee yelled at him as they were lifted out of the bar.

"Want to let them nap in the rest area nearby?" Swindle asked him.

"Should be okay. We can watch them in there and make sure they sober up in time for the ceremony," Onslaught said.

"Great. I don't want to carry this drunk all the way to the next building," Swindle told him. "Imagine if anybody sees them."

"That would not be good," his leader told him. "Alright, let's let them rest."

"Hey, uh, Knock Out," Blurr greeted him in the med-bay as Bludgeon was right by Nautilator's side and Hoist was taking a nap.

"Ah, Blurr, a pleasure to see you again after… what happened on the course," Knock Out greeted him on the course.

"Yeah... that was not how I wanted our race to end," Blurr said to him. "I wanted it to end with you a lap behind me, unable to keep up with my speed."

"Oh, give me more credit than that. I was right on you when I crashed," Knock Out told him. "I can give you a run for your money."

"Yeah, well, we're going to have to do it again, once we get a new racetrack," Blurr said as he scratched the side of his head. "That damn bomb wrecked the track."

"And was indirectly responsible for the deaths of Blast Off and Ratchet," Knock Out reminded him.

"Yeah…," the blue racer agreed as he leaned against an operating table. "Ratchet was a damn icon. Very few Autobots were as well known as him. Seeing him executed in such a brutal way… damn, I think it really showed that no one is safe."

"Indeed it does. No one deserves to die in this damn game," Knock Out sighed as he put a hand to his face. "Nor should they be scarred."

"And yet, it happened to you," Blurr sighed. "I'm sorry that it happened to you and I'm sorry for causing you to crash."

"Don't worry about it. We were so close, the bomb could've killed both of us," Knock Out told him. "In hindsight, you making me crash saved both of us from death."

"In exchange for Blast Off's," Blurr sighed. "I'm going to have to talk Swindle and Onslaught about this later."

"Not now. Last thing they need is to be reminded of Blast Off's death. Besides, I'm sure they're suffering enough as is," Knock Out explained to him.

"But, I want to apologize. I'm such a damn fuck-up. I just keep fucking things up for everyone unintentionally," Blurr told him as he looked away. "Whether I'm a celebrity or a soldier, it doesn't matter."

"Hey, we all screw up. Trust me, you don't become a medical officer without a few mistakes, sometimes fatal," Knock Out tried to put him at ease with a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. 'It's all a part of being alive. We live to screw-up and we live to succeed. We just have to make sure we succeed more than we screw up." Blurr looked up at the end of that before nodding.

"I guess that makes sense," Blurr sighed.

"Look, everyone thinks we have a different purpose for living. Some think we live to die. Others think we live to survive. Others think like I do. It all depends on what the person thinks. Now, what do you think?" Knock Out asked him. Blurr gave another sigh at that as he racked his brain around that thought.

"I… I guess I live to fuck up," Blurr said to him. "I mean, I'm not what you would call 'smart.' The only thing I'm good at is racing, fighting and bartending."

"And looking damn good while doing it," Knock Out remarked and Blurr had to chuckled at that.

"Yeah, I do look damn good too," Blurr agreed. "Guess I got that going for me."

"You underestimate yourself," Knock Out said to him. "Guess you're the opposite of me. I always overestimate myself. I mean, when you look as beautiful as I do, can you blame me?" he joked with a smile.

"Heh, not the prettiest one now. Going to have to settle for second," Blurr mocked him.

"Oh, trust me, I'm trading beauty in for rugged handsomeness," Knock Ou said as he showed himself off. "Don't I look good?"

"Battle-harden," Blurr remarked.

"Hmph. Accurate enough," Knock Out remarked as he relaxed. "Either way, don't think of yourself as just a screw-up. Everyone makes mistakes. It's all about how you bounce back from them."

"I don't have a good track record," Blurr remarked.

"Well, make it better," Knock Out ordered. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I guess so."