Shockwave didn't remember how he finished stripping the corpse of valuables - his protocols were operating in auto mode, his core processor busy calculating the outcome of percieved change in his mate's affections. Should he say something? Should he pretend he didn't notice?

Shockwave liked to come prepared for every possible scenario of their inevitable discussion, so he played these scenarios through his mind, preparing compelling logical arguements for everything that Soundwave might have brought his way.

The door slid aside and he turned to greet...He wasn't prepared to face Megatron, carrying torn, leaking frame of his mate. Energon drops stained the floor generously. She was still online, though her spark was unsteady and trembling.

"Soundwave!" - he called both aloud and on comm frequency, but static was all he got in responce - her vizor was broken in, face smashed, neck cabling torn and seeping liquids.

Shockwave surpressed an illogical urge to swear or slag the bastard immediately. "any more damage?" he asked emotionless, focusing his optic on the torn body.
Megatron kicked the remnants of his previous opponent off the table and lowered shuddering gladiator onto the surface.
A commotion started somewhere in the corridor, loud voices and electric blasts that were all too familiar for any arena slave.
"Fix him!" Megatron rumbled and went toward bad news.

Shockwave didn't need that words being spoken, as he was already all over the place trying to stabilize the vitals and scrap out the best of his supplies so that the violet flyer wouldn't be scrap herself.

Never had he worked with such agility, knitting cables and tubes together before the fluids loss got critical. Shockwave reserved all his capacities for repair and shut off the surroundings completely. Had it been anyone but his partner, he'd suggest snuffing his spark out of mercy.

Soundwave's voice box was damaged, and the face beyond repair - he patched it up as good as he could but it would hardly ever be able to articulate or show much expression. The neck was in far worse a state and then ther was a long leaking gash in her chest plate...

At some point the corridor went silent but he didn't really register when.

Only next cycle, Soundwave still in stasis and Megatron mysteriously disappeared, he finally laid his hands on that fight's footage.

First, the two were circling each other warily. Megatron dived toward his opponent several times, but those attacks were testing and Soundwave didn't bother to engage, choosing to sidestep him instead. Then his mate counter attacked.

For someone his size and mass, Megatron was surprisingly quick in changing direction of his movements.
However, not quick enough to completely avoid Soundwave's blade slashes and wing blows. But the guy was resillient. He took four blows in a row and backed down as much as one step.

Then they clashed again.

This fight was a sight to withhold: every next attack they launched looked a fraction quicker than the previous as both mechs strived to find week spots in each other's defences.

Shouts for stakes raised were distinct against the tribunes roar. Stakes raised in both directions.

The two were circling again, the tribunes cheering them to clash. Megatron was articulating, but his voice wasn't distinguishable against the crowd.
Soundwave waited till the sun was shining from behind her and rushed forward.

Shockwave had to rewind the record several times to fully grasp what had happened next. The steel warrior rushed to meet his agile rival, but instead of blocking Soundwave's blade he let it swoop in dangerous proximity to his head as his own metal claw slashed up his rival's chest plates. Inertia of her own movement caused Soundwave to impale herself on the deadly blade. Not letting her tear free, Megatron spun them both around and rammed his bladed fist into violet flyer' jaw pounding her into the ground. The impact made arena plates crack.

It had happened so quickly, Shockwave doubted anyone understood how. A belated cheer swooped around the arena. Soundwave shuddered on the ground, blue and yellowish fluid pouring out freely.
Megatron rose and raised his striking arm.
The tribunes quieted down, anticipating the final blow to be delivered.
"I won!" – Megatron thundered, stepping back. "His spark is mine. He lives" – the steel mech turned around slowly to face the tribunes in challenge.
"Snuff him!" – arena boss' shout raised above the place. "Now!"
"He lives. Unless you come down and get through me!" He span around "Anyone?!"

After an impressive display of might that he just demonstrated, there were no volunteers. Gladiators looked at each other, many of them had already been bested at least once by the one lying in dust at the feet of the new star, and those who hadn't been had suffered defeat from the ones who had.

One of the bosses' guards twitched forward only to be stopped by his master's outstretched arm. Logical, Shockwave mused. Arena bosses couldn't risk their mech's public defeat at a hand of a slave.

Megatron scooped up his convulsing opponent and left the arena.

***
It's been three cycles since. Soundwave was steady but yet in stasis. Megatron was absent. No one knew what happened to him after the bosses' guards shocked him offline and dragged him away right outside the tech bay door.

Rumor had it, they snuffed him. Rumor had it, they gave him over to man the steel melting line. Rumor had it, some high-caste mech took him into his security, impressed by his performance. Rumor had it, he was sent to Kaon to be a test subject for some borderline biotech project. Rumor had it, he ran away.

So, no one really knew what had happened to him. Shockwave wasn't concerned by the fate of the daring gladiator – he'd seen such hotheads before, their logs were short. It had been most illogical to stand up against the arena boss. What made him do that? Something Soundwave told him? Something he had said to her?

During the fourth cycle, Arena boss paid Shockwave a visit, checking on the state of his fallen champion. Shockwave maintained his usual calm compliance, positioning himself in the corner in the most humble way.

"Tell me this piece of crap isn't a waste of my energon!" – the boss demanded.
"Soundwave will recover. Soon. The damage was great but it didn't influence his fighting abilities." – even in the face of the mech Shockwave dreaded most – and logically so, this mech held keys to his life or scrap, - even in the face of this greedy cold sparked spawn, Shockwave was careful not to slip the secret of Soundwave's origin.

The boss sneered: "some fighting abilities they proved to be! You!" – he turned to Shockwave – "you have ten cycles to put him back in shape or I scrap you both." – and the boss turned to leave, his guards with him.

"I will need better tools. His optics need replacement" Shockwave called out without much hope for a positive answer, but calculating the odds of punishment were low.

The boss swooped back, his energy field lashing out with flaring anger, making the tech press his back to the wall "I've lost enough with the stunt you sluggers pulled last time! You want new optics? Scrap someone!"

With that, he was gone.