A/N: Oh, btw, I'm the queen of cliffhangers.. Ok, carry on!
The mech's pickax came flying down and was aimed right at Shard's spark. She closed her eyes and turned her head, expecting to feel an enormous amount of pain, but she didn't. The ax got stopped inches away from her chest plate by a rather large blade.
"That's enough, Ashburn." Said a familiar voice. Shard looked up and saw a familiar face to match. Ome she did not expect to see.
"Castiron?" Shard muttered. The large gray and black mech looked down and gave her a small smile. He then quickly looked back up at Ashburn. He pushed him back hard and got in front of Shard.
"Leave her alone." He said in a calm voice.
"Leave her alone?" Ashburn echoed then laughed. "You know what she is, right? She's an investigator! She's an Iacon puppet! She'll get us shut down!" He shouted as he pointed his pickax towards the door. He then pointed it at Castiron. "And not only that, she'll get you and your group of traitors shut down too. All of our sparks will go offline.." Ashburn's voice grew dark and he looked at Shard again.
"She won't do that. After today, she won't be saying anything." Castiron said and pointed his blade at Ashburn. "Now get lost." He said in a threatening tone.
"You're on our turf, you get lost and let me finish what I started!" Ashburn charged him. His pickax met his blade and they clash. Ashburn then threw him out of the way and headed towards Shard. He again raised his ax.
"Ashburn! Stop! She's apart of the Gridlock!" Castiron said as he got up. Ashburn froze and locked eyes with Shard. "...you know the rules.." Castiron said. The air was stiff and Shard shivered. Ashburn's pickax went flying down and stuck in the ground beside Shard'said head.
"Take you piece of scrap and go.." Ashburn said and stepped away. Castiron picked Shard up onto her feet and helped her out of the alley. Ashburn then grabbed his pickax and disappeared into the secret passage way in the wall.
Shard was calmly dragged out and into the open. Once Castiron was sure that Ashburn was gone, he quickly took her away in urgency. He knew she had already lost a lot of energon and was critically injured.
"Come on. Let's get you out of here." He said as he looked around. He gave a whistle. Out of the corner of her eyes, Shard could see two other bots come up. "Echo, Saberquake, you two head over and try and find the other."
"There was another?" the mech asked with slight concern.
"Not there, but somewhere. They're partners." The other two nodded in understanding. "Tell him that Shard and Castiron sent you. He's a smaller mech, a flyer." They again nodded, transformed, then left. Castiron took Shard in the opposite direction. Shard looked back and watched the other two leave as she tiredly tried to walk with Castiron. Her optics flickered and Castiron looked down at her. He picked her up and started to run. "Come on, stay with me." He said, then all went black for Shard.
*Tomorrow by Daughter plays in background* watch?v=3ogcogESkWA
Skywing had followed the other mech into another back alley. Suddenly, the mech froze. Skywing did the same as he stayed hidden.
"Alright, you can show yourself now." The mech said without moving. Skywing hesitated at first then came out.
"I don't mean any harm." Skywing said with his hands up.
"Oh, I'm sure you don't." The mech said then turned around, pointing a blaster cannon at him. "Why are you here then?"
"I'm a cultural investigator from Iacon. I just wanted to know where you were going." Skywing said confidently and the mech shifted his weight.
"From Iacon, eh? How long you been there?" He said, keeping the cannon steady.
"Just today." Skywing answered. The mech stood still and considered it. He then put the blaster away and looked Skywing up and down.
"Newbie, huh? Okay. I'm Octane. Hailing from Simfur." He said and held out his hand. Skywing hesitated again then took it. "Want to know about your precious Guild?" He said as he continued to shake his hand. An evil smirk formed on his face.
"Uh, the Guilds of Cybertron? I, uh, already read about them.." Skywing tried to pull his hand away, but Octane simply held on tighter.
"Where? The Hall of Records? Hah!" He pulled Skywing close and sneered at him. "That's what they want you to think." A door opened up on the wall beside him and he threw Skywing in.
Skywing tried to escape, but to no avail. Octane walked into the small stair well, pushing Skywing further down. Skywing had no choice but to go. Soon, he saw dim light he became courious as then walked willingly.
"What's down here?" He asked as his eyes searched around the stairwell led to a large courtyard type aread.
"Oh, you'll see." Octane said and pushed him along. "Welcome to the Replevin!" He said as he outstreached his arms in a grand way. Skywing looked around in awe. Bots were walking around, the large area had energon reserves and table, a bar, a stage.
"What is this place?" He asked as they walked around. Octane chuckled as he saw that Skywing seemed to like it.
"This? This is a refuge. A safe haven!" He pat him on the back, almost making him fall over. "Bots from all reaches come to enjoy life. It's the only place the Guilds have no influence."
Octane walked him around and showed him the main room first. Some bots gave them sideways glances, others smiled.
"Here is where we gather," said Octane. "All sorts of bots come. Investigators all the way down to miners. You're lucky." Octane said and Skywing looked up at him, slightly confused.
"Lucky? How so?" He asked with slight concern.
"You're lucky because tonight, the most prestige one of us comes! We are always honored to have him as a guest." He said. Before Skywing could ask more questions, another bot walked up to them. A femme, short with black, purple, and details of yellow.
"Octane. Nice to see you. Who's this guy?" She asked as she looked him up and down. "You gotta name?" She asked and Skywing was distracted for a bit by her eyes. They were a bright purple. "Do you not have a name or somethin'?" She asked.
"Uh, right. Sorry. I'm Skywing." He said and held out his name. Octane chuckled and the femme scoffed.
"Skywing. From Iacon I assume?" She said and shook his hand. "I go by Compass. And a little rule of thumb." She slid her hand away and held it in a fist. "No one here shakes hands unless they're from Iacon. And not many are from Iacon." She said. "Come on, fist bump." She said and Skywing seemed slightly confused. He then put his hand on a fist and she fit her knuckles on his.
"Come on, Compass. Let's show the newb around." Octane said and Compass scoffs again.
"How's about no. I over heard some bit say that our guest of honor will be here soon." She said and started to walk off.
"Right, who is that guy? The guest?" Skywing asked, then Compass stopped and whirled around on her heels.
"You haven't told him yet?" She said and Octane laughed at her reaction as he shook his head. "Oh for Primus sake, you're a horrible lead." She said and pushed Octane away. "Our guest is none other than Megatronus himself!" She said and clapped her hands together once. "Oh, his words are of hope!" She said then she saw another mech. He seemed tired.
"Who's that?" Skywing asked as he saw that Compass and Octane had both looked over at him as he walked in and headed straight to the bar.
"That's just Ashburn. Don't mess with him, he's always a mean brute." Octane said and Compass nodded in agreement.
"Anyways," Compass continued on, "Megatronus stands for justice! He has a vision of a fair and just Cybertronian government. He says that one day, all will be equal. No more scavenging for scraps! No more getting treated like it either." She said with hope and joy in her eyes.
"Our government is not just?" Skywing asked. Octane shook his head and Compass scoffed again.
"That fragging caste system. It's horrible! Everything the Guilds do is horrible. Megatronus says that one day, he'll make sure all becomes right."
Just then, a mech came running from the stairwell. He looked around and once he spotted Octane, he hurried over.
"Octane, members of the Gridlock. They said they're looking for one of theirs?" He said and Octane shook his head.
"One of theirs? Impossible!" He said and then glanced at Skywing. "Did they say who they were looking for, exactly?"
"Yeah, goes by the name 'Skywing'. That's all they told me." Octane and Compass both looked at Skywing.
"You're with the Gridlock?" Compass asked with distaste in her tone.
"I, I have no idea.." Skywing said as he could feel the tension growing.
"Well, if their asking for you, then you must be.." Octane said, disappointed. "Just get out of here. We don't need any trouble here.." he said and slightly pushed him to the other mech. Compass went very close to Skywing, only inches from his face.
"Don't forget what I said. Don't believe them. Our world is corrupt. Only Megatronus can fix it.." she said, and pushed him away. "If you're smart, you'll make the right choice.." she said and walked away with Octane.
