Jack noticed Megatron was waiting patiently, or not so patiently given how eager he was for answers, even as they worked to keep the others off their backs. It was a bit hard for Jack to put it into words what his explanation should sound like, but decided to just try and speak as plainly as he could.
"It was dark energon." Jack stated bluntly in between the pauses where they deposited their goods into the crates. "Those purple crystals I kept finding. My creator apparently found a small deposit of the stuff shortly before I was brought online."
Megatron frowned, his optics gaining a new contemplation. "That was dark energon? I had heard stories that after the battle with Primus, Unicron's own energon had been broken off." he replied, and frowned deeper. "I see it was more than a story now. And what did your creator do with this?"
"Well, he certainly didn't report it that's for sure." Jack retorted. "He was a scientist, and I was just his science experiment. I don't know what he did to make me like this, since he wasn't very forthcoming, but I was only rarely allowed to leave my home, mostly because my carrier took pity on me."
"Is that why you were so uneasy about finding it here?" Megatron questioned.
Jack nodded, grateful that he bought the story. "Yeah, it brought back some bad memories."
"And you're certain that it's this that gave you your...unique abilities?"
"What else could it be?" Jack huffed, giving off an aura of impatience. "I doubt someone up there likes me so much that they keep bringing me back." Jack knew Megatron thought he'd struck a nerve, which wasn't far off the mark considering everything. "It's just..." Jack trailed off, feeling so very tired. "Do you believe me now when I say I can handle going to the arena?"
"Being unable to stay dead would certainly help your chances." Megatron said in agreement.
Jack saw he was warming up to the idea, and nodded along. "And it would be one pit of a surprise."
"Yes..." Megatron trailed off, before venting deeply. "Then I will concede to your point; we'll start your training again next break, coming back earlier so not to interfere with the vendetta the guards have for you."
Jack blinked. "What? But-but I don't want you to waste what off-time you get from working just because of me."
"It's a good thing it's my time to waste then, isn't it?" Megatron retorted. "I could tell you all the places to attack, but without a practical demonstration, it wouldn't be as effective."
Jack felt something warm in his spark, smiling faintly. 'He...really does care about me.' For some reason, the thought was not as hard to believe as it would have been to think earlier. "So...does this make us...friends then?"
Megatron's face fell into a slight frown and Jack wondered if he had made a mistake- "Call it whatever you like." Megatron stated roughly as he tossed a rather large crystal into his crate.
Jack blinked, but smiled a little more genuinely to himself, though he decided not to comment on it. He just nodded. "So, how do I sign up for the arena?" Jack asked after a while, frowning when he found a deposit of Cybertronium. It was better than nothing, but it was hardly worth anything compared to Cybernite.
"When you arrive at the arena, you give a name to the registration, and you are shortly called in for your match." Megatron replied. "Crowds get restless easily, so the wait time is short."
Jack blinked. "Really?" he asked, and bit his lip. "What...what do call yourself?"
"Megatronus." The silver mech stated rather proudly, a grin plastered over his face. "After one of the thirteen original Primes."
The name sent a jolt of shock through Jack, but despite knowing this in advance, the revelation threw him off guard. "That's certainly a...lofty thing to call yourself."
"A name should strike fear into your opponent; it will throw them off guard." Megatron replied. "Which is why I suggest you think of something to call yourself there."
Jack frowned. "And what, my name isn't scary enough?"
Megatron snorted. "The only thing scary is that it says you can't follow directions."
"Hey!" Jack said hotly, giving the mech a look. "It's not my fault that that's my designation-"
"Which I won't argue fits you so well." Megatron cut in. Jack scowled at him. "But do try to think of something else; see it for more practical matters. Having a different name would smokescreen you from...being discovered by your owner." he spat the word.
Jack thought it over; Shockwave didn't seem like the type to watch gladiator matches for 'fun'. Though Jack didn't think the mech did anything for fun. 'Except maybe torturing bots for science.' he thought bitterly. "Fine...I'll see if I can come up with anything before then." Jack grumbled lowly under his breath. "They offer weapons in the arena though, right? Or do we have to modify ourselves to have weapons?"
"They provide weapons, just to make things more interesting." Megatron replied. "And for your frame size, I suggest something thin, sharp and light. It will give you precision, and you won't lose any of your speed weighed down by it."
Jack nodded absently, thinking over what else to ask. "How are matches chosen?"
"Randomly; you're either given an opponent of similar size, or vastly out-sized or out-classed." Megatron explained.
"Well that's just great." Jack said sarcastically.
"Exciting too." Megatron grinned in a way that disturbed Jack. This wasn't going as well as he hoped...
"So if I'm fighting a guy twice my height, what should I do?" Jack asked, just to change the subject. "I might be faster but he'll overpower and kill me if I'm caught even once."
"Don't get caught." Megatron retorted. Jack glared at him, and the taller mech laughed. "During the next break, we'll have a practical demonstration. I'll give you a rundown, and then we'll have a mock match."
Jack stared at him, looking him over. A mock match implied the intent to harm, something that wasn't in a training session. He gulped nervously, but nodded. "O-okay." He still wanted to get out of here, and he wasn't backing out of this plan now.
"You have nothing to worry about with your healing abilities." Megatron added in, to which Jack scowled. "Please, don't assume I'm going to tear your leg off and beat you with it."
Jack was torn between believing him and not; he knew the mech was capable of that and so much more. 'That's in some far-off future which I hope isn't happening.' he thought. He jerked his chin up, trying to act more confident than he felt. "Like I'm going to stay still long enough to let you."
"Oh? Growing some spinal struts are we?" Megatron grinned again. Jack nudged him in the side with his elbow, annoyed with the mech.
"I'm full of surprises." Jack huffed.
"Yes, you are." Megatron replied. He gave him a considering look. "Any other surprises I should be aware of?"
Jack paused, but shrugged. It wasn't a no, but it wasn't a yes. "I suppose we'll see." And that was vague enough to mean anything, to mean he wasn't sure. Because honestly, Jack really didn't know what else he could do.
'If I can do anything else.' Honestly, he wasn't sure if Primus had just given him super healing or if there were other things he needed to find out about himself. Hopefully it wouldn't be as painful like finding out after it already happened. 'Why couldn't I just get a straight up answer?' Though if he thought of why Primus did anything, Jack would likely drive himself up the wall. He sighed, and both he and Megatron got back to work, with Jack counting down to when he could finally have energon again.
"Oh thank Primus..." Jack muttered in relief once the guard came again to check off his list. It was an effort just to stand there and listen to him examining everything.
The guard paused though, humming as he looked between the crate and Jack. "It says here you're to be docked energon rations. For resisting security."
A swell of fury rose in Jack. "You mean I do all this work and you're just going to dock me for it!"
The guard scowled at him. "You should have thought of that sooner!" he snapped, but smirked as he looked him over. "Though I could get it taken off for a...price."
Jack's scowl deepened. He couldn't believe the nerve of this mech. "Not for all the credits on Cybertron." He snarled out, walking out of the tunnel in fury. Jack fumed as he stalked through the tunnel, Megatron in tow. "The nerve of that-that-!" he hissed, kicked at a loose piece of metal. It skidded along the ground. "I can't believe I actually convinced Shockwave to send me back here!"
Megatron raised a brow. "You...wanted to come back?" he asked. "What would compel you to return to such a wretched place?"
"Being dissected alive and to stop-!" Jack nearly shouted out 'to keep Megatron from starting a war', just managing to stop himself mid-sentence. Jack scowled. It was startlingly easy to see how it started in the first place.
"-it." Jack finished stiltedly. "To make it stop; I thought the worse that would happen here is getting kicked around." he scowled even deeper. "Turns out I was wrong."
"This whole world is wrong." Megatron said. "The system that keeps us downtrodden, to be used and discarded. To the corrupt officials on the council who keep it in place, and the wretched Prime in the center of it."
Jack almost jumped, optics wide. "P-Prime?" he whispered. It was too soon for Optimus, did-did that mean there was someone before him? 'Ratchet never mentioned that.'
"Sentinel Prime." Megatron said through gritted denta. Jack blinked dumbly. He'd never heard of Sentinel Prime. "It was he who created this stagnant caste system eons ago, decreeing it as the only means by which Cybertron could thrive."
"It's because of a Prime that things are the way they are?"
"You sound surprised." Megatron said.
Jack shrugged a bit helplessly. "I thought Primes were, like, good and-and stuff. You know, the original thirteen?"
Megatron let out a harsh laugh, cracking open his rations cube with his designation scratched on it. "Good? What do you even know of the thirteen Primes?"
Jack blanked, his mind stalling as he couldn't come up with anything. 'There's Optimus.' he thought, but that wouldn't mean anything here.
"Not much," he admitted, "my creator wasn't much for history lessons..."
"And what of your carrier?" Megatron prompted.
Jack blinked, and glanced to the ceiling for a moment. "She was often busy, mostly worked away from home." his lips twisted. "Creator stayed with me, he pretty much had...all his lab stuff right in his office." he sighed quietly. "Given how little I know of the world, my general education is severely lacking."
"So you know little of anything of the actual comings and goings of the world?"
Jack shrugged. "There wasn't much to know outside of my room or Creators lab. There wasn't much in my life beyond those two things."
"You were not even allowed to mingle with other younglings or sparklings?" Megatron questioned.
Jack blinked at the terms, which in his mind turned until the strange translation told him they were the rough equivalent of 'teenager' and 'baby/child'. It was weird to know such things existed, but Cybertronians had to reproduce somehow. "No, I was kept away from everyone, mostly." he rubbed his arm. "My creator might not have wanted anyone to know what he did, so he might not have even given me any registration and didn't want me to interact with others much." he shrugged. "Would go even more into explaining why I was kicked out than I just couldn't provide any use."
"Your upbringing sounds extremely cloistered." Megatron stated bluntly, looking very distasteful with the idea.
"It wasn't the best." Jack agreed, shrugging it off. He drank down the meager rations he was given all too soon, and sighed deeply as he put his empty cube back into the slot. He glanced down at Megatron, seeing he still had quite a lot left. "I'll meet you back in the tunnel."
"Then I suggest you go over what information I gave you." Megatron replied. "I don't want our match to last just a klik like our training session."
Jack scowled at him. "Yeah, well, you got lucky." he muttered pettily. He felt a flush of embarrassment as Megatron chuckled. Jack rubbed his arm again as he began his walk back to the tunnel.
Thankfully he didn't have to wait long. Megatron must have drank quickly. A twinge of jealousy though ran through Jack at the thought of Megatron having a full tank while his was still aching. "You ready?" Jack asked, wanting to get started as soon as possible.
"Of course. I'm always up for a spar." Megatron replied.
Jack nodded, and thought over what he knew, where to attack and what he shouldn't let get caught. "Then let's go." he said, crouching as Megatron stood across from him.
There was a long, tense silence-before Megatron lunged, his arm striking out. Jack ducked to the left, leaning under the arm as he skidded around him to his blind spot.
"This again?" Megatron asked, his voice mocking. "You really think the same strategy is going to work? It didn't the first time."
Jack narrowed his optics, tensing as he prepared to dive in. "Just one difference," he lunged forward when Megatron twisted, his servo missing him, "I've learned." Jack jabbed his digits between the seam on the back of Megatron's knee, causing the silver mech to grunt as Jack scurried out of reach.
Megatron knelt to one knee, looking over the damage. It was pulled cables, enough to hurt but not break. Jack tensed up when an all-too familiar grin appeared on the mech's lips. "You really are a fast-learner."
"I try." Jack muttered, just before kicking Megatron in the back.
Jack yelped as while his kick struck, Megatron managed to grab his shin and tossed him along the ground. Jack skidded to a stop, groaning as he forced himself back to his pedes. Megatron had gotten up as well, and Jack jumped back to avoid another swipe at him. "You let me kick you?"
"Sometimes one must take a hit to give themselves a better opening." Megatron retorted. His fist struck out, and Jack slipped to the side. Jack stopped himself from taking the easy hit, noticing that Megatron seemed to purposefully lag. And Jack couldn't afford to waste what energy he had on an obvious trap.
Jack ducked around to the silver mech's other side, keeping out of reach while he stayed in Megatron's blind spot. He kept a close optic on Megatron's movements, twisting out of the way as he kept ducking back. Megatron whirled around quickly, striking his fist at him once more. Jack jumped back, dodging the blow-only to feel the metal wall collide with his back.
Jack's optics widened when he saw Megatron smirk. 'Scrap!' he thought. Megatron had deliberately let Jack corner himself. The smaller mech tried to run, but Megatron's servo shot out, blocking his path before Jack felt the other servo grab him by the shoulder and pulled him, slamming him back against the wall.
Jack's head spun as he felt Megatron's weight against him, feeling as helpless as he had during their last spar-and then another image came; hands on him, touching him as he didn't want it. All Jack felt was the helplessness in that moment. "Don't touch me!" he snarled, slamming his head forward-and felt the crack of something he made contact with.
Blue glass scratched his plating, energon Jack didn't know whether it was his or not splashed against his forehead. Jack gasped deeply as he was released, falling to his knees as the situation caught up with him. He wasn't with that guard-he wasn't being touched liked that-Jack's optics widened as horror shot into his spark, freezing his energon.
Jack looked up, his expression twisting in anguish and remorse as he saw Megatron holding his face, covering his optics as bits of glass and energon were stuck to his face. "I-I'm sorry!" he said, words he never thought he'd say spilling out. "I'm so sorry!"
"Heh." Megatron chuckled, swiping energon off his face with his hands. Jack tensed when he saw that Megatron's left optic was nearly completely shattered and the right cracked in places. Jack had blinded him. "Good to see you putting those tips to use. I honestly didn't know if you would remember."
Jack was a bit thrown off by how Megatron could laugh at such a time. "Of course I remembered but I just-you-I just took out your optics!" he said flustered. "How can you laugh at a time like this? We need to get you to a medic right now!"
"Hn. Don't make such a fuss over it, Wayward." Megatron chided, brushing aside the mech's concerns gruffly. "Optics are not in such short supply that I cannot obtain another pair. I'll simply pilfer one from another mech."
The casually violent solution was both startlingly familiar and not. Jack didn't even know if Megatron meant a dead or an alive one, but either way he couldn't let it happen. "Nothing to fuss over?" Jack geared himself up, marching toward Megatron and glared up at him. "Don't take that flippant tone with your well-being. Now let me look at!"
Megatron narrowed his mostly intact optic, snorting at him. "Was your carrier a medic? You certainly have the temper for one."
"She was as a matter of fact." Jack huffed, forcing Megatron to kneel and look up so Jack could get a better look at the damage. Megatron clearly did not like being handled as such given the growl and glare he was being given. Jack winced at the injury. "Okay, it's...pretty bad." Jack admitted, guilt coursing through him even more. "I really didn't mean to do this-I just...I just-"
"Don't." Megatron said gruffly. "You did what you could to escape."
'Yeah, but I hurt you.' Jack thought. He stared at the broken glass, held together by the flimsiest of connectors. He touched the edge of it, remorse just as strong as the guilt, and growing. 'I'm so sorry.' he thought again, and wished so much he could just take it back-
Jack flinched as a zip of purple came from his finger tips, seeping into the blinded and cracked optics. Jack held still, too frightened to do anything more than stare as before his optics-the broken glass and mangled wiring started to fix itself. Jack's own optics widened as the piece by piece the shattered optic was filled in, the cracks in the other dissipating-until there was nothing but a whole optic set again, the blue igniting.
Megatron blinked, seeing with his vision in perfect clarity once again. "What...just happened?"
"I...I don't know." Jack stammered, just as shocked as Megatron looked. He looked down to his paint chipped fingers, then to Megatron's restored optics. "Did...did I heal you? How's your optics? Can you see out of them okay?"
"Perfectly. Better, even." Megatron mused, blinking said optics a few times. "How did you do that?"
"I don't know." Jack replied instantly, but tried to think of a better answer than just parroting himself. "I was feeling guilty that my mistake would cost you," Megatron's expression scrunched, and Jack glowered at him, "don't give me that look-as your friend I'm allowed to worry about you! Anyway, I just wanted to take it back-and, well, that's when this purple fritz came from my digits and it just started piecing your optic back together." Jack grimaced. "Now I know how creepy it must look when my own plating heals up."
"Any scarring?" Megatron asked, feeling with his claws when he came across a slightly raised lined under his optic.
"Just one. It's hardly anything though. You wouldn't really notice unless you're up close." Taking a few steps back, Jack allowed Megatron his breathing room, shifting awkwardly from pede to pede.
"And you were able to do this because you felt...sorry for me?" Megatron questioned, and Jack huffed this time.
"Yes, is it so hard to grasp someone can care about you?" he jolted, because once again he never thought he could say those words and mean it. Jack squared his shoulders. "Because-because I do."
Megatron may have had room now, but for a moment he still looked distinctly uncomfortable. His features tightened, and he stood back up. He touched the barely noticeable scar again. "Just to be clear-you didn't beat me; we'll call this a draw."
Jack stared at him, and he couldn't help the incredulous laugh that choked out from him. His vents wheezed with the action, never realizing how long it had been since he's genuine had anything to laugh about. "O-okay. Deal." He stifled his laughter enough to continue, "Think I might be ready for the real deal soon?" He asked hopefully. After all, he managed to blind Megatron. Though that was really just a (un)lucky shot on his part...
"No." The miner turning gladiator stated bluntly. "You allowed yourself to be corralled by my movements without realizing it. In a real fight you would have been dead."
Jack vented heavily. 'Worth a shot.' he thought. "Aside from that, did I do well?"
"You were...adequate." Megatron said roughly. "Some of your moves were risky, but you implemented what I told you well enough. We'll work on your reflexes next; speed isn't half as useful unless you can be agile as well."
"What, you gonna pelt me with metal shards?" Jack asked rhetorically, but saw the grin forming on Megatron's lips and his spark sunk. "I was kidding, I didn't think you were actually going to do it."
"Dodge quick enough and you won't get hit with any." The other mech retorted.
"Aw c'mon." Jack groaned, sounding like a kicked puppy now. "Ah!" Jack yelped as Megatron scooped up the dozens of shards littering the ground and almost casually tossed them at Jack. Instinctively, Jack raised his arms to shield himself, feeling them pelt against his plating. When the shards dinged off his armor and clattered to the ground, Jack groaned as he rubbed his face when he had been too late to stop the first one striking home.
Megatron snorted. "What have we learned?"
"You're mean when you want to make a point?" Jack muttered.
Megatron rolled his optics. "You should have dodged when you cowered. Now do you see the need to gain better reflexes?"
"I...y-yes?" Jack stammered as Megatron picked up more, smirking. Jack took off at a dash to avoid the next barrage. He still couldn't dodge them all, some nicking him in the side.
"Don't just run, at least try to repel them!" Megatron shouted after him, letting out a laugh that told Jack he was enjoying this.
Jack glared at him, his scathing retort cut off as he ducked to avoid another shard and didn't stop running. He winced each time one nicked him. "Do all your lessons have to hurt?!"
Megatron chuckled. "If it doesn't hurt, how will you know if it works?"
'Okay, now I'm starting to see where Megatron's violent leadership came from.' Jack thought. He tried to swipe at one shard, but missed and just narrowly avoided it nicking him. "There has got to be a less harsh way of training."
"They'll give you no mercy in the arena. It's best to learn that now." Megatron retorted.
Jack ducked to avoid one shard, but struck out against another. He felt it cut his knuckle, but grinned when it clinked off. "I did it-" his victory was short-lived as he dodged another shard thrown at him.
Having had enough, Jack picked up his own handful, chucking them back at Megatron with as much force as he could muster. The mech merely dodged and threw his own to deflect them.
Jack yelped as one shard struck his leg, and he scowled before throwing another at Megatron, who just as casually caught it. Jack stared incredulously, but ducked when the same shard got flung back at him. "Do you honestly expect me to stop attacks like that?"
"Yes." Megatron retorted.
Jack scowled at him again, and chucked yet another metal shard at him that the silver mech flicked away. Their training soon came to an end when a guard stepped into the tunnel, and Jack dropped his most of his metal shards as the mech looked at Jack.
"Your playtime's over, get back to work, slave."
Jack scowled, clutching the remaining shards in his hands tightly. The urge to throw them at the mech, and hoping they would lodge themselves in his optics, was nearly overwhelming. 'They deserved it too,' Jack thought spitefully. 'Everything they put us through...'
Despite how much he wanted to hurt them, Jack knew that it would only make things worse for him. How, he wasn't sure, but they would find a way. "Understood." he gritted out. The guard turned to leave, and Jack stamped down the impulse to throw the shards anyway. Instead, he turned and chucked them hard at the wall. "Rotten fraggers!"
"Relax, Wayward." Megatron said to him, though his temper was hardly any better. "When we earn our freedom, we'll have our chance."
'Our chance?' Jack went cold at the thought, not only because he didn't know just what Megatron meant, but because he couldn't disagree if he meant a more violent action. And that honestly scared him. "Let's just get to work then," he replied, "and the sooner we'll be out of this place the better."
"Agreed."
