Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Pandimala: *leaning against wall* You're being awfully cooperative lately, Authoress.

Authoress: *confused* Really? I thought you would be mad at me.

Pandimala: *shakes helm* Given the situation, you've been doing your best.

Authoress: *nervous* Let's see how long that will last.

Pandmala:...What do you mean?

Chapter 13: A Chance Encounter

Rumble's 1st P.O.V.

Soundwave was going to offline us. Plain and simple. Frenzy and I were going against his orders on this one. But they didn't make sense. We were supposed to watch the femme. Since Rillen was at Swindle's this solar, the two of us decided that we were going to watch Pandimala. However, this morning, Soundwave suddenly told us not to follow her. Why? This was her first solar back in the arena since her run-in with the tyrexian. Soundwave should want to keep tabs on her.

"Can you move any slower?" Frenzy asked.

Realizing that I stopped in the duct, I looked back at him. "Sorry. Just thinking."

"I am, too, but at least I walk while doing it," He shot back at me.

I rolled my optics but started moving again. "What were you thinking about?"

"Boss' fight coming up," Frenzy admitted. "He hasn't been in the arena since D-16, and they are already putting him against Malware." Malware wasn't an easy opponent, and while the boss fought him before and beat him, he had been at full health at the time. This would be his first fight in a while, and they were already putting him against somebot who challenged the boss before. Soundwave was scheduled to fight this solar, but he was in a different holding area. Pandimala was near here and had an early fight scheduled. If we kept up with this, we could get to where we could see her before her match ended.

"Soundwave can take care of old Malware," I brushed off my worry to try and make Frenzy feel better. "We just need to make sure that nobot sees us. If they do, boss bot will have our plating when we return to the compound."

And he would. Swindle had gotten another new bot about seven solars ago. Real big bot, too. He didn't like the boss and had been trying to make things difficult for Soundwave. From how he sounded when he tried to confront Soundwave, the other solar, he wanted to be the top fighter here. While he was probably ranked fourth, given how his first fight went, he wasn't ranked first. Maybe he ranked third if we added in processor capabilities. While I was sure, Rillen was stronger than Killboar, the new mech easily beat him mentally. Of course, there weren't many bots who couldn't beat Rillen mentally.

I wasn't sure if Killboar had met Pandimala yet, but I was sure he would be in for a surprise once he did. Pandimala was almost on the same level as Soundwave, and Primus forbid this new bot make fun of Rillen in any way. Seriously, the femme was way too protective of the mech. And none of us could figure out why. There was no indication that she knew him before she showed up at Swindle's, and it wasn't like he was the best conversationalist out there. Without asking her directly, I don't think we will figure out that bit of information about the femme.

And, since we hadn't even met her yet, that would be impossible.

Soundwave met her twice, and it wasn't for long. However, he admitted that the femme confused him. She was friendlier once the boss introduced himself to her but didn't press Soundwave for answers like most bots did. The second time he met her, Swindle had allowed her to take Colvan on in the training ring with Soundwave's supervision. From what I knew about the incident, Colvan didn't take Wallshade's warning to spark and tried to bully Rillen. This upset Rillen, who grew louder as Colvan pushed him more, and Pandimala heard him.

And when she showed up, the mech didn't take her warnings seriously.

So, she got Swindle to let her fight him in the practice ring. However, Swindle was gone for the solar, so he let Soundwave stand in the fight. From what we got from the boss, Colvan said some things about Rillen during the fight that pushed the femme to teach him a very important lesson.

"And what are you thinking about?" Frenzy asked as we took a right.

"Pandimala. It's fragging slag that we can't meet her yet," I grumbled. "I think her friendship with Rillen alone proves she wouldn't try to offline us. Soundwave has to see that. But what's holding him back?"

"Probably making sure we don't get attached if she is going to offline soon," Frenzy said.

I shook my helm. "She worked with Rillen to defeat a tyrexian. I don't even think the boss could have done that. If she were going to offline, it would have been then. I just think he is being mean. Frag, she could even help the boss with his work at the compound if he would fragging let us meet her. It's a bunch of slag."

We both tensed as we felt a questioning pulse through our bond with the boss. Slag. He should have been prepping for his fight with Malware. "Where are you two?"

And he went right for it. I knew he felt our nervousness through the bond. "Hey, boss, why are you asking? Did Malware back out of his fight?" Frenzy sent.

"I just entered the ring. However, Swindle informs me you aren't where I told him you would be. Now, where are you?"

There was no use keeping it from the boss now. He was probably looking through security footage while he waited for the announcer to start his fight. We couldn't be the reason he was distracted. That was definitely against Malware. "We got bored and figured we'd come to watch the femme fight."

"You're at the Pits? I told you two not to watch her this solar. Her fight is too dang,"

My spark fell as the duct beneath our pedes suddenly slanted, causing us to tumble toward the opening. After a few nanos, I felt my backplates hit the grate, and I felt the open air. Slag! I flinched as I rolled against the ground for a nano before I came to a stop. When I looked next to me, I saw Frenzy had stopped next to me.

"And it looks like we have some symbiot interlopers on the field!" My optics dilated as I glanced around me—double slag. We fell into one of the fighting rings. And glancing around, I saw the femme, Pandimala, staring at us. Boss was saying that her fight was dangerous. Just who was she…

The energon in my lines froze as I saw one of the few bots in the arena that made even Scissorsaw hesitate. More beast than bot, the mech staring towards us had two legs and six upper appendages. Four looked like regular arms, while the remaining two were tentacles similar to boss bots, except his were spiked down their sides. And like Soundwave's, this bot's tentacles carried an electric current, though the boss' could be controlled, unlike this bot's.

Pondar the Devourer.

A dark smirk came on Pondar's faceplate before he darted toward us. I quickly scrambled to my pedes as Frenzy did the same. Scrap, this was why the boss didn't want us coming. We should have fragging listened to him. While we were running away from him, I knew he would cover the distance faster than we could.

Darkness covering me made me look up, and my optics dilated in fear. Pondar was wearing a maniac smile that would make Unicron run for the deepest part of the Pit. "I could use a snack before the main course is tenderized," He hissed out before he launched both tentacles at us.

"Rumble! Frenzy!" I heard Soundwave's panicked voice over our bond echo as those tentacles drew closer.

My chassis was suddenly jolted upwards, though it didn't feel like the tentacles got me. A scream from somebot who didn't sound like Pondar and the black plating I was being pressed against made me realize that Pandimala got in the way of Pondar's attack and took it. However, I couldn't get a good look at her as she kept rolling from where she must have dived between Pondar's attack and us.

When the world finally stopped moving, I saw that Pandimala was now on the opposite side of the arena from Pondar. The mech in question still had his tentacles moving in front of him, though I noticed some of the spikes on the ends were missing, and the holes were leaking energon. A glance at the femme's side showed me the energon. "Femme,"

"No time right now," Pandimala interrupted my brother as she crouched, moving as Pondar did. The sound of transformation caused me to glance at her chassis, which she had opened into a compartment. "Get in. I need my servos if I'm getting all three of us out of this."

I wouldn't hesitate with the femme who just took an attack from Pondar's tentacles for us. So, I quickly moved into the opening she made. Frenzy must have seen my move and wasn't far behind me. Once inside, the opening shut around us, and we could see outside of her chassis. Weird. Most ground-based modes didn't have this sort of configuration.

"Boss, we are okay," Oh slag, I forgot to let Soundwave know we were alright for now. Thank Primus Frenzy remembered. "Pandimala's holding us in some cavity she can make in her chassis, and we can see the fight through it."

There was silence from the boss' end for a few nanos before he responded. "Keep yourselves against the edges so you don't move too much. If Pandimala is going to get you three through this fight, then she can't be distracted by you two. When this is over, you two will get a talk."

Talks were never good. Soundwave's last talk was to Ratbat when he wandered too far into Tarn and almost got sniped by a bot desperate for credits. Thankfully, in that case, a two-wheeler mech intervened, and Ratbat was able to get away. Boss was still looking for the mech to thank him. The talk that Soundwave gave Ratbat when he got back made me feel bad, and I didn't even get in trouble that time.

This situation was a lot worse than that.

"Okay, boss," I answered instinctually before I realized what he said. "Wait, how do you know Pandimala will make it out of this in one piece, let alone with the two of us intact?" Pondar was a difficult fight for the boss, and he had to focus to get through it. Why did he think the femme would get through it as well as he made it sound like she would?

His answer came a lot faster this time. "Because this time, she has something to fight for. And we know her record when she has that."

Yeah, total fragging victory.

Soundwave's 1st P.O.V.

As I returned to Swindle's compound, my spark was racing in my chassis. Despite my confidence in analyzing the femme's chances, I still felt worried. Pondar was not an easy opponent, and the femme would be disadvantaged if she protected the twins while she fought. Plus, Pondar wasn't an idiot. He would try to purposefully go after the twins if he felt it would throw Pandimala off balance.

I wasn't going to the arena where she was fighting Pondar because the femme wasn't there. Despite my current worry, the femme's fight had finished before I was done with Malware. Of course, my fight with Malware was initially hindered because I was worried for the twins. I couldn't focus on all of Malware's attacks and took a few more than I usually did. I probably made some of the betters nervous about my odds of winning. Once the twins had messaged me that Pandimala had won the fight, I could focus on Malware. He was the only obstacle I had to defeat to check on the twins, and I wasn't going to waste any more time than was necessary on him.

However, Malware had improved his fighting skills and was able to keep me from taking him down for another fifteen clicks. Thankfully, the mech slipped up and missed one of his strikes, which gave me the opening I needed to end the fight. He should be lucky that he was leaving with his spark beating despite the other injuries I had left him with.

Without waiting for the announcers to give their after-fight overview, I left the field and made my way to where I was right now. Glancing up, I felt relief when I saw Swindle's compound come into view. I was almost there. While the twins insisted they were alright, I wouldn't feel so until I saw them myself. I told them, I fragging told them to stay away from her fight this solar. I had my reasons for doing so. But, they disregarded my warning and not only put themselves in danger, but they could have gotten Pandimala offlined. Pondar was a difficult enough fight as it was. I was honestly surprised Swindle put her against him this solar. That was until the mech told me that Chardon, Pondar's manager, called on a favor that Swindle owed him. Of course, Swindle didn't allow the fight without guaranteeing it would be fought fairly. Her fight wasn't going to be one that was for fodder. If Pondar wanted his offlining hit, he would have to fight a bot who stood a chance.

While I was upset that the twins went against my orders, I would at least have first-servo footage of how Pandimala defeated Pondar. That was especially true because she had to keep the mech away from the twins while the mech would have been purposefully aiming for where Pandimala had them stored. My respect for the femme had increased exponentially after this.

I cleared my thoughts as I arrived at the door I was looking for. When I walked in, I saw Frenzy and Rumble standing to the side on a counter. On the med berth in the room, Pandimala was lying down as Haptic was welding her side. "Well, this is a little awkward," Pandimala laughed before she let out a hiss as Haptic went over one of the deeper marks on her chassis. "They should be alright," She said, motioning toward Rumble and Frenzy. "Haptic said they might have just gotten a little shaken up."

At that, said medic helm-slapped her. "I can give my own reports, thank you very much," He then shook his helm. "But, she's right. Given the circumstances, they are both extremely lucky to have gotten out with the bumps that they did. I'd make sure they don't do anything too jarring for a solar, at least. I'll want to give them another checkup this time tomorrow."

"And her?" I asked as I motioned to Pandimala. I owed the femme. How much I owed her depended on the report I was sure Swindle would have and the injuries from the femme.

Haptic moved slightly out of the way before she shook her helm. "She's lucky she was able to avoid more damage." With Haptic out of the way, I saw the gashes the femme sported on her sides, along with the marks his tentacles would have made by grabbing on multiple times. "I'll have her on medical restrictions for at least twenty solars to get this patched up enough for her to go back out. But, as long as she takes it easy," The medic gave her a pointed look at that. "I'll be able to let her leave med bay in three solars."

Pandimala looked sheepishly at the medic before she let out a vent. "Fine, I'll behave as long as the others do."

"I'll make sure they do," Haptic growled. "Swindle is already up in arms about all of this." He then looked at me. "Speaking of, Swindle wanted me to let you know that he wants to meet with you once you get the twins back to your quarters."

With that sign to leave, I held a servo out for the twins, who crawled up to my shoulders before I turned back to the femme. "I'll be back later." I then turned and left the room.

As I made my way to my quarters, I allowed my thoughts to take over. I needed to thank her formally for saving the twins, though she was not obligated to do so. However, with the news that Swindle wanted to meet with me, that conversation would have to wait until I returned. For now, it was time to get these two back to the room.

"Hey, boss," I glanced down at Rumble as he spoke up. The hesitant tone in his vocals told me that he realized he messed up. "We're sorry,"

"Yeah," Frenzy added in the same tone of voice. "We should have listened to you."

"We'll talk later," I answered them. I was still upset that they had disobeyed me, and that disobedience almost got them offlined along with the femme. They would be receiving a full talk about this later. For now, though, I needed the footage of what they saw. "Link with me."

The two didn't hesitate and attached themselves to my chassis. I watched the footage play before me as I continued to my quarters. Pondar hadn't wasted a nano in trying to attack the twins. At first, it seemed that Pandimala struggled with protecting the twins and attacking Pondar. After about five clicks and most of her damage, Pandimala seemed to catch a second intake and put Pondar on the ropes. Even with her protecting the twins, I could tell with how she was moving her chassis that she was experienced with avoiding blows. She turned her fight from a struggle for her spark to a dance.

And it was easy to see how upset that made Pondar. He thrived off the fear he put in his opponents, and for the femme to play him seemed to throw him off his fight. Pandimala also seemed to be putting in extensive damage to him. As Swindle and I had seen before, the femme fought better when she was fighting for something. She needed a cause. With a cause, she could fight some of the best opponents out there.

Even D-16 would have to be careful if he fought her in this state.

Once I arrived at my room, I signaled the twins to disconnect from my chassis. When they did, I noticed that they looked subdued. While I would still give them the talking of an existence, I wouldn't be as harsh as I planned. Even though I wanted to start their talk now, I needed to see what Swindle needed first. Glancing at the twins made me think that the mech wanted to talk to me about their actions.

Walking out of my room, I locked the door before going down the hall toward Swindle's room since that was where the security cameras said he was. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too upset with the twins. While what they did was foolish, it was a mistake. One that I was going to make sure they learned from. While Swindle was a reasonable mech, he did get defensive about his bots, and Rumble and Frenzy's interference put Pandimala back on the medical restrictions she was recently released from.

Knocking on Swindle's door, the mech didn't take long to respond. "Come in, Soundwave,"

Opening the door, I saw two energon cubes on the table. Since one was in front of him, I assumed the other was for me. But why was he giving me an extra cube? The twins had just interfered with one of his fighter's fights, which usually got bots in trouble. "Why?" It was the only recording that I had that seemed to fit with what I was asking.

The mech, in turn, raised an optic ridge. "Why? Why what?" He then studied me for a few nanos. "Why the energon? Well, we are going to talk, and I find that it is best if both sides are comfortable." Swindle then shook his helm. "I'm not angry at them, Soundwave. Well, I'm not angry anymore. I thought you told them to avoid her fight this solar?"

Since Swindle said I wasn't in trouble, I removed my visor and set it on the table before I picked up the energon and took a sip. "They were supposed to." While I didn't speak often, I felt comfortable enough with Swindle to do so now. "But, they wanted to go watch regardless of that. I didn't find out until they were heading toward her match through the ducts. When I was telling them to fall back, the duct fell and threw them onto the field."

"Where I saw them fall in," Swindle added as he took another sip. "I'll be honest, Soundwave, I wasn't sure what to think when I saw them fall onto the field. But as soon as Pondar started after them, I knew Pandimala would save them. She's too nice sometimes. I'm not saying she shouldn't have saved them, but it placed her in a bad spot."

"I came here from her med room," I responded. "I saw her damage,"

To my surprise, the mech shook his helm. "No, you didn't. He did more than those gashes. He tried to hack her processor."

My chassis froze as his words hit me. Entering the processor was a delicate operation. Tentacles like mine and Pondar's were the basis of the cortical patch scientists on Vestium Major invented. They allowed direct access to the neural net inside our processors and played our memories out as if we were watching a movie. Cybertron had banned their use for that specific reason. And bots with tentacles, such as Pondar and myself, were heavily monitored. The consequences for trying to use them to read a bot were extreme.

"The twins' memories of the fight didn't show that," I would have remembered seeing it. "But, there were a few clicks where they weren't aware of what was happening around them. Pandimala suddenly jerked to the side, which caused their visuals to go dark. I'm still sifting through the audio to see if I can find something."

"Then we can assume that was when it happened. From what I could see, the mech had gotten his tentacle around Pandimala and had been about to insert it into the back of her helm. But she seemed to know it was there. Right before he latched onto her, she jerked her chassis around and grabbed the tentacle before she threw him away from her. At that point, Pondar must have thought he was caught anyway and kept trying to dig into her processor. Pandimala deflected the attempted connections, but he did grab onto other parts of her chassis. Eventually, she ripped both tentacles out of his chassis."

I nodded at that. "The twins' feed came back at that point. They had been confused about why Pondar was so angry at them being ripped out since they are fairly easy to replace." How did the femme know he was going to do that? If bots don't see the tentacles going after them, they don't know to dodge until it is too late. But Pandimala seemed to instinctually react to it, if what Swindle said was true. "I'll see what I can find. Given her help with the twins, I plan on allowing them and the others to spend time with her, especially if I am not here. They'll be able to keep track of any clues she might give."

Swindle let out a vent in relief before he took another sip of energon. "Though they will have to be punished for disobeying you, I trust you will handle that. However, if you want a suggestion, the washracks looked backed up last I looked at them. Cleaning them would be something to keep them occupied for a while."

True, though that wouldn't be all. With what they risked this solar, they would have to do more than that to make up for it. "I'll see they do it," I responded to the mech before I stood, visor in servo. "When is my next fight?"

Swindle motioned to a file on his table, which I picked up before he spoke. "If you're up to it, Scorponok is looking for a bot to fight. It seems he has taken to Pandimala's fighting style and says it can't be to the offlining. Many bots are taking that in their fights, though Pandimala is still the only one that does it for every single one. And the managers appreciate that they don't have to replace their bots after every fight. The organizers are also starting to see the benefit, given the opportunity for rematches."

I placed the file in my subspace before I nodded. "I'll fight it. Get back to me with the time, and I'll be ready."

As I put back on my visor, Swindle smiled. "Will do. He'll appreciate the fight with you. However, given what happened this solar with Pondar, you may want to avoid using your tentacles if you can. Bots are going to be jumpy."

Giving the mech a nod, I turned and left his room. Once the door was shut, I shook my helm. That meeting went a lot better than I thought it would. The twins had interrupted a fight, and Swindle could have had them shipped off to the mines for that, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. This wasn't the first time I was glad that I had Swindle as my manager. I'd make it up to him one solar.

To start, I would get more information on Pandimala. While she was still a mystery, I was beginning to think that she could be an ally moving forward. But we would see. From my communications with D-16, he wanted to test her for himself in a fight before we bought her into anything. Given what I had seen of her so far, she would be just the asset we needed. But, I would hold off on getting too close to her until D-16 could fight her.

I'd admit, when D-16 requested a visit with me at Finaqua's compound thirty solars ago, I was nervous. The mech wasn't known for light talk, and I hadn't learned much about him. However, I went to the meeting with an assurance from his manager and D-16 that I would be allowed to safely return to Swindle's compound.

The conversation we had was not one I ever expected to have.

D-16's 1st P.O.V.

The pieces were finally coming together. I had my manager on my side, and with my meeting the other solar with Soundwave, I had a reliable intelligence mech in my corner. And with Orion, a mech my age who was a part of the higher castes, working with me, that was somebot I could turn to if I needed to.

I wanted change, and I wanted to make it happen within my existence. I knew I was young and the road in front of me would not be easy. However, there was nobot else who could do what needed to be done. We needed to change the view of Cybertron on its citizens, and it started here. When I approached Finaqua sixty solars ago about my plans, he thought I had a bolt loose. Taking down the caste system was something that many bots before me had tried, but none had succeeded in. However, I pointed out to Finaqua that most of those bots were already in the higher caste, and their peers thought of them as eccentric instead of wanting to instigate change. From where I was coming from and how I planned to rise, I would bring a side that the Council couldn't ignore.

While he still thought I was crazy, he agreed that my plans had merit if I could get through my first challenge. And that first challenge would see him well off regardless if I succeeded further, so he was behind me. That first obstacle, of course, would be the final challenge. I had studied the ones in the past, and while they were almost impossible for bots to challenge alone, I was going to try and get around that. Throw them off to give us a chance.

So, I was assembling my team.

Soundwave was an obvious choice. He had almost defeated me in a fair fight and had proven time and time again how strategically he could think on the battlefield. He was precisely the sort of bot I needed with me to take on the final challenge. So, I asked him to come and visit me here. Not surprisingly, the mech had been nervous. However, I made sure to give him promises from both myself and Finaqua about his safety here. He heard me out when he arrived and said nothing during my offer. It honestly concerned me at first, his lack of reaction. However, subsequent files that flashed across the mech's visor showed that he thought my plan was achievable. Using clips, he assured me he would help me with my goals, so I told him we needed to avoid fighting stronger fights until the time was right for us to take the challenge.

He pointed out that I would need to fight at least one more to have the optimum number of bots we needed on our team and still have cooperation. I told him I would take care of that fight, and he just needed to keep himself whole. When I found out he was fighting Malware this solar, I didn't have any worries about his ability to win. I had been watching the other bot I wanted to add, but Finaqua was sending me updates that told me he would be fine.

And then his twin symbiots fell into the match I was watching and almost ruined everything.

Before their interruption, the femme had been doing a decent job avoiding Pondar's attacks. She stayed out of range until he struck, leaving himself open, and then she would take a few hits before she backed off. It was a sound strategy that would have given Pandimala the win she wanted, given time. Plus, while I could see she was still holding herself back, it was not nearly as apparent as it had been seven solars before. Only those who knew what to look for in her could see when she restrained herself. Finaqua couldn't even see half of the times she showed anymore. I could tell the femme was gearing up to disable one of the mech's tentacles, and I was curious about how she would do that.

However, before she could act, the twins fell into the arena, which caused the fight's pace to shift.

In the first nano, when Pondar started to move toward the twins, I thought the femme would stay away and use them as a distraction to get the drop on Pondar. Most other bots would have, and though that would have eliminated her as my third teammate I would recruit, I wouldn't have blamed her for doing so. Survival instincts ran rampant here in the Pits, and most bots couldn't overcome them in the nanos they needed to. I used that instinct in others to maneuver my opponents where I needed them to be. For the femme to join my team, she needed to overcome that instinct as I could, and as Soundwave showed, he could as well.

Those thoughts changed in the next nano as, in a burst of speed that seemed impossible for her to have, Pandimala bolted past Pondar and grabbed the twins just as Pondar had been reaching for them. While that caused her to get hurt, I saw the look in her optics. There was no fear or hesitation. There was just a base drive to protect. We had seen something similar in her past fights. Her drive to defend what she wanted to at the time. Sometimes, it was the mech Rillen. Other times, it was Swindle, and then there were a few times where it was her dignity as a femme. Each of those times, she was driven to push past her known limits, and this time started the same.

While she struggled to get used to the twins in her compartment, she moved in ways most grounders didn't take to. She stayed low and moved quickly, keeping an optic on her opponent and anything that could get near the twins. When Pondar tried to hack her processor, I thought that would be it. Not only was it a delicate procedure, but it was one that most bots didn't come out of in the heat of the click like that would have been. Obviously, the femme hadn't seen the tentacle behind her, spelling her downfall.

My optics widened in shock when the femme seemed to instinctually dodge the tentacle from behind. In that nano, I had seen a look that had long left the instincts of most Cybertronians and most mechano beings in general. I had seen the look of an apex predator in her optics. I had studied enough creature fights to recognize the look. I would need to know the look if I ever had to be placed in those fights, so I studied those beings. It was a glint in their organic optics that pulsed with the thrill of the hunt, of chasing prey struggling to survive. In that nano, I saw that look in her optics.

And that look inspired me in that nano. She was a hunter and a survivor. But, most of all, she was a natural warrior. She was sitting at the top of her food chain, knowing she had the skill to defend that spot. There were few natural enemies that mechano-based species faced. Dwellers, drillers, and scraplets were a part of the shortlist. And two of those were only talked about. The last reported sighting of either one of those two was about four hundred million stellars ago. And scraplets were only dangerous in packs. Thanks to the lack of jobs available to the lower caste on Cybertron, one could get paid to hunt down those packs and seal them in capsules. It was a dangerous job, but it provided daily energon rations, so many low-caste bots took that job up.

Pandimala, after she dodged that attack, moved against Pondar as the predator with no natural enemies. She didn't fear Pondar or his attacks. Being on the opposite side of the hunt shook Pondar. His attacks grew sloppy, and he almost seemed terrified of the femme by the end of the fight.

In that nano, I had wished to be in his place. To face that sort of challenge was one of my hopes. A natural predator was just the sort of challenge I needed. And better yet, having her on my side in my goals would be the force we needed to beat the final challenge. If Pandimala could pass the challenge I gave her, she would complete our team.

"Finaqua," I spoke up, causing the mech to turn from his reports and glance at me. "Have you heard anything from your contacts about the femme's condition?"

"Impatient, aren't we?" I threw him a glare at that, which caused him to raise her servos in surrender. "I put out some feelers, and she is on medical restrictions for twenty solars. Why?" Even though the mech tried to hide it, I could feel his anticipation from here. He knew what I wanted, but the fragger wanted me to say it out loud.

Since he let me make my plans without interference, I would answer him. "I want to fight her. See if you can convince Swindle to set up the fight as soon as her restrictions are lifted and she is fit enough for a good fight. I want to fight her at the best she can be. Even if I have to wait ten more solars, I'll wait. She may be just what I am looking for, but I need to make sure." And I would. My next major fight was going to be against the femme, the apex predator, and I wanted it to be a fight for the records.

Pandimala: *angry* You fragging piece of scrap! *picks up Authoress* Why the frag did you put Rumble and Frenzy into that position?

Authoress: *shakes head* Hey, I just write it how I see it. Why don't you ask them why they disobeyed Soundwave to be there in the first place?

Pandimala: *about to argue when realizes Authoress is right* Mechs...

Rumble: *nervous* Would you look at the time?

Frenzy: *backs away slowly* I think I hear Soundwave calling us.

*both run away*

Pandimala: *chases after them* Get back here!

*Authoress stuck in Pandimala's servo for the ride*

AN: And here is the next chapter! Wasn't that exciting? Poor Rumble and Frenzy just wanted to see Pandimala fight, and they got stuck right in the middle of a very dangerous fight for her! Of course, more questions are coming up about Pandimala, and bots may slowly start putting some ideas together about what the answers might be. And then we get to the end of the chapter! It is almost time! The fight we have all been waiting for: Pandimala vs. D-16! The anticipation is killing me!

So, with that thought in mind, here are the next chapter names.

Chapter 14: Turning Point

Chapter 15: Working Conditions (I will suffer writing this one.)

Chapter 16:...(find out next time!)

And with that, we come to the end of the chapter! Thank you to all of you who support my stories! I appreciate it more than I can relate here. Until next we meet, TTYL! *rocking out to Bob Seger singing Old Time Rock & Roll*