Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Pandimala: Finally! I thought I was going to have to wait forever for this.

Authoress: *shakes head* No, I knew this was coming. I just wanted to surprise you.

Pandimala: *laughs* Well, I am ready for it.

Authoress: *sighs* But are you?

Pandimala: *pauses* What the frag does that mean?

Chapter 14: Turning Point

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

This was it. After solars of studying the femme, finding out any information I could about her, I was finally getting the fight I had been wanting. Craving, if I was being honest with myself. The fights I had to spend the waiting time fighting were lackluster at best. However, that was no fault of the fighters. Before I had seen the femme fight, they may have been enough to ease my boredom. But, this was to be something else entirely. She had the instincts of a predator, and I would be fragged if I wasted that.

Of course, I would have to draw that instinct out of her without setting her against me. If this fight went as well as I hoped it would, I still wanted to bring her in on my plans for the future. She would be the third piece I would need to move from the Pits of Kaon and beyond. But, to get her there, I needed to see her at her best. And that instinct was the best we had observed from her.

I had asked Finaqua to get me footage from her fight against the Tyrexian, and I saw that she had that same predatorial glint in her optics when it had walked onto the field. She recognized the creature was a challenge to her and had taken the appropriate steps to remove that threat. It was nice to see that she had shown this instinct back then instead of just during that fight with Pondar. Watching that fight, I still felt a thrill go through my circuits.

Of course, I was not one to be distracted by my opponent's skill. In each of those fights, and the other fights we had footage on, I had meticulously studied how the femme moved. What would have been her advantage was a surprise I was prepared for. She moved more like an aerial mode bot instead of the grounder that she was. When my manager and I had discussed this, we realized that she must have picked some training up on Regulon IV from the aerial fighters there. While that didn't fully explain how naturally she settled into the style, it was enough until I got to know the femme better.

I turned my helm toward my door when I heard Finaqua knock. "How are you doing in there? I just got off the line with Swindle. No more incidents happened, so the fight is locked in for three cycles from now. Prepare what you need to. I'm going to make my way to the betting pools to get things started there."

"I'll be there," I promised the mech.

Once I heard his pedesteps leave my door, I allowed my processor move to what he spoke on. Three solars ago, an incident at Swindle's compound jeopardized our fight. A group of thieves broke his outer defenses and tried to make off with credits and energon. Pandimala and Soundwave, the two most competent fighters in the compound, had to be sent in to deal with them. Swindle had called Finaqua and told him about this since we were scheduled to fight Pandimala. The mech wasn't sure if the femme would be ready to fight by this solar and set her fighting status to uncertain. To hear that she was well enough to fight was a relief I hadn't known I needed until that nano.

Shaking my helm, I retracted my blade and stood. One cube of energon before the fight. It was my regular ritual for my fights, and it would do me no good to break tradition this solar. The fight ahead of me was one that I was craving, and I would not risk that by breaking my traditions.

"So, you got a big fight this solar?"

I glanced down at the smaller brown and dark blue mech that had started walking next to me. He was newer to Finaqua's compound and seemed to be making it his existence's ambition to bother me whenever he saw me. While I wished to ignore the mech, I was avoiding any problems that might pop up this solar, and that meant I needed to interact with the mech…no matter what I wished to do otherwise. "I do."

Just because I was answering him didn't mean I needed to engage in the conversation fully.

"I bet you'll do great. I mean, Pandimala is a seriously tough opponent. Scissorsaw has been trying to get his manager to convince Swindle to let Pandimala fight him. I mean, the femme's good, but do you really think she could beat him? He has those blades of his that tear bots to iron filings. Just imagine all the energon they'd spill during their fight." I glanced down at the mech as he continued. "That would be absolutely brutal!"

This mech needed to have a reality check. "I highly doubt Swindle will allow the fight. Pandimala creates too much income to have Swindle risk having her fight Scissorsaw." I hoped he might leave me by telling the mech the odds were low on what he wanted to happen.

Fate was not on my side. "But just imagine the energon! I heard about how the femme looked after her fight with that tyrexian, and I know she could put up a fight long enough to see more spilled. Then, Scissorsaw can grind her to bits!"

"Go crawl back into your hovel, Numglow," A voice spoke up before two bots joined us from my right. The mech, Nebuloid, had a dangerous glint in his optics that would, in most cases, cause the troublemaker to make a sensible retreat.

"You'd better be careful how you talk to me, you old rustheap," I tensed as Numglow growled that out. "Rumor has it you already have one pede in the scrapyard, and it wouldn't be too hard to push the rest of you in."

The second bot moved in the shutter of an optic up to the smaller mech before she threw him against the wall by his throat. "Try that, you little turbo rat, and I'll make sure you are the one that gets the chance for a special hug from Scissorsaw. Now, go crawl back into whatever hole Finaqua keeps you in." Centaura was not one to have her bondmate threatened, and now Numglow was being given a chance to escape. If the mech had half a processor, he'd take it. Now, if he were a little smarter than that, he would do so without a word.

However, while the mech backed away from the three of us as he rubbed his released neck cables, he proved he wasn't quite bright enough for the second hope. "Just you wait. The Pits have no place for ancient space rust."

Numglow's bravado evaporated with a scurry when Centaura took a few deliberate steps toward the mech. While I was Finaqua's most accomplished fighter, and probably the best one in the circuits so far, Centaura and Nebuloid had been around long enough that they had respect from almost every manager, and most respectable fighters listened to them. Many fighters in the Pits looked to them as a sire and carrier. They were role models and had many lessons to teach bots who were willing to listen.

"He didn't give you too much trouble, did he?" Nebuloid asked as the three of us moved toward the energon dispersal room.

Shaking my helm, I motioned to where Numglow had run to. "No, just annoying me about my opponent. That mech has too much energon lust to be trusted." I was sure that not even Scissorsaw had that much desire for destruction. "Thank you for your intervention."

Centaura nodded. "You're more than welcome. I'll have to ask Finaqua if that mech can be put out of our misery. Normally, I'd suggest Scissorsaw, but that mech seemed oddly fascinated with the mech."

"Enough about him for now," Nebuloid interrupted. "How do you feel about your upcoming fight? I've heard rumors about the femme that say she will make an interesting opponent for you."

"From what we have been studying, this fight will be memorable, regardless of the victor," I agreed with his second statement before I answered his first. "As long as I don't lose focus on the femme, I should be able to win. I'll be damaged, dangerously so possibly, but I will pull through."

"You have been studying her? For how long?" Nebuloid asked.

"Since her first solar of fighting," I informed them. They had been sent to help train some new energon for the Pits of Tarn, for a fee, of course, and had arrived back a couple of solars ago. So, they were slightly behind in this information. "What caught Finaqua's attention at first was that she won her first fight, and then a second that she was challenged to on the same solar. Will you be watching the fight?"

They both nodded at that before Centaura spoke. "Of course. We wouldn't miss it," At that point, small talk stopped as we served our energon and drank it.

Once we were done, the two of them wished me luck before they left, leaving me to my thoughts. In a few cycles, I would walk onto the field against the first real challenge I had fought since Soundwave. The energon in my lines pulsed in anticipation as I allowed those thoughts to consume me.

I stayed like that until I had one cycle before the fight. At that point, I started to make my way to the arena. It would soon be time. Soon, we would see if our hopes in the femme were well founded. I certainly hoped so, or this would be a short fight. And nobot wanted that.

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

It took all the training I had ever received to keep calm as I waited. All that separated me from the terrifying field in front of me was a flimsy iron bar gate. There were so many stories I knew about the great gladiator Megatron. No, I needed to remember to call him D-16 until he picked out his first designation. Regardless of his designation or lack thereof, this fight would be challenging and brutal. D-16 had not overcome the Pits of Kaon, which I now knew was an almost impossible task, on his brute strength alone. He had a sharp intellect that many fans tended to gloss over or disregard completely. I hadn't even been here a stellar yet, and I could see how challenging it could be for a bot who even had average intelligence.

It was one of the reasons I stayed close to Rillen. He couldn't mentally defend himself against the different ploys and power plays bots would try. When the mech finally spoke to me about his 'duties' at the compound, I informed those who told him those rules that if they were to try that again, I would ensure they suffered for it. At first, many of them didn't take my threat seriously. However, after I got the second mech sent to the mines, neither of those counting Nitine, the others realized that I would back up my words with my actions.

However, none of that was helping me right now. I needed to focus. This was going to be the fight of my existence, and I needed it to go how I wanted it to. While I would try to win, that wasn't a feasible goal. Not with the experience that D-16 was going to bring onto the field. I would try my best, but I knew not to get hopeful. No, my goal during this was to get an in with the mech. According to lore and many other sources, he had gathered some of his closest Decepticons from the Pits. Soundwave was one, and I wanted to be one as well. I needed to be one. It was my best hope of getting out of here and back to Paul.

I felt a twinge of pain in my spark at thoughts of the god. However, I let that go as I noticed movement in my peripherals.

"You all set?" Swindle asked as the ref started to speak outside. "Anything I can do for you?"

While I was worried, I knew that I needed to lighten the mood, or I would start to paralyze myself by overanalyzing what might happen instead of focusing on each step as I took it. "Make sure Pistal and Rinada don't offline me when I return."

Swindle laughed at that. "No can do. I take risks sometimes, but even I know better than to get between a medic and their accursed retribution." Before he could say more, the first red light lit. It was getting close to time. "And that's my cue to exit. Good luck out there, Pandimala."

"Thanks," I answered back sincerely before he walked out. Once he was gone, I turned back and focused. This was it. It would hurt like the fragging pit, but it would be worth it. This was my chance, and I would not allow it to slip from my digits. I had worked too hard to lose it here.

A yellow light then came on. Soon. That meant that D-16 was getting his introduction first. I was to be introduced last. I could practically feel the energy pulsing in the air. Excitement was practically driving my spark onward in its wild pulses. Out of all the fights I had to this point, this would be my most crucial one, and I would not allow it to pass me by.

My spark skipped a beat, a lump metaphorically forming in my throat as the light turned green. The grinding of the gate rising seemed to put my chassis on autopilot. My energon pulsing through my lines overpowered the excited yells of the crowd as I came into view. I didn't even hear my introduction to the crowd as my optics locked on my opponent.

D-16.

Megatronus.

Megatron.

This was the first time I had seen him in the bot, and while I made sure I didn't show it, I was confused. His appearance was everything that the lore and fans said they were before the disastrous Council meeting and the war that followed outside of one crucial fact.

His optics were already red.

Those sharp crimson-colored optics felt as if they were searing their gaze into me. Studying the way I walked, how I lifted each pede and subsequently set it down. They studied the pace at which I moved to wait for our fight to begin. As I stared back into those red optics, I reminded myself I could not fall into my standard fighting strategy. I had no doubt that he was studying me before this fight, so I had to make him think all the information he had was useless. I might have a chance if I could cause him to doubt his strategy.

"Alright, fighters," I glanced at the ref as the noise of the crowd died down. "The rules are simple. No offlining, but all else goes. The fight ends when one side cannot continue fighting or surrenders. D-16," The ref motioned to the future leader of the Decepticons. "Are you ready?"

"I am ready," He answered simply, though I could hear something else in his tone. An excitement that I didn't expect, and I wasn't sure why he would be so.

"Pandimala," I refocused as the ref spoke to me. "Are you ready?"

I was as ready as I was ever going to be. This was the time, and I would give this fight every iota of energon I had to make sure it turned out how I wanted. "I am."

Just as others in this position had done, the ref nodded. "Good. You both know how this works by now. Once the horn sounds, you begin." He then moved off of the field.

Instead of watching him, however, I focused on D-16. I needed to stay focused if I was going to get through this fight. It was time to fight for my chance to continue online. To fight for the opportunity to live through the horrors just over the horizon for Cybertron. It was time.

The sound of the gong echoed through the stadium. My spark felt like it would blow out of my chest plate as both D-16 and I launched forward from our starting positions. In the next instant, my sword met his blade. Our fight had begun.

Swindle's 1st P.O.V.

She had been holding out on me.

While that seemed to be her natural pattern, it was still surprising each time she showed that. In her fight against Nitine, she had fought the mech just enough to put him down. At the time, I thought she had struggled slightly with it. But, then her first fight changed that. She had gone against Xite, who, while not being the best fighter on the circuit, had a chain gun that tore up a lot of bots before they could get good traction against him. Pandimala had taken care of that via covertly destroying the gun by slamming the mech against a wall. While many bots hadn't noticed that, I had.

From that fight on, she continuously showed new strategies and techniques that we didn't realize she had. Even in training fights at the compound, the femme fought in a reserved way. I thought we had her figured out recently, though. She hadn't shown any new tricks or techniques for her last three fights. Even during that fragging break-in I had, she hadn't done anything different from what she had shown.

"She's been holding out on you," I glanced to my side at Onslaught as he motioned to the arena below. Since this was a high-profile fight, I had invited all my brothers to attend with me as my guests. While Blast Off couldn't make it with his work, Vortex, Brawl, and Onslaught had been able to come. While the first two hadn't met Pandimala yet since they rarely came to my compound, Onslaught had been there when I first got her and made regular check-in visits. "I thought she peaked already,"

"Obviously, you two were wrong," Brawl spoke from Onslaught's other side. "Now, keep it down so I can watch this. I haven't seen a fight this good in a while.

On my other side, Vortex nodded while licking his lips. "Yeah. They are having a blast down there. Frag, I wish I was there instead."

Both were free-agent gladiators and spent whatever time they could in the fights. While I offered for them to join my compound plenty of times, both refused to have me be their boss. Fair enough, but at least they weren't under another bot. I was sure I wouldn't take it well if they were and their manager tried something. Incidents of managers sending in their gladiators to steal energon and damage competitors from another manager happened as often as regular break-ins.

I rolled my optics at their response but leaned closer to Onslaught while keeping an optic on the fight. I had a large portion of credits running on this fight, and I wanted to see if I was right in betting as I did. As I had before, I listened to Onslaught and bet that D-16 would come out victorious in this fight despite the prowess that Pandimala had shown. I hadn't told Pandimala this because, while I knew she wouldn't throw a fight for me, she would feel guilty and hesitate with the thoughts of what I was betting on this match. I wanted her to fight at her best, whether that meant that I won or lost.

However, if I lost, Onslaught and I would have a long talk. Twelve million credits was a lot to lose in a single fight. Though, winning forty-eight million if he won would more than make up for the insult I was doing in betting against my bot. Given how she acted, I was sure the femme would forgive me as Soundwave did when he found out.

"I see she's been holding back," I responded to Onslaught in a lower voice. The fervor at which the two gladiators were moving was almost hypnotic. Almost. I could see the draw that Brawl and Vortex had in it. To my surprise, the femme had come into the fight already in the state of processor we were calling her predatory phase. She knew that this fight would take her entire focus. Usually, she went into fights as a regular bot, and only at specific stressors would she allow this fighting mode to take over. In her predatory phase, she fought to survive and would use whatever she could to make that happen outside of offlining a bot. "Of course, this is the first time she went into a fight in survival mode."

"Plus, from what we've seen," I glanced in front of me at Rumble, who Soundwave sent to record the fight due to his fight against Carnilan, a larger fighter who would give the mech a good fight. Since Soundwave had returned to the higher-ranked fights, he had allowed his symbiotes to stay with those he trusted. It spoke a lot that he let the symbiote come with me to this fight. It probably didn't hurt that I was with him, along with most of my brothers. "Pandimala has been prepping for this fight before you told her about it. Boss bot says that might have prepped her for what we're seeing."

"Soundwave is talking to you during his fight?" Onslaught asked in surprise.

Rumble shrugged his shoulders. "Boss says that Carnilan isn't as difficult as he remembered him being."

Interesting, I would have to find tougher fights for him down the line. Not too difficult, though. I didn't need him off the docket again, as he was after his fight with D-16. Like Pandimala seemed to be heading toward. Refocusing on the fight below, I noticed both bots looked almost primal. The almost was key in that, though. Each move that they were making was focused and methodical. Both of them were almost in a feral dance. However, I felt confused when I looked at the two of them. There wasn't any malice in their optics. Not even the temporary enmity that came about when most gladiators fought.

I flinched as D-16 threw the femme across the arena, her chassis impacting the ground and causing bits of her damaged chassis to break off. However, the femme was quick on her pedes and dodged his next strike. My shock matched the crowds as Pandimala dodged another grab attempt from the mech and lashed out at the mech's wrist. You could see the shock on D-16's faceplate as his servo seemed to go limp from the impact. What the frag was that?

"Swindle, do you know what that was?" Brawl asked me with a hitch in his tone that told me he was confused about what he saw despite the excitement in his vocals.

Shaking my helm, I leaned closer to the arena as the fight's pace changed. Pandimala was more on the offensive now, and D-16 seemed to be on an extreme defensive. Given the expression on his faceplate, he was trying to figure out what she just did. What the frag was that? "I don't have a clue," I answered my brother honestly. She had never done something like that in all her fights before this. "I've never seen anything like that before."

"I haven't either," Onslaught admitted. With a glance at my brother, I noticed he looked confused and intrigued simultaneously. "It takes more force than we've seen from Pandimala to dislocate a limb like that. And that looked like she didn't put much power into her strike. Does she have a mod to let her do that?"

No. I knew she didn't due to her medical repairs from the tyrexian incident. "No. She's as basic as a grounder can get for her mods. And those mods are her cannons and their ability to fire multiple types of shots."

As I watched D-16 on the defensive, I tensed as I noticed something. The two of them were talking as they fought. What was going on with that? Given the expressions they were both sharing, the topic seemed deep. This was different than other fights I had seen from both of them. It was just as strange as the mech asking to have Soundwave meet him after their fight. D-16 seemed to be planning something; for better or worse, he was looking to use my bots in his plans.

I jolted out of my seat and stared as Pandimala suddenly shoved the mech back with an angered look in her optics. What the frag was going on? Unfortunately, the raised cheers of the spectators made it so I couldn't hear what was being said. However, judging by the thoughtful look in his optics, D-16 was taking the femme's words to spark despite the increase in her ferocity.

After a few more steps back, it seemed like the mech caught a second intake, and suddenly, Pandimala was on the defensive. In D-16's optics was a determined look I had never seen in the mech. Even in his fight against Soundwave, I hadn't seen that look. What the frag happened during that conversation?

As I looked at both fighters, I knew the fight was coming to an end. They both looked like they were about to keel over at any nano. I had been so distracted by the dynamic between the two of them that I hadn't realized the damage they had put on each other. Neither bot had held back. Regardless of the result of this fight, all of the spectators would leave this fight happy. A fight like this didn't happen often, and with all the variables involved, it would be one for the records.

A large boom silenced the stands as each fighter landed a hit against the other, sending both sliding back. When both stopped moving, neither side made to advance. The energon dripping from their chassis and damage evident on both of them. In this nano, their fight was one of wills instead of strength. Given the silence that had overtaken the field, the crowd seemed to understand that this was the nano of truth. The fight was going to end any click. Whoever stayed conscious at this impasse would win this showdown.

Movement from Pandimala caused me to focus on her. One step. Another. Another. And then Pandimala fell to her knees. Every intake in the crowd silenced as she knelt before D-16 for a few nanos. Finally, her optics went dark, and she fell forward—her first defeat in the arena.

The stadium exploded in cheers as D-16 raised a fist into the air, claiming the victory. As medics rushed on the field to my downed gladiator, the MC of the fight ran onto the field. "And our victor is D-16! What a fight! What a fight!"

To my surprise, D-16 motioned to the MC, who made a beeline for the gladiator. What was he doing? The victor took the mic from the MC, who looked startled at the action. "I will no longer be known as D-16," He was taking a designation. For how long he had been in the circuit, many were surprised he hadn't taken one yet. Given his popularity in the Pits, this designation would be an important statement on where he stood. "I am…Megatronus." And with those words leaving his vocals, the mech succumbed to his injuries and collapsed to the ground.

As the second team of medics reached the mech, the entire stadium was silenced in what I assumed was shock. That was the reason I couldn't form a sound at this nano. He decided on that designation. It was a designation used once before in Cybertron's ancient history. And the previous D-16 taking it as his spoke volumes about what he planned. Once word spread, I knew many in the higher castes would be nervous about it. It was a designation that spoke of rebellion and determination. The designation that spoke of change on Cybertron's horizon. Megatronus, the Fallen. Betrayer of the original Thirteen Primes. Taking that forbidden designation on hinted at a potential uprisal against the current power on Cybertron. Despite the loss my gladiator took this solar, I felt as if I just witnessed the first step in change coming to Cybertron.

While I wanted to stay and think about this more, I needed to be with my fallen gladiator. She had fought one Pit of a fight, and I needed to see what her injuries were. Once she was on the way to recovery, I would find out what happened during their fight. Given the statement Megatronus gave before his collapse, I needed to see if my gladiators were involved. If they were, I needed to be ready for any potential backlash we may face.

AN: And there we have it! The fight we have all been waiting for! I know I didn't give a blow-by-blow account, but I felt this route gave us a better feel of the dynamics going on from an outside force. Plus, it gives me room in future chapters to flashback to this fight from Megatronus' and Pandimala's points of view. And honestly, I don't have much to say here, so I'll leave you all to wonder what the future holds.

And, while you do that, here are the names of the next chapters!

Chapter 15: Working Conditions

Chapter 16: Retribution

Chapter 17:...(Find out next time!)

So there is that! I want to thank everyone who interacts with my stories! I appreciate every one of you. Until next we meet, TTYL! *listening to 1916 by Sabaton*