It was the roaring of blood crazed crowds that woke the small sparkling from its recharge. Foggy golden pink optics peeped open, taking in its surroundings. Box shaped room with tall ceilings, made of rusty metal with suspicious pale blue stains on the walls and floor. The room looked cold and musty, but she was surrounded by warmth, she purred snuggling into the metal she was surrounded by that gave off the heat.
A soothing rumble come from the chassis at her back and she looked up, face a few feet away from a pointed snout. Instead of fear like a normal bot or youngling would have to such a sight; sharp teeth attached to said snout, large olfactory inputs that flared with every intake. But Bis didn't feel fear at all with the beast that held her safely, that was warm, and made soothing sounds.
Little clawed black hands reached out and hugged the snout, her frame barely big enough to cover the angled front of the long, narrow face. Bis grinned up at the beast whose optics matched her own. Her little spark pulsed at the would she felt connected to and giggled when it pulsed a ticklish feeling back.
"Carrier!"
Dinobots were created in the golden age in Tarn, in the Scientific research facility that is now just ruins as most of Tarn is currently. Not many survived but their genes managed to get out but the possibility of having their dual T-cog and beast mode is almost as rare as split spark twins. Bis' Carrier is one of those beings.
Hot air huffed from her nose and she gently pinched her creations scruff bar between her sharp teeth and the narrow head raised, having such a large form can be very helpful for the young carrier with protecting her little brightspark.
Bis gave a small squeal when she was lifted high off the ground and placed on the solid back of the bipedal creature, tucking her body instinctively into the small crevice between two large plates on her carriers neck and magnetize get her hands to the plate above her to lock herself in place.
There was a loud 'BANG' from outside of the dented and scorched door and the plating covering Bis flattened, protectively covering her frame as shouting echoed under the door. A low hiss came from carrier as she spread her taloned pedes apart and lowered her head as the stomping of heavy pedes came closer to the door.
The stomps came to a stop at the door.
Rose gold optics narrowed at the door.
The jangling of manual keys filtered through with the click of one turning the multiple locks that all the pits doors had installed.
The door slowly creaked open, the bronze lights from outside spilling in like molten copper as a helm peeked in, bright green optics locking onto the beast in the middle of the room before scanning the rest of the space. Then the door opened entirely.
"Come on out Scatterflare, it be time to start the cycle. Damn glitches already have made mine terrible." The mech was stout, with moldy plaiting that was a few shades darker than his optics.
The plating covering Bis relaxed a fraction with a small hiss of pressurized air.
"Contus, was it the twins again?" Scatterflare rumbled, large jaw shifting with her voice box. She stepped out through the door from behind the mech and looked down the hall that was lined with matching doors.
"How'd you guess?" He grumbled and a snort as he skipped a few steps to catch up to the dinobot that hadn't waited for him. Scatterflare just huffed.
At the end of the hall was an intersection, which Contus went a separate way to get back to his duties as the manager for all the weapons that the pits contained, while Scatterflare went towards the main hangar which was where all the gladiators went to hang round, place bets, or pick fights. The room was only mildly filled as it was only new-cycle but soon it would fill.
Scatter did a quick count around the room. Scabbard was in his usual brooding place in the darkest corner of the room sharpening his sword, a couple of mechs were standing at the round table playing an intense game of credit sweep, the Twins were sitting at the booth near the back, and here and there a few mechs who weren't popular enough for her to recognize. What surprised her was that Megatronus had actually decided to grant the rec room with his presence and was watching the credit sweep match every now and then with an amused look on his silver faceplates as he typed on a dusty data pad.
Quickly flitting to the bond with her creation who was tucked safely under her plating in recharge, she made up her mind.
She stepped into the room which garnered the attention of a few sweep players, who she hissed at with her large toes clicking against the metal floor which garnered a few chuckles when a couple of newbies gawked.
"Get used to it you penny afts!" One of the sweep players crowed and they all laughed while the newbies glared.
Scatter snarled before transforming, taking care to make sure her bitlit ended up in the sparkling hold in her chest and landing on her wheeled pedes which rocked back and forth.
"All hail the Pit Queen!" Sideswipe called while mock bowing from his seat while his brother just rolled his eyes.
"Shut up you glitched mechling!" Scatterflare retorted and just curled her lip when a bunch of whistles and calls went up around the room.
"Leave the femme be mechs, she could beat your scrawny hides into the pit floors." Megatronus spoke up, nodding to said femme when she took the seat across from him. The mechs playing sweep made disappointed sounds but went back to their game and all the other mechs went back to their business.
Scatterflare glared at the still looking mechs before giving the pad in the silver mechs clawed servo a doubting look. "Your still messing with that slag, aren't you?" She asked the current champion, who looked up with dark navy optics.
"Did you expect me not to? Cybertron needs change and I'm not going to let the Senate keep this up. If no one will do something then I gladly will." He finished quietly as to not draw anymore attention to his political side.
She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall behind her, who would have thought a pit mech to be so political. She gave a small smile.
"You impress me, i'll give you that but it doesn't mean i think you'll actually get enough followers when the majority of Cybertron is in the upper caste." He nodded, having most likely told himself that in the beginning.
"That is true, but everyone else are either warframes or preprogrammed builds used in the mining ops." He shrugged his massive shoulders and continued on his datapad.
Scatterflare thought about that for a moment before fixing her comrade with a 'look'.
"Your going to start a war." She stated quietly, and felt her point proven when Megatronus didn't react to the accusation.
"You are a smart one, I'll give you that." He murmured as he continued to type what was most likely a speech on his old data pad. The dark patterned femme allowed the small change of subject as politics was a negativity on the mind in some cases.
"I have to be as a femme of my status." She said crisply while the black arms covering her chassis shifted into a more defensive position.
Megatronus caught the subtle movement and gave a small quirk of the lips.
"How old, now?" Megatronus was about the only mech that knew of Scatterflare's bitlet, and Soundwave, as they helped cover her back during the last stages of carrying and kept her out of the arena. When he first found out (most likely from the help of Sounwave) he had threatened to take her down to the medbay to have it extinguished, but eventually changed his mind when Scatter begged for it to just have a chance.
"Two vorns into her half-frame. Already figured out how to climb out through the bars." She gave a small chuckle from the memory. Her little fem had been on her back and snuck off onto the ledge and was out before she realized, she would have been more mad but gave up when with fem came back with an apology and a half filled cube of midgrade she had scavenged up.
"I'm guessing she goes out there when you can't watch her?" Megatronus asked, slightly amazed that the sparkling was already in its half frame. Didn't seem that long ago he had one optic on the carrier and the other on the arena for almost a dozen megacycles.
"She plays with two mechlings who live in the midcenter during the lightcycle, but as soon as the star goes down she comes straight home." Scatterflare had learned about the two when her bitty had told her about her two new friends she made while making game pieces.
"Soundwave has most likely kept on optic on her while he does his surveillance." His friend did seem to know everything that happened in Kaon down to the klick.
"I would be surprised if he hadn't. Mech sees everything." Sometimes it felt like an invasion on her personal life with that mech. Megatronus nodded in agreement before shutting off his data pad and subspacing it.
"I am going to go get some energon, care to join?" he had stood up and held out his arm politely. Scatterflare rolled her ruby gold optics before standing herself and threading her servo over his elbow joint and letting him lead her out of the room.
~.~.~
"I got it." Sideswipe leaned over the narrow table when his brother beckoned him over.
"The little femmeling, she's like a literal mini Scatterflare." Sunstreaker muttered so no bot would overhear. The gossip mill would light on fire if they found out a femme gladiator, one of the champions even, had a sparkling.
Sideswipe flicked his optics to where the femme was walking out with Megatronus and nodded towards his brother. "Who knows, but I definitely see some resemblance."
"Could it be dinobot?" The golden twin went back to his data pad and adjusted his grip on the stylus. He switched programs and started to do a rough sketch. A few smaller shapes here and there in and round the larger shapes before taking a darker color selected and adding details.
"Who knows, heard it can be as rare as us, so maybe." Sideswipe shrugged and leaned over more so he could see what his brother was sketching. Huffing a small laugh when he saw the basic shapes of a youngling that had the looks of a familiar gladiator.
Who knew what else could happen to their miserable hides that got them thinking