Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Pandimala: *excited* This is getting juicy.

Authoress: *smiles* I'm glad we are on the same page for a change.

Pandimala: *nods* Me too. And since you called this my first fight, I will live at least that long. Plus, with how well I get on with Swindle, who owns me, I will be even better off.

Swindle: *summoned by Pandimala mentioning him* Ooh, this will be fun. Can I get future information for bets here? *starts poking around where he shouldn't*

Authoress: *panicked* Get your aft back here, Swindle!

Chapter 11: First Fight

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

I let out a nervous vent as I waited.

It had been four solars since I arrived at Swindle's compound, and things had been going smoothly. He knew the cover story of how I ended up in Thrust's possession and that I would not run from him. However, I did notice that his medics didn't do a deep scan of my chassis. From the equipment I could see, that seemed to be due to a lack of resources to do such. To be fair, fighters wouldn't require a deep scan.

However, as far as I knew, he was unaware of my triple-changer status due to the lack of a deep scan. I wanted it to stay like that. Once they were discovered, triple changers were hidden away until they were trained, and then they were paraded around like some hidden treasure. That wouldn't help me with my goal of staying online long enough to make it to Paul.

"Three clicks, femme," A navy blue mech with multicolored giraffe-esque designs on his chassis spoke as he walked by me.

And I was suddenly aware of my nervousness again.

This was it. The first official fight I was going to be in. Swindle was confident he lined me up for a good fight. That was even with the condition that, for now, he would make sure I had in my fights—no fights to the offlining. Unless I specifically asked for it, or I proved unworthy of the benefit, he was making sure to set me up for fights that wouldn't end up with me offlined or with me offlining another bot. While that would make him fewer credits at first, Swindle said that if I won, that would come back as a benefit.

And that was why I needed to win this solar. I needed to show the mech that I would be worth every credit he paid for me and more. Much more. With the training I received on Regulon IV, supported by the activities I used to do before Paul came into my life, I was at least ready. However, almost every bot I would face would be hundreds of thousands of stellars older than I was, which usually came with experience. I needed to stay sharp, and I needed to remain on edge. Having my opponent get the better of me would not serve me well.

A green light shining in the corner of my vision was the only alert I got before the metal gates in front of me began to rise. My opponent was already out on the field, and now it was my turn to be shown to the masses.

"Hailing from Regulon IV," Swindle thought it would be best to have that as my planet of origin since I was raised in isolation and thus didn't know what planet I was created on. "Put your servos together for the Pit's newest competitor, Pandimala!"

According to Swindle, entrances into the arena were just as important as the fight itself. If I showed the crowd recognition, it would look like I was fighting for them. While that might have had some benefits, Swindle pointed out that it would also mean they would sway my ranking, and if I disappointed them, like, say, not offlining a bot that they wanted offline, that would hurt my positioning.

So, instead, I held my helm high and walked out as confidently yet calmly as possible. I wanted to show that I was in charge of this arena, not my competitor, and he was just another visitor before me.

From the glare I was getting from the mech, it looked like it was working.

Once I arrived at the regulated distance, the referee came out to the middle of the field. "Alright, you know the rules. No offlining this match, yet anything else goes. The fight will end when one of you is unable to battle. "Xite, are you ready?"

The mech, who was a similar size to Breakdown, nodded. I would have to watch for the chain gun he had on his backplates. While he couldn't offline me in this fight if he followed the rules, that could take out my legs quickly. The first task I needed to do was destroy that gun. "Ready," My opponent responded verbally.

The referee then turned to me. "Pandimala, are you ready?"

While I would have never been truly ready for this fight, it had to happen, and now was just as good a time as any. "Ready."

The ref nodded. "Very well. Once the horn sounds, you begin." He then made his way off the field. With each of his pedesteps, I felt the nanos tick down to the start. This would be it, and I needed it to be a good fight. As he moved further away, I moved myself into my starting stance. Like my fight against Nitine, I didn't plan to show all my tricks. Should this fight go well, I would need those against more challenging opponents. One in particular worried me. I would have to fight Megatron one solar if I did well enough. He was no slacker in a fight, and from how he spoke during the show and from the reference material I had, he was even more ferocious here in the Pits. I would need every trick I had to even stay online against him should I fight him.

Thankfully, since Swindle owned Soundwave, I didn't have to worry about him.

My spark leaped as the gong sounded. I didn't want this mech to know how fast I was immediately, so I took out one of my blades before blocking his first strike. Immediately after, I acted like I was going to swing back, which caused the mech to back up, before I followed after and slammed the pommel of my blade against his side. Faster than I could keep up, the mech moved further away and started to circle me. He had to realize that I was more than I looked like. Swindle did mention that most bots didn't think much about the bots under his care. Outside of Soundwave, up until now, at least, he had less than optimal options.

Xite's owner, or manager, if he was a free bot fighting, must have told him that this would be an easier fight that would make him look good. Unfortunately for him, I couldn't afford to lose, so this would go a little differently than he hoped.

I focused as I saw the mech start to reach for his gun. Slag, I couldn't let that happen. Acting more on instinct than anything, I launched my sword at the mech, catching his shoulder and throwing him off balance. In the excitement at the start of the fight, I forgot I needed to take care of that fragging gun. To Xite's credit, he seemed to be pushing past the pain and trying to pull my blade out as I reached him. When he saw how close I was, Xite attempted to throw a punch, but I dodged it before charging the mech into the wall behind him. With the speed I was going, I wasn't surprised to hear the sound of the gun on his back breaking. Perfect. Better yet, it didn't look like I was directly aiming at it, though I was.

The two of us then started to trade a flurry of blows, both of us making hits against the other. After about five clicks, however, the energon loss he was facing from the injury I gave him took effect, and he slumped to his knees. "Enough. I surrender."

At his word, the ref came back out on the field. "And there we have it, bots! Fighting in her debut against a bot with five straight victories, let's have it for Pandimala!"

Instead of acknowledging the screams of joy from the crowd, I glanced back at Xite. "You alright?"

As medics started to put him on a gurney to move, the mech nodded. "I'll be able to fight again." He then smirked. "Can't wait for our rematch." He then held out his servo, the one on the arm that wasn't injured.

He seemed nice enough. So, I smirked back and took his servo. "Good. I have some more tricks to show you."

Instead of responding to me, he just laughed as the medics took him off the field. Fun mech. Even if we never got the chance to fight again, I would remember this. Though, given that I would probably be here for some time, I would expect us to have a few more fights. As he was taken further away, I realized I should probably get back to the staging area to get checked up by Rinada, whom Swindle had assigned as my medic for this fight. So, without acknowledging the crowd, I moved back into the catacombs of the Pit.

It didn't take long for Rinada to find my room and start patching up the places Xite got in a few hits. I was surprised he wasn't saying anything about the fight until Swindle came running a few clicks later with a slag-eating grin on his faceplate. "That was great, femme. I already made a million off of you! And you look well enough to get in one more fight. I've got a mech called Durcev wanting to fight you in one of the free spots coming up. You earned the right to agree to it before I went to his manager."

One more fight this solar wouldn't hurt if it was like the one I had with Xite. Plus, I had some catching up to do. If I wanted to interact with the major players of the future, then I needed to be on the same fighting tier as them. Or at least I needed to get their attention. So, I smiled and nodded. "Set it up, Swindle. I trust you know what you are doing."

"Ooo, I knew I had a good feeling about you." Swindle almost squealed before he ran back out of the room, probably to talk to Durcev's manager.

"If you push yourself too hard and come back to me more hurt than you had to be, then I will make you regret it," Rinada stated threateningly.

And I was smart enough from my time with the Hive to know not to mess with the medics. At all. "Just for you, Rinada," I reassured him. Plus, I couldn't end up too injured. While I figured I wouldn't make much helmway for a few stellars, I couldn't bank on that. Research I did never told me how long it was between Megatron being in the Pits and the fateful meeting between himself, Orion, and the Council. I had to be in their confidence by that point. So, I had to work as hard as my chassis would allow me to while, at the same time, making sure that I was ready for the trials ahead of us.

Soundwave's 1st P.O.V.

"Slag boss bot, the femme can throw a mean punch," Rumble commented over our bond. I had him, Laserbeak, and Frenzy observing Swindle's interests at the Pits. While the femme was the main focus of Swindle's efforts while I was recovering, she wasn't the only one of his fighters at the Pits. Out of the ten fighters he had, including myself and the femme, three of us were at the Pits fighting this solar.

Out of those three, I had a feeling that only two would come back online. The femme put up enough of a fight to survive while Rillen, as undeveloped as his processor was, had enough strength to match the creature fights Swindle set the mech up in. The creature fights didn't make Swindle a lot of credits, but it was enough that Rillen kept his place here.

Vray, the pompous moron, wasn't going to stay online. His opponent for the solar, Scissorsaw, was a strong opponent who was almost built to offline bots. While Vray and his opponent were similar in size, Scissorsaw didn't hold back. And he never underestimated his opponents. When I fought the mech, I struggled. Not as much as I did with D-16, but it wasn't easy to take the mech down. Those whirling blades in his chest plate made it extremely difficult to get up close with the mech as I wanted to.

So, I had Laserbeak recording footage for me to look back on. If I had to fight Scissorsaw again, I wanted to ensure I was ready to take him down. While she was watching Vray, Frenzy was keeping an optic on Rillen, and Rumble was watching the femme, Pandimala. While she had shown some potential during her opening fight with Nitine, I also saw that the femme was holding back. Rumble's footage and report would hopefully show more promise in the femme. Swindle certainly seemed excited about her.

But I wouldn't trust her just yet. For a bot in her circumstances, she was too agreeable about the situation. That told me that she was planning something. What that something was, I wasn't sure, but I would find out. Not knowing information got bots offlined these solars. It almost got me offline. If I had looked into him more, I wouldn't have been cast down to the lower castes, half offline and at the mercy of anybot passing by. I was just lucky that Swindle was the one who found me and not somebot like Cycliar. That was one demented mech. Of course, it also explained the way he discovered his bots. Overrun, in particular, was a psychopathic sort of bot. I hadn't fought him, but even Pistad didn't deserve to be offlined like he was. It took them cycles to scrape the mech's remains off the walls.

"Boss, the femme just dodged Durcev's charge attack and knocked him out cold," I focused as Rumble said that. The femme was holding back in her fight against Nitine. While Durcev was not the fastest bot in the circuit, he had a charge attack that surprised most fighters. When I started in the Pits, I caught onto his propulsion system not long into our fight. It had been the downfall of many fighters because, as a grounder, he shouldn't have a system like that. However, I accessed the mech's medical files, and they revealed why he could do that. When his chassis moved, it built up energy and saved it within the unique canisters he had in his pedes. Once he was ready to use the attack, the mech simply had to send a command through his systems to said canisters. After that, only the faster opponents he fought could dodge it.

Or, at least, that was usually the case. However, the femme was able to dodge the attack, and she was not a speed fighter. While I would be keeping an optic on her, this at least told me she knew how to keep some of her abilities to herself. I'd send Swindle a report about my observations of the femme so far. However, this was only her first solar of fights. This Pandimala would be tested time in and time out, and I would watch her for as long as Swindle needed me to.

"Soundwave, Cycliar's bots are messing with Rillen again," I stood as I got Frenzy's report. Rillen was slow in the processor, making him an easy target for the less savory bots in the Pits. While I was on medical leave from fighting, that didn't mean I wouldn't put the fear of Primus into these scum. "It's Overrun and Schadiam."

If I hadn't watched them fight before, I would wonder if those two had a working processor between them. Grabbing my faceplate screen, I attached it before moving toward my door. "I'm on my way," I answered Frenzy.

"Hang on, boss bot; Rumble just joined me," I paused in front of my closed door. If Rumble was there, that meant the new femme had come up on the scene. "She doesn't look happy." There was a pause, though I felt their anticipation through our bond. "Holy slag boss bot, she is kinda scary when she's angry."

"Patch through sound over the comm," I asked. This was interesting. While the femme had seemed cooperative with Swindle, Pandimala seemed to be watching out for herself. Sticking up for Rillen was a change in her that we hadn't seen yet.

"Sure thing, boss bot," Frenzy responded before I could hear his comm open.

"Why don't you go back to where you came from, femme," Overrun growled at Pandimala.

A soft huff came through that sounded like the femme before she spoke. "Because it looks like you're messing with a friend of mine. And I don't take kindly to bots messing with my friends," I had noticed that Pandimala sat with Rillen during her first solar ration the other solar. But I hadn't watched their entire interaction. I didn't realize she was already that close with the slower mech.

"Miss Pandi and I are friends. I'm a good friend, right Miss Pandi?" And that was Rillen. The mech was very simple-processored, and I hadn't thought Pandimala would have stayed near the mech. It was strangely…relieving to be proven wrong.

"Yes, Rillen, you are a very good friend." I didn't hear any condescending tones I would typically hear when bots were stringing the mech along. Even other gladiators in Swindle's compound had done their turns bullying the mech. "And I want to be just as good a friend to you as you are to me one solar, Rillen. And to start," While the femme's tone stayed cordial during her talking, it had grown cold as she sounded like she was changing her focus. "I will suggest to these two bots that further interference with my friend just after his battles will surely make a few bots angry who you don't want to mess with."

"That sounded like a threat, femme, and I don't take too kindly to threats," Overrun challenged Pandimala.

"I'm surprised it took so little for you to feel threatened. I'd heard you were made of sterner metal. Clearly, my sources were mistaken," My optics widened as Pandimala immediately shot back at the mech with that. Swindle was going to be very interested in that. "And I'm sure the bots who make the bets wouldn't be happy to hear that one of the gladiators was sabotaging another so soon after his fights. I suggest you rust away elsewhere."

"This isn't over, femme," Overrun growled before I heard pedesteps leave the area.

"You okay, Rillen?" Pandimala asked the mech with a soft tone. "I'm sure Swindle can hassle their manager if they did anything to you."

"Don't worry about me, Miss Pandi. I'm alright. Can you tell me more stories when we get back? Please?"

I heard Pandimala laugh as they seemed to be walking away. "Sure, Rillen. Do you want to hear a new one or one of the stories I told you the other solar?"

"Ooo, the one that had the creature who ate and ate and ate until it got sleepy and, when it woke up, turned into a different one." I heard Rillen say as he and the femme moved out of hearing range.

"Wow, the femme seems nice, boss bot. Can we meet her?" Rumble asked as they seemed to be coming back to the compound.

"No. We don't know enough about her yet. Once we know more, then you two can meet her. Until then, you will remain unseen by her until I say otherwise. That goes for all of you." I had to make sure to specify that. Otherwise, Ravage and Ratbat would sneak out and try to meet her just to upset the twins. They did it when I refused to let them meet Rillen at first, and that caused the twins to refuse to speak to Ravage and Ratbat for seven solars.

I was not allowing that mistake to happen again.

As the expected arguments started to come through the bond, I focused on the information I now had on the femme. At least for now, she seemed to be the gentle sort. Surprising, given that she was built sturdier than many femmes I knew of. Usually, that sort of femme was brash and abrasive with anybot they met. If the femme continued to show more qualities like this, I would let the others meet her sooner rather than later.

Though, I would keep that from my symbiotes for the time being. No need to get their hopes up in case something changes in the femme. However, the more I watched her, the more I doubted that would happen.

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

"How is your recovery going?" I glanced to see my manager standing in the doorway. While Finaqua was a fair mech, he could be a bit worrisome when I got injured. Of course, my continued work in the mines made my recovery go slower than most bots. But I needed the work. It was part of my deal with the mech to fight under him. I fight every other solar so I can work the mines. And those fight solars could be used for recovery, as this solar was.

To answer his question, though, "Faster than I thought. Probably be ready to return to the fights in another thirty solars."

"Good," He looked relieved at my answer. "Have you been keeping up with the new faceplates in the circuit?"

I hadn't, but from his tone, it sounded like something interesting happened. "Is there a new fighter that could be a challenge?"

He moved her servo in an uncertain motion. "Maybe. This was their first solar in the ring, but the bot beat the odds on both fights they had." Beating the odds on your first fight was uncommon, but that wasn't something that generally caught Finaqua's attention for possible fights. However, the fact that they had more than one fight during their first solar was something that didn't happen often. I had as a free agent, which was why Finaqua picked me up when he did. Soundwave was another one, which was why I had wanted to fight him. If this new bot continued as we both did, I would have to fight them.

Looking at Finaqua, I realized he had a smug look on his faceplate. The mech was holding something back. There were solars I wondered why I let him be my manager out of all of the bots that asked me. "I know that look, Finaqua. What aren't you telling me about this bot?"

Finaqua smirked at me. "The bot's a femme."

I focused on the mech when he said that—a femme. Femme fighters were rare as it was, and getting a decent one was even rarer. To get one who got two fights on her first solar and won both fights was even more impressive. If Finaqua was bringing this to my attention, I knew that meant he had already researched the femme. But he liked playing games. So, if I wanted to know more, I would have to ask him directly. Fragger. "What do you know about her?"

The mech smiled at that. "Glad you asked." I was going to strangle him if he kept delaying like he was. "So, she's a new one of Swindle's. From what the rumor circles say, he bought her from Thrust about four solars ago. I talked to Doan, Xite's manager, after his bot's fight, and he said that the femme was holding something back. It was strange since beating Xite as a newcomer isn't a small feat. So, I sat in on the femme's second fight against Durcev. And Doan was right. I'm not sure of all she is keeping from our view, but I could tell she instinctively wanted to make moves that she had to correct herself not to make."

"She's smart," I commented. "She knows that she will have to fight stronger opponents later on. Opponents, like me, who have optics watching her fight now to make plans against her. But she sounds inexperienced if you saw her holding herself back. We will need to keep an optic on her to see if she fixes that tell."

Finaqua gave me a loose salute. "So I'll keep an optic on her. I'll try to get some more information about her too. You keep resting up. If we find enough information on her in time, I can arrange a fight between you two. That would definitely make Swindle's stellar," He was about to leave, to my relief, when he paused and turned back to me. "Oh, and that reminds me of the other strange thing about the femme. She won't fight in fights to the offlining. She has a deal with Swindle that he'll let her keep if she fights well. I got that from Durcev's manager, Alkalade. Said that Swindle demanded it or the fight wouldn't happen. If we fight her, and she hasn't lost the privilege by then, you'll have to keep that in processor." He then gave a half-wave. "I'll check on you after your shift in the mines the next solar." Then, before I could say another word to the mech, he left the room while shutting the door behind him.

Why did I have him as my manager again?

Shaking my helm, I thought about that last iota of information Finaqua graced me with. The femme refused to offline bots and ensured they couldn't offline her without penalties. Major ones. That reinforced the idea that she had plans. Plans that she couldn't be offline for. From what I was hearing, the femme had a far-reaching strategy for the future. What seemed strange, though, was that, unlike myself and Soundwave, the femme was forced into this situation, yet she seemed at peace with it. I had encountered plenty of fighters in her same position, and they were always looking for ways to escape. But not her.

I winced as a jolt of errant electricity racked my systems. Soundwave fought fast, and he hit hard. Even though I had won that fight, I was still fighting the effects of his electrical feedback attack. While we knew he had the tentacles to launch attacks with, we hadn't realized he could use an electrical attack with them until that fight. Both of us had to be carried off the field on stretchers, and I barely remembered that even happening. Both of us had given that fight our all, and it showed in the damage we left with.

For now, though, we would wait and see. However, the femme was looking like one to keep an optic on. After all, I needed more challenging bots to fight. I could only fight Soundwave so many times before the crowds lost interest.

Unknown P.O.V.

There was an energy in the air that I had not felt in billions of stellar cycles. At first, it was just a spark. Just something changed in the way the air felt. And now, that change was thrumming with the blessing of Primus. I could barely focus on the scribes around me as I felt it pulsing through my spark. This could only mean one thing.

The herald of Primus was here.

I had not expected the bot to arrive so soon. Since the changed passage had spoken of training, I assumed I would not see this bot for at least another stellar, if not longer. However, it had barely been solars since the change I had witnessed. Whatever the Creator's end goal was, he was moving quickly. Having his herald already among us meant that he wanted that herald here to make changes. And fast changes at that. This was the fastest I had heard of him working through all of the texts I had read. At other times in our past, the Creator had moved over stellars upon stellars, slowly making changes through those he marked as his chosen.

But this was different. The herald was moving at unheard-of speeds to change our future, whatever that may be. I would use whatever contacts I had to find this herald and to help the bot in whatever goals Primus had for them. I couldn't begin to fathom our Creator's plans, but I felt it would change everything. The energy was already in the air; now, I just had to find the source.

Hope had arrived on Cybertron, and I would ensure I met them, regardless of the cost.

Pandimala: *relaxing at the compound* That was a great solar. Plus, the readers got to meet my friend.

Authoress: *smiles* Yes, they did. And he is a great bot. I want to hug Rillen and read him all the stories he wants.

Pandimala: *nods* After the Very Hungry Caterpillar, I promised him that we would start learning some rhymes he can use to keep himself occupied when I'm fighting, and he wants somebot to play with. London Bridge and The Itsy Bitsy Spider are going to be first. Translated with Cybertronian terms, of course.

Authoress: *pulls out notebook* That reminds me, I need to start working on those.

AN: And that's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I certainly did. Pandimala has gotten her first taste of the Pits, and she seems to be having some good luck in her fights. Of course, she trained up for this, so it isn't all luck. Then, we get a peak at Soundwave, and we see that he is curious about Pandimala, though he doesn't trust her enough to let the twins meet her despite how nice she is to Rillen, who is mentally handicapped. Swindle is a softie at spark. Of course, then we move to D-16, aka Megatron and we see that his manager has become interested in Pandimala, so now he is, too. He will be watching her progress and seeing just how far she will go. And, of course, that unknown point of view returns and realizes that progress will move much faster than they had planned. That bot will be looking for the herald with all of his resources. Though, there was that little bit of concern at the end...

...And I need to stop typing about the chapter before I give something away.

So, here are the next chapters!

Chapter 12: Growing Reputation

Chapter 13: A Chance Encounter

Chapter 14: ...(Of course you'll find out next time)

So here it is! I hope you all enjoyed this. I appreciate all of you who view, favorite, follow, and/or review this story along with my other stories. Keep living your best lives! *listening to Dreamers by Jung Kook when I should definitely be getting sleep*