Once back to their unpleasant destination, the guards gave Jack a wide berth when the trailer was opened to the tunnels of the mines, the mech in question still staring at the energon stain on the floor.
"Get out." One of them ordered him harshly, unwilling to move inside with him.
Jack noticed it, and felt a rush of satisfaction, even if it was only because he knew these guards were scared of Shockwave than him. He would have pushed it, but right now he just wanted to find Megatron again. At least find out that was he was still alive, if nothing else.
Stepping out of the trailer and back into the mines settled a heavy weight onto his shoulders that always came whenever he returned here.
He still hated this place with every fiber-or filament as it were-of his being, but it gave him even the barest reprieve from Shockwave. Being in the gladiator pit though had given him a respite from everything, and despite the unpleasantness of what happened, he wouldn't say no to going back there at the first opportunity.
"Get going, pet." One of the guards snapped.
Jack scowled on principle, because he resented being reminded in any way that Shockwave fragging owned him. "I'm going." He spat. They may not have been able to hurt him, but loopholes existed, and Jack wouldn't put it past them to try something more than just cut back on his energon and breaks.
Jack didn't want to find out what they were going to come up with. It was terrible enough without the guards actively trying to make his life an even worse hell.
Jack's optics narrowed, and he glanced briefly back at them, still maintaining their distance. He didn't know how long it would last though before fear faded and they tried something again.
"Get to work, pet." The guard threw a drill at his feet once they came to a stop. Jack narrowed his optics, lowering down slowly to pick it up in case they tried something.
Aside from a sneer, they did nothing else but Jack dared not relax. His frame remained tense as one of them undid the cuffs and Jack stepped away again. All the guards dispersed besides one, who glared at him.
"What are you waiting for?" he demanded.
Jack glared at him, then looked over the empty tunnel. "There's no one else here." He said suspiciously.
"That's because they're all on break. You though are not, so get to work!" The guard snapped.
Jack didn't even flinch- he was used to this kind of stuff by now. This wasn't the end of it though, he was certain. Jack scowled, then picked up his drill to start his work, the guard leaving once he did.
The drilling and mining soon settled in a mind-numbing boredom as Jack came across the odd Cybernite and energon shards. When the break ended, he couldn't help feeling disappointed when he saw none of the miners that came in were Megatron. 'I guess I shouldn't have expected to see him so soon. Though since there's no 'work for six orns' I can find him during the next break.'
That was his plan at least. Megatron could have gone back to the arena for all he knew, but he hoped that wasn't the case.
Even if Megatron said he'd help him get the credits to buy his freedom from Shockwave, Jack didn't want to make him do all the work for it. He wanted to be on even footing with him, even that was currently not possible in terms of power. Jack would not hesitate to say that Megatron was much stronger than him, and despite Jack's speed the silver mech had experience probably dealing with smaller opponents at some point.
Jack shuddered 'I'm so glad we don't have to fight each other-I hope we never have too.' he thought, because he didn't know how much he'd managed to change things. And that uncertainty would always worry him.
'Don't think about it Jack.' He scolded himself. There was nothing to be gained if he started to doubt everything he did- he'd be questioning his every move and word if started that.
'I can't afford to think like that.' he added, and sighed deeply. With everything that went on, he hadn't forgotten that he still wanted to get in contact with Op-er, Orion, but that also meant getting free of Shockwave. 'I just need to be patient; though really, it feels like I'm spinning my wheels here-and I don't even have them!' The thought brought him around to his lack of alt-mode, and the eventual need to get one somehow. 'So much to do, but...I'm gonna try, and I'm gonna try until I accomplish something no matter how small.' He'd already did the impossible and got Megatron to like him, somehow.
Learning to control his body, and its subsequent ability to transform, was paramount to his advancement. He needed to get out of here. They needed to get out of here.
'And we're going too.' Jack thought fiercely. The wall creaked under the force, and Jack blinked as he jerked back. There was an iridescent blue shine inside, not energon, given it was a solid color that didn't glow. Jack decided to play it safe as he dropped the blue crystal in with the metal, not paying attention to it to lessen any suspicion it was more than energon. 'I don't even know if that's what isn't though.' he thought.
Before the guard came for a progress check, Jack vented as he dug through the crate, acting casually as though sifting through it before clutching his hand around the whole crystal. It was thankfully small enough to fit his fist around, and he covered it by holding the drill in his arms as the guard came in.
Jack tried to look indifferent, and glared back when the guard sneered at him before dismissing them. 'Now I need to find Megatron.' he thought, following the other miners out of the tunnel. He was glad that it was the recharge break as it would be easier to show Megatron the crystal he found.
It wasn't difficult to locate Megatron. Even in this time period he stood out, the only one among this particular group with that determined expression, unlike the beaten down one of those that surrounded him.
Jack walked over to him, watching the mech look for a berth. "Me-er, D-16?" he called quietly, nearly slipping up again.
The silver mech turned around, and for a moment he looked...relieved to see him. Jack's lips quirked into a smile as he reached him. "I take it you were not made to work until you dropped this time?"
"You'd guess right." Jack replied. When they found two empty berths near the back, it gave them more privacy to talk.
Megatron nodded, but paused as he gave him a long stare. "Before you left, you called me something else-'Megatron'."
Jack cringed, because he certainly didn't expect this to be the first thing brought up. Eventually, sure, but right now? "I-uh, it just slipped out." he said, knowing it was a weak reason. "I...I won't call you that if you don't like it."
"If anything, I assumed you would call me Megatronus while in the pits." Megatron persisted and Jack rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah sorry...guess I'm just...too lazy to say that name all the time?" he offered, hoping it would be enough to deter the mech.
If anything, the apparent 'laziness' amused the silver mech. "Then leave it for the pits, if you don't mind."
Jack ducked his head, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, okay." he agreed, and quickly changed the subject. "So I found this...thing." he glanced around and held out his hand, opening it to allow the other mech a peek at the crystal. "You think it's worth anything, especially to keep that pit boss from backing out on the deal?"
Megatron took the crystal carefully from his hand, blocking the view of it from others with his massive body. His expression fell into one of pleased satisfaction.
"It is a photonic crystal." He explained, but seeing Jack's confused expression caused him to elaborate. "It is capable of storing energy and information- more common than adamant crystals, but still inherently valuable."
"That does sound useful." Jack mused. "Can you hold onto it?" he looked down at himself. "I don't exactly know where my subspace is."
"It would be here." Megatron pointed to under his own chest, between where his spark and...T-cog would have been. "And keep a hold on this yourself. You were the one who found it."
Jack stared down at the crystal, then to Megatron.
"I thought we could use it in case that piece of scrap tried to turn back on our deal. He seems the type." Jack said as he struggled to find the will to shift his plates. It was disturbing to him that he could technically will his chest to open. It was so...inhuman.
The alien sensation of his plating opening made Jack grimace, as he also felt the need to press down and keep it shut. It felt weird, but showed him just how little he understood his new body. Though unfortunately it seemed, given the fact he still had veins, that not everything was unfamiliar. Jack slid the crystal into the subspace, blinking as he couldn't feel the weight of the crystal that settled in, but relieved nonetheless with making his plates close back up.
Holding back the shiver that threaten, he kept a straight face before looking back to Megatron, who watched, amused. Jack rolled his optics.
"Are you up for some sparring? Or do you want to rest for a while longer?" Jack asked, eager for more training. He wanted to be back at the arena as soon as possible, to win.
Preferably without needing to die to get a win. Jack could really go without that.
Megatron snorted. "I have rested enough, and you will need all the help you can get."
Jack huffed as he crossed his arms. "So that's a very mean yes then."
A grin spread to Megatrons face, both familiar and unsettling to Jack. "Of course. You won't be good to anyone if you get killed in every match." He said, causing Jack's frown to deepen into a full-blown scowl.
"Haha, very funny." He laughed dryly, rolling his optics as he stood up.
The silver mech just chuckled as he followed Jack out of the room, going to another different tunnel. Jack wondered how big the mines were to have so many of these tunnels around. "So, just a sparring match, or you got some new lesson you want to enforce with your...unique brand of helpfulness?" Jack could swear his plating still stung from when Megatron threw those shards at him.
"A sparring match. You need to reinforce the basics you already know before moving ahead." Megatron stated, Jack standing several feet away from him now.
"Right." Jack muttered. He told himself not to try and pull his punches, because he could heal Megatron if he hurt him. It would become a dangerous way of thinking if he wasn't careful though, but that wasn't right now's worry. Jack crouched down, ready to either make the first move, or react to it.
Megatron readied himself simultaneously, but it was Jack who made the first strike, moving forward to hit Megatron in the chassis.
Jack expected the block to come from either side, and so he jumped when the left arm came up, Jack's hands using the arm as leverage as he swung his pedes up and kicked Megatron in the chest. It wasn't enough to knock him down, but it did off balance him enough to stagger, and Jack took the moment to reach to the elbow and yanked from underneath the joint.
It broke, and Jack landed on the ground as the arm fell to Megatron's side. To the silver mech's credit, he didn't make a sound as he stared at his dislocated arm.
Jack didn't let himself grow cocky at the accomplishment though- he learned from his first match in the arena that it led to carelessness. A fist flew over his head, Jack ducking down to avoid the blow.
Jack rolled to the side, taking the time to get on Megatron's newly made blind spot. He kept out of the way from Megatron's good side, but that's what made the other servo catching him across the face so shocking. Jack crashed against the floor, sprawled onto his side as he felt his cheek burn from being split open by the force of the hit. He felt the small wound sealing up almost instantly. "Even when I take out your arm you still manage to beat me."
"It's obvious that you would target my weakened side and I feinted to anticipate it. Sometimes the most obvious weakness of your opponent will be your own downfall."
"I'll keep that in mind next time." Jack spat out a glob of energon that had poured in his mouth, along with a piece of his denta. Eyeing the (future) warlord's arm, he gestured for him to hold it up with his good hand so that Jack could take a look at it.
Megatron did so reluctantly, something which Jack noticed and kept a grip on the arm. The cable was snapped in two, and only then did Jack get a close enough look to see that there was already energon seeping through. Jack felt the guilt churn inside of him, and he gripped it tight as he placed the tips of his fingers on the broken cable. Concentrating, Jack watched as purple energy fritzed from his fingertips to the silver plating.
Jack pulled his hand away, and watched as the cabling reset itself, stitching back together until the energon line had nothing but a faint mark to show anything had been wrong. Jack felt his own energy weaken though, a drain he hadn't noticed before. "There, good as new." He mumbled.
"Hn. Better than actually." Megatron mused, moving the limb around to test its flexibility. It lacked the aches and dull pains that being overworked in the mines had caused over the many vorns he had been trapped in this place.
"Really? I guess I just never...noticed that my healing did more than just patch up wounds." Jack said, both thoughtful and a little worried. The buzz was purple, so did it have something to do with dark energon? 'What a dumb question; of course my powers have everything to do with it probably.'
Which led him to have deeper, more troubling revelations, rightfully asking himself why he had anything to do with it to begin with. There was a sneaking suspicion in the forefront of his mind, but everything in him rebelled against the very notion of it.
One which he didn't want to put any weight behind, or give credit to, or anything else because it would give him too many doubts.
"Wayward!" Megatron said loudly, frowning at him. Jack jumped slightly, startled at the loudness of his tone. "I've called your name twice now. What has you so distracted?"
Jack blinked at him, and pushed his thoughts away as he came up with an excuse. "I-uh, was thinking about...how much money I'll need for my freedom." The words, surprisingly enough, didn't feel like a lie; likely because of the reality that Shockwave really was going to up the price due to discovering his ability to come back from the dead.
"Hmm. Your concern is not invalid, as I cannot see either of us obtaining fifty million credits without finding a Lysken crystal the size of a cargo transport." Megatron said in agreement. His arms were crossed, looking disgruntled at the very thought of so much money.
"About that..." Jack's face fell with a sigh. "I'm pretty certain the price has gone up." He admitted, then informed Megatron of the going ons at Shockwaves lab.
"So not only did he find out you could revive yourself, but that your body has odd internal features?" Megatron summarized.
Jack nodded, though he left out that his spark looked less like a real spark; it...made doubts set in and he couldn't afford to think about it. Not now. "Yeah, at this rate I'm beginning to think when I go there he may not let me leave."
"It does bring to mind why he would let you leave in the first place." Megatron said.
Jack slumped his shoulders. "He said he had no time to train me."
"Train you for what?" Megatron asked incredulously. "I doubt a high caste piece of slag like him would want to train a slave for anything except how to follow basic orders."
"Well...yeah. That's pretty much what he meant."
Megatron scowled, looking disgusted all the same. "Anyway, do you have any idea about what he plans on doing?"
Jack shrugged. "Probably anything from posting his research or doing mad science experiments."
"Then it makes it all the more imperative that the money for your freedom is collected." Megatron insisted. Jack almost smiled at the notion that the Megatron really did seem to care.
"The sooner I can go to the arena, the sooner I can earn money for my freedom." Jack rolled his arm, stretching out a joint. "Any idea when we can go again?"
"Yes, there's another set of matches to be held in a deca-cycle." Megatron replied.
Jack furrowed his brow, the words translated to roughly thirty days. "So...soon?" he didn't know if that was a short time.
Megatron though nodded. "Yes, I can only speculate that around this time more tourists arrive at Kaon, so more matches are held. I never quite understood just what they were all celebrating, but it gives us an opportunity to gather credits."
"That's...good, I guess." Jack conceded, leaning against the wall now as he sat down. "A deca-cycle isn't that long- though any amount of time down here feels like an eternity, doesn't it?"
"Indeed." Megatron chuckled, but it was dry and humorless. Truthfully, Jack had no doubt he felt the same way as Megatron right now. He couldn't wait to get out of here.
Jack stretched his arms as the break came around, his tank feeling empty. "Just another day-uh, sol until we can finally leave this place again."
Even Megatron looked almost excited, his grin was a bit bloodthirsty, but excited nonetheless. "Yes, it would-"
"You!" Jack jerked to look at the guard that came back, scowling at him. "Why'd you stop working? You've got another orn to pay off for your little stunts!"
'Unbelievable.' Jack thought, and waved Megatron off. "Go on, we can spar during the next break." Megatron narrowed his optics, but nodded and made his way out of the tunnel. Jack glared at the guard as he left, but furrowed his brow as the other three miners in the tunnel made no move to leave. "Uh, aren't you going on break too?" he chuckled. "What, you all get extra work too?"
They didn't answer him. Not surprising really, as the others weren't really that much for talking to begin with, but the downright silence bothered him a little. And they weren't going for their break either. They always rushed to the break room when the time for energon and relaxation came.
A hole started to eat into the pit of his tank, a bad feeling settling down as they moved closer to him, holding their drills.
"Oh." Jack mused as the realization. "So that's how it is, huh? Guards can't touch me themselves so they have you doing their dirty work for them."
There still wasn't any reply, and Jack glanced to the exit, but one of the miners had blocked it off. "Do you really think whatever they promised you three is going to be worth it?"
"It'll be worth taking down some high caste's pet." One muttered.
"And D-16 isn't here to protect you." Two added, but Three just lunged forward.
Jack avoided getting his head smashed in, and Three's drill dug into the wall. He narrowed his optics, gritting his denta.
Three tried to pry the drill from the wall while One and Two charged for him, drills raised to take his head off. Jack dodged to the side, verging on the left.
Jack quickly scanned the area and missed the drill aimed for his head again. He landed by a crate, and pulled out a long metal shard. It was no weapon, but it was sharp. "I'll give you one last chance to stop, just walk away."
One snarled at him. "You think we can afford too?"
Jack sighed, but steeled himself. 'If that's how its gonna go.' he thought. He readied himself for the next strike, and ducked to avoid it before moving in close and shoving the metal up through One's throat. Jack grimaced in disgust as he felt the push back of cables snap and energon coat his hands as the mech gagged, dropping his drill and staggered. His optics faded out before he hit the ground.
Jack didn't give it a second thought as the others attacked him, albeit with a shaking in their hands as their comrade fell. There was no hesitation for Jack as he threw another shard, where it landed in Three's chest. Not enough to kill him, but it gave Jack the distraction he needed.
Jack grabbed a hold crate off the ground, glad it wasn't belted to the floor. He threw it at Two, catching him off guard before he lunged at Three, grabbing his arm before twisting it and jammed it through the seams of his chest, right at the spark. His vents heaved as the body collapsed, but Jack caught the flash of silver just in time to avoid getting speared in the back.
"Ah!" Jack grunted as he hadn't moved fast enough to avoid the drill grazing his shoulder, cutting a long line across it.
There was a growl as he saw it starting to heal, much to the surprise of Two. Jack used the brief distraction to grab Ones discarded drill. A leg swooped out to knock Two onto his back. The drill was activated, soon finding it's way into Two's head.
Jack vents heaved as stepped back from the corpse, energon splattered on the floor and he felt it ooze down his shoulder. His doubts had stayed away during the brawl, but now he felt the sting of guilt. 'No, they knew what they were doing.' he told himself. He dropped the drill, and made his way out the tunnel.
'I thought I'd be more exhausted after that.' Jack mused as he took to the break room, giving the surprised guard a confidant smirk when passing by him.
It wouldn't take long for them to find the bodies, if they hadn't been watching somewhere with those cameras, but he hoped this got them to leave him alone. 'I'm either getting better or this healing extends to stamina.' Jack thought. When he reached the room, Jack looked around for any sign of the larger, silver mech. He spotted him in his corner, and smiled as he grabbed his cube and sat down beside him. "Hey."
Megatron looked at Jack's hands and shoulder stained with energon. "I take it something happened?"
"Just a skirmish." he shrugged, wincing as he began sipping on his energon. "I took care of it though."
"You were jumped in the tunnels?" Megatron persisted. Jack simply nodded to appease his suspicion.
"The guards bribed them I think. Don't know what with, but… it doesn't matter now."
Megatron scowled. "There seems to be no depths to the pettiness the guards won't sink too."
Jack only nodded again. "I just hope they finally got the message to back off."
"Perhaps. You have already proven you're capable of defending yourself." Something in Megatron's tone said he doubted though. The guards existed only to make their lives more miserable than they already are.
Jack heard it, and his optics glanced down at his cube. Then he leaned back against the wall. "Just one more sol, and then we can get away from here."
"That is one way of looking at it." Megatron replied, but the thought of fighting seemed to brighten his optics. Jack knew he should be worried, but couldn't help sharing the sentiment.
"Think we need to sweeten the deal with the pit boss?" Jack asked, slightly worried, then looked down at his chest, then back to Megatron.
"We already agreed to hand over any valuables like that photonic crystal, but it would not surprise me if we had to do more." Megatron rumbled.
Jack grimaced. "Like what? We don't have anything else to offer."
"Such as throwing matches." Megatron said in a distasteful tone. His grip tightened around the cube, almost to the point of shattering if it weren't for Jack waving his hand for him to stop.
"They do that?"
Megatron scoffed, suggesting this was a common occurrence. "Matches are sometimes rigged for gambling purposes, if the payout is high enough."
"People bet on the matches?" Jack didn't know why he was surprised. Maybe because he hadn't expected Cybertron to have a form of gambling...a foolish assessment if he was being honest.
"Yes, and the 'winners' get every credit while we fight." Megatron replied.
Jack tilted his head. "So...are there things like...sponsors?" he questioned cautiously. "Just sounds like making the bot you bet on win by giving them an edge in some way seems likely, especially through any underhanded means."
"It depends on who's viewing and who's fighting. Some gladiators are more popular than others."
Jack couldn't help but smirk. "Would it be alright to assume you're one of the popular ones?"
"Maybe." Megatron grinned toothily.
"Ah yes, forgot who I was talking to here. The greatest gladiator Kaon has ever seen and will see for all time." Jack muttered with a roll of his optics.
Megatron chuckled, and elbowed Jack in the shoulder. "You forgot 'on all of Cybertron'."
Jack snorted, and couldn't help snickering. "Yes, how could I forget that?"
"J-23!" A guard shouted out, Jack turning around with a scowl as the moment was ruined. "You're to come with me immediately for transport. Now!"
Jack sighed heavily, withholding a groan. That could only mean one thing. "Time to go for another round in my own personal pit." Jack muttered, and drank down the rest of his energon.
"Soon, you shall not be forced to go back to him." Megatron said fiercely, whether it was a hope or a promise.
Jack didn't know if Megatron was one to hope but he appreciated it. "Yeah, that would be nice." he said, unwilling to let this departure be so dour. He nodded to the silver mech, and walked over to two guards, where they immediately cuffed him. Jack scowled. "Are these still necessary?"
"Considering your escape attempt?" He responded, glaring at the slave.
"Look at it from my position- anyone would do anything to get out of this pit." Jack replied, saying nothing as he was jerked along by his cuffs.
They clearly didn't care about keeping their distance, and Jack was dragged out to another trailer. He squinted against the sunlight, once more finding himself astonished by how much he missed just seeing the sun. The warmth of the light on his plating was gone too soon as he was shoved into the trailer, but thankfully no one tried to get in with him again.
Jack glared as the door closed, scowling to himself as he leaned against the wall, and pulled his legs to his knees, waiting in silent dread for what was to come.
