Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Pandimala: This is going to be perfect. I need them to pay for offlining Rillen.

Authoress: *nods* And they will. Their energon will flow through the arena.

Swindle: *sees opportunity* You know, some interesting areas of the interweb would pay top credit for pictures of you two.

Authoress: *raises eyebrow* How much?

Chapter 16: Retribution

Soundwave's 1st P.O.V.

"Hey boss, Pandimala doesn't look too good,"

We were all worried. Ever since the attack and Rillen's offlining, Pandimala was in seclusion. She refused to see anybot, and the only way we could keep track of her health was through her mandatory once a solar checkup and through my symbiotes spying on her, which Frenzy was doing now. It had taken Swindle a solar to sort through all the damages and get footage of the attackers. This solar, he met with the organizers and Cycliar with his demands.

Ravage was keeping an optic on the other manager for me while Ratbat was following Swindle. I would see how Cycliar reacted, and Ratbat could keep an optic on Swindle for me. Rumble and Laserbeak were with me in case I needed to follow another lead.

"How bad?" I asked him back as I moved the security cameras to show Pandimala's quarters. After a brief nano of static, the screen showed Pandimala sitting on her berth, servo against her faceplate as tears fell. She wasn't taking his offlining well at all. Given what she told me the other solar, though, it made sense. She owed the mech, and he had offlined before she could begin to repay him. Plus, the mech was her friend. Friends were a rare commodity in the Pits, and for her to lose him had to hurt deep.

I had tried to comfort her when Rillen had offlined, but I wasn't used to that reaction. For the first time in stellars, I was unsure what to do. So, I was left with simply watching out for the femme. Making sure she didn't take any rash actions. She was in my and Megatronus' confidence now, which meant I had to watch out for her.

Speaking of Megatronus, he needed to be told about this if he didn't know already. An attack of this magnitude might have reached Finaqua already, and given Megatronus' connection to us, I was sure his manager would tell him if he knew. However, I knew better than to assume. So, I started to send a communication request to Finaqua's compound.

While I waited for an answer, Frenzy answered me. "She looks beat up about not being able to help Rillen. She keeps muttering something about having done more for him."

I let out a vent at that. Hopefully, taking out the mechs responsible for attacking Rillen and the mech who confronted Swindle would help the femme move forward. "Keep an optic on her," I ordered the mech before I let out connection fade.

On the monitor before me, I saw that my message request had gone through. So, I accepted the transmission and waited for the screen to clear. Once it did, I frowned when I saw a mech I didn't recognize on the other side. Thankfully, I had my visor on so the mech couldn't see my look to him.

"Yo, who are you? Are you one of those dial-up bots that are popping up?" The mech was already irritating.

"I wish to speak with Megatronus." I sent in clips.

The young mech scoffed, which caused a twinge of irritation to go through my circuits before he responded. "Right, like Megatronus has time to deal with a build-a-bot like you. Tell me what you want to tell him, and I'll think about getting your message to him."

I was going to offline this mech.

"What are you doing, Numglow?" I heard Finaqua's vocals. "I haven't given you permission to answer my calls."

"It's just some dial-a-bot. Scammers, the lot of them," The newly identified Numglow responded to the mech.

"Finaqua, I wish to speak with Megatronus," I sent a recording through the call. I was sure that the mech would hear me.

And he did as the manager came on the screen, sending a hardened look to the mech. "Go work on your servo-to-servo combat. Now. And don't answer my calls again." The word of the manager caused Numglow to scurry out of sight. Once the doors were closed, Finaqua looked back at me. "Sorry about him. He seemed like a good investment for four million credits. However, he is starting to be more of a problem than he was worth." He then shook his helm. "No matter, you need to talk to Megatronus. Is this about whatever Swindle is meeting the organizers for?"

So, the news of the attack hadn't leaked from either party. I knew Swindle wanted to hit Cycliar with everything he could manage, but Cycliar must have found out quickly that his goons offlined a bot. Since Finaqua and Swindle got on well, I had no problem letting him know that much. "Yes."

Finaqua nodded. "Megatronus is on his way here now. I figured it might be you, given the events of the past solar in the mine. I will never know why those bots thought it would be a good idea to pick a fight with Pandimala." Some of the more callous miners had tried their luck with Pandimala in the worst way, and she had responded appropriately. Megatronus had stepped in when the four mechs had attempted to surround the femme, and that had warranted a call to Finaqua since it was mainly through his intercession that we were given a chance to speak as we did the other solar.

When the sound of a door opening came from his side, followed by heavy pedesteps, I knew Megatronus had arrived. As I suspected, the larger gladiator soon appeared on the screen. "Soundwave. Is everything alright? I'm assuming Swindle wouldn't meet with the organizers this suddenly unless something happened."

While I wanted to answer him, I wasn't sure how involved Finaqua was in Megatronus' plans. So, I pointed to the mech while I sent a clip. "Can he be trusted?"

"He is aware of my plans for the future and has already agreed to help us however he can. I trust Finaqua with whatever information you have." Megatronus vouched for his manager.

"Awe, I knew you liked me," Finaqua teased the mech, who shook his helm.

While seeing Megatronus talked to like that was strange, I didn't have time for pleasantries. "Cycliar's bots attacked us,"

That statement caused the two of them to pause in whatever bickering might have started. "Cycliar had his bots attack Swindle's compound? It's risky for a mech that houses mostly average fighters, with only a few above average. You and Pandimala would have made iron filings out of them."

"We weren't there," I responded to Finaqua's statement.

"You were at the mines." Megatronus guessed at that point.

However, I shook my helm. "We were returning to the compound. I got an alert from the twins that there was an attack. However, we arrived too late."

Finaqua nodded at that but still looked confused. "That would warrant a meeting with the organizers to give a list of injured for any upcoming fights. But, from my contacts, the meeting started a cycle ago. Just how many injured bots were there? I know Swindle has a lot of bots, but even if all twenty were there, they wouldn't hold the meeting for this long."

Since Rillen wasn't a combat fighter, it wouldn't hurt for them to know. This information would hopefully cause Megatronus to see that Pandimala wasn't taking this well. "Rillen offlined."

Shock immediately came onto the other faceplates as the words seemed to register with them. "Cycliar's bots offlined him?" I nodded at Finaqua's question. "That would explain it. It's one thing to attack another compound, but to offline a bot is another matter entirely. Plus, while Rillen wasn't into bot fights, he was a steady income for the organizers when they needed creature fights to take place. Plus, given his victory against the tyrexian with Pandimala, his popularity in those fights was going up."

Megatronus, as I thought it would be, realized what else this meant. "How is Pandimala?"

Before I could answer, Finaqua looked at Megatronus. "Frag, I didn't even think about how the femme was doing. She was friends with Rillen, right?"

I nodded. "Pandimala is struggling. We hope she will get better after the bots who did this are taken care of."

Finaqua nodded. "I'm sure she will appreciate you offlining them for Swindle. Once you know their designations, I'll get you whatever information I have on the bots."

"I've fought most of Cycliar's bots," Megatronus added. "I can tell you what I saw of them as well."

No. They didn't understand. Of course, given Pandimala's usual rule, it made sense that they assumed I would be the one to fight the bots who did this. I was confident enough to realize that Pandimala and I were at the same fighting level. Her fight against Megatronus had shown me that. So, I didn't hesitate to shake my helm, causing both of them to look confused before I responded. "I'm not going to be the one to fight them."

"Who else would?" Megatronus asked. "Outside of you, none of Swindle's other bots can take on those responsible for taking out a bot of Rillen's strength outside of Pandimala, and she won't offline bots. Swindle will want their energon to flow."

"I want them." I started to play back Pandimala's declaration the other solar. "I want their energon to spill for what they did. I want to hear their screams, the pleas for mercy from me. But they won't find any. I want to grab their sparks and feel the cold grip of Unicron as he claims each one. I want all four of them. The three who attacked Rillen and the one you called Zardil. The longer they are online, the longer they insult Rillen's memory. I won't let them get away with it."

The recording silenced Finaqua and Megatronus for a few nanos before Finaqua let out a vent. "Frag, I didn't think the femme had it in her. I want to watch those fights. I'll send you what I have on Zardil, and once you get me the other designations, I'll get you what I have on them, too."

With that, Finaqua left the room. Megatronus and I stared at each other for a nano. "Is she truly up for this?"

I nodded and spoke. "She is. The pain of losing Rillen hurt her, and she is recovering. But, she will take them out. Pandimala isn't one to back down on her word. I've seen that much."

Megatronus seemed to think on that for a few nanos before he asked, "What is Swindle planning on doing with Rillen's weapons?"

What was he getting at? The standard procedure for any weapons from those who offlined was to sell them for extra credits to pay for a replacement fighter. "The standard procedure," I responded to the mech.

When he shook his helm, I was surprised. Well, that was until he spoke his thoughts. "The mech's regular weapons won't do Pandimala much good. However, you should see if Swindle will give her Thunderboom. I'm sure she would appreciate the gesture for the fights she is about to have."

When the words left his vocals, I realized he was right. More so than maybe he even realized. Pandimala would appreciate the irony of the weapon taking down the bots who offlined its former master. "I'll speak to Swindle." While Pandimala might need convincing, Megatronus was right. There would be no better owner for Thunderboom than the femme. "When Swindle returns with the fight times, I'll let you know."

"We'd appreciate that," Finaqua agreed before he walked away.

Once the doors were closed, Megatronus turned back to me. "How do you think she will react to her first offlinings? The first time bots take a spark, it changes them. That recording of Pandimala didn't sound like the Pandimala I've come to know."

Since it was just Megatronus and myself, I didn't hesitate to show him the current footage of the femme in her room, crying about the loss of Rillen. "She'll be fine. The fact that she is still mourning Rillen and not planning how she will offline those responsible tells me that."

I could see Megatronus relax in what had to be relief before he motioned to me. "Thank you, Soundwave."

Since I had the mech on the comm, I figured I could ask him about the mech who answered the call. "What can you tell me about Numglow? Seemed a little too big for his plating."

"He is," Megatronus agreed. "He's about average in fights but thinks he is untouchable. Finaqua might just set him up with Scissorsaw if he keeps acting up, despite how much the mech might enjoy that. Why are you asking about him, though?"

I played back the footage I had of the mech answering the call before I shook my helm. "For a mech who is average, he doesn't know who all of the major players in the Pits are."

"No, he knows you," I was surprised when Megatronus refuted my observation. "He's spoken about our fight and how 'intense' it was. Numglow seems to be trying to start trouble. If Pandimala wasn't in the state that she is in right now, I bet he would be trying with her. Who knows how he will react after the upcoming fights." A noise from beyond the room he was in caused Megatronus to look back. "I have to go. Keep me updated on Pandimala and the situation."

I gave the mech a nod before the screen went dark. For now, I was going to speak to Pandimala. She might not be fully ready for it, but she needed to be prepared when Swindle returned. These fights usually happened quickly to prevent the guilty bots from escaping. More than likely, the time Swindle was taking was due to the organizers rearranging fights.

Of course, once other managers heard these would be fights to the offlining featuring Pandimala, I doubted we would see much resistance. She had never offlined a bot before, and this would be a fight nobot would miss.

Swindle's 1st P.O.V.

I glanced at Pandimala as she walked onto the field, her helm held high. Her first opponent, Zardil, looked nervous as she moved forward. However, he wasn't nearly nervous enough. As a part of the reparations that Cycliar had to pay, besides the possible loss of the four mechs who were going to be fighting, the four bots had to be left in the dark about the rules of the fight. So, in his processor, he probably thought he was lucky he was fighting Pandimala. Given that she was still freshly off her fight with Megatronus, he might have been right.

However, she would tear each of them apart with how she reacted to Rillen's offlining. While she didn't tell me her plans for all of them, she did say that she would make Zardil's the least painful, given that he hadn't participated in the fights; he simply taunted me before they happened.

"Given how Zardil is acting, Cycliar is keeping up the agreement," Finaqua commented from next to me.

And that was another thing. When I returned from the meeting with the organizers, I was surprised that Finaqua and Megtronus were waiting to meet me at my compound. I was initially nervous, given that I had recently been attacked, but once Soundwave vouched for their arrival, I met with them. Finaqua told me about his contact with Soundwave and the information he had brought on all of Cycliar's current fighters. They didn't have to do that, which made me realize something more was happening.

It took some convincing, but Megatronus eventually told me his goals and the alliance that he had made with Soundwave and Pandimala. Given that alliance, he said he was duty-bound to assist Pandimala in the fights she was set to have. By the time they were done talking, I wanted to expand this alliance. So, I offered to make a managerial alliance with Finaqua as well.

It was nice to see them caught by surprise for once during this mess.

However, the mech agreed, and we had drafted the agreement before the two of us signed it. While the contract covered a few details, we were a conjoined compound. And since we were, no information was kept hidden.

Pandimala wouldn't have to worry about this fight and her one against Schadium. However, Overrun and Pollog were going to be different cases.

Back to Finaqua, however. "Like he had much choice," I glanced across the arena to where said manager was sitting, two guards provided by the organizers on each side of him. "He screwed up big time offlining Rillen. And you can bet that he is going to regret it."

"Pandimala will do that to him despite her current recovery." He agreed with me. "However," However? "I'm still worried about Overrun. He will be her last fight, and is known for overwhelming opponents on their best solars. Not only is she going into these fights recovering from her fight with Megatronus, but she will be going into his fight after fighting three other gladiators, despite their skill levels. I'm worried we are putting too much on her shoulders."

"She wouldn't have it any other way," I shot back to the mech.

He shook his helm. "I thought you bought her? You have a choice in this."

"You would think," I somewhat agreed with him. "But she's proven to be loyal and strong. Please note that her only loss has been to Megatronus. Despite how hesitant she has been to offlining before, I know she will do just fine. So, it is her choice and her choice alone,"

Silence fell on the arena when Zardil stopped, and the announcer started to speak. "It is with a heavy spark that I inform this arena of the abrupt offlining of the fighter known as Rillen. No, this didn't happen in one of the many glorious creature fights the mech was known for. Instead, the compound that housed him was attacked, and he fought bravely, sacrificing his spark to save those of his fellow gladiators." This mech better stop waxing the tale as much as he was. Pandimala looked annoyed at him already. Thankfully for the mech, he seemed to catch on to this. "And that is why we are here this solar. In an unseen request, the compound owned by Swindle has demanded that four of the bots responsible for the attack fight Pandimala, the Merciful Rookie!" That nickname wasn't going to last the solar. "And the first one up is the Strategical Ruin; Zardil. Alright, fighters, once the signal sounds, you begin." He then went to leave the field.

"Hold up a second," I was surprised when Zardil suddenly called out after the announcer. Said announcer stopped and turned to Zardil before the mech spoke. "What about the rules? This is still an arena fight, despite what happened!"

I knew the announcer for this fight. Haywire did a lot of betting on creature fights and always made credit on Rillen. He was one of the few bots outside of Pandimala who appreciated the mech…though for different reasons. So, it didn't surprise me when Haywire stopped and acted embarrassed. "Oh, my bad. You would think that after hundreds of stellars, I knew how to run a fight. Silly me." He then motioned to both competitors and smiled a sickeningly sweet smile. "Rules for the fight are as follows," I was sure the mech paused for dramatic effect. "The fight is over when only one bot is left with a beating spark."

Haywire's smile rapidly morphed into a vicious smirk when Zardil's expression went from smug to terrified. As Haywire went to leave the arena again, Zardil seemed to find his vocals. "Wait! You forgot one! The femme's no offlining rule!"

At the gate he would use to exit the arena, Haywire paused once more before turning to Pandimala. "Femme, did I miss any rules you wanted?"

For a nano, Zardil looked hopeful.

"No."

And that hope disintegrated. As Hawire left the field, Zardil seemed to realize how fragged he was. He wasn't a fighter. Mostly, his fights were against bots with similar chassis to his, and he used that similar frame to move close to his opponent. Pandimala had proven time and time again that she could deal with bots like him. "You're breaking your rule over that moron who couldn't beat a piece of slag in a test of intelligence?"

"That was probably one of the worst things he could have said to her," I said to Finaqua with a shake of my helm.

"It really was," Finaqua agreed. "Even before our alliance, I knew how close the femme seemed to Rillen. Since this fight is payback for his offlining, you would think that he would be careful when bringing the mech up." While Zardil had strategic capabilities, they were failing him this solar.

The crowd was quiet as Pandimala responded to the mech. "You should feel lucky you are up first. Your offlining will be quick so I can save my strength for the fights ahead. Be grateful that you will be joining Unicron quickly," The crowd looked nervous at her mention of the Chaos bringer, but given the circumstances, that nervousness soon turned to agreement. "Your friends won't be so lucky."

As soon as she finished speaking, the alarm went off, and she moved. Pandimala was on the attack, and she looked ready to offline somebot. Zardil had to move quickly to avoid her first strike with her sword. However, he wasn't prepared for the swiftness with which she drew Thunderboom. The crackle of the ax's electricity could be heard before silence fell over the arena.

Zardil's helm hit the ground nanos later.

The crowd was stunned for a few nanos before cheers erupted from the stands. While they usually didn't like fast fights, Pandimala was scheduled for four this solar. Anybot who knew anything about Cycliar's fighters knew that Zardil wasn't that skilled. The real fights would begin soon.

"And there you have it. Our victor; Pandimala!"

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

My intakes moved to cool me as I stood above Pollog's offline chassis. I was almost done. Only one more bot who attacked Rillen still had a beating spark. They didn't deserve to be online, and I made sure they knew it. While I wanted to draw out Zardil's fight longer, I knew I would need my strength for this fight and my next one against Overrun.

And I was glad that I did.

I wanted them to pay, but I knew I needed to be smart about this. Swindle was allowing me to fight all four of them even though he had never seen me offline a bot before. Honestly, this would have been much harder if it weren't for the fact that I had offlined Flamewar. As it was, it was only the fact that they had offlined Rillen, or at least been a part of the planning as Zardil was, that I was moving through them as I was. Each spark I offlined was one less bot who could be a potential ally. I knew that. But, they had crossed a line.

Rillen didn't deserve to offline. He was a pure spark…and kinder than I was. He didn't judge anybot before he met them. Despite the rampant mistrust through Kaon, Tarn, and even Vos, he never asked for any information about a bot. While I had yet to leave Kaon, I had heard stories of the other city-states, and they were all the same, in varying degrees. Despite the atmosphere that we lived in, the mech was friendly with anybot who gave him a chance.

And these bots were responsible for extinguishing that spark.

After Zardil, Schadium had been next. He had been the first I fought who was directly responsible for Rillen's offlining. Like Zardil, the mech had been shocked about my foregoing of my no-offlining rule. However, Schadium at least had some skills in fighting. Unlike with Zardil, however, I refused to use my weapons. Instead, I either used my servos or I used Thunderboom. While Thunderboom had done most of the damage to Schadium, I had used my servos and tore his helm from his shoulders. That had gotten the crowd going. But I wasn't doing this for them.

After Schadium, Pollog had been called out. Unlike the other two, however, he had guessed about my no-offlining rule being set to the side. That meant that he was a lot more focused than the other two. Thankfully, I had conserved my energy to keep the mech at bay as I waited for an opening, doing any small damage with Thunderboom I could. It took longer than I hoped to get an opening that I could use to finish off the mech. Ten clicks into our fight, however, he faltered, and I took the opportunity to throw Thunderboom in its shortened form at the mech. I felt satisfaction well inside me as I heard the thunk of the blade embedding itself into the mech's spark chamber. When his optics had started to dim, I allowed myself to smirk.

As Haywire, the announcer for this fight, called the fight in my favor, I yanked Thunderboom out of the mech's chassis and cleaned the energon off. One left. Just one more bot to offline, and then Rillen would be avenged. Once Thunderboom was cleaned, I returned it to my subspace. And it seemed I was just in time as Haywire started to speak.

"Alright, folks! This solar, you've been treated to three thrilling fights to the offlining. However, this solar isn't quite done yet. One more fight remains in this retribution circuit. The fourth and final bot to fight Pandimala; Overrun the Calamity!"

A low growl escaped my vocals as Overrun walked onto the field. Unlike the others, he didn't look nervous. He moved as if he owned the arena. Oh, I had been waiting for this fight the longest. Before the incident, he was one of the few bots who had tried to antagonize Rillen. Of course, he did the same with me, but I could handle the mech. Rillen couldn't. Multiple times, I had to get between the mech and Rillen. There had even been one time when the guards in the arena had to separate us. Swindle hadn't been thrilled to hear about that until I told him Overrun had launched at me first.

And now, I was going to offline the fragger. His was the spark I was the most willing to take. Unlike the others, though, I wanted to feel it. Regardless of the damage I took to do it, I wanted my servo around his spark when I sent his eternal spark straight to Unicron. I hoped the god of Chaos personally punished the mech for all of eternity.

"You look a little tired, femme," Overrun taunted as he stopped the standard distance from me. I focused on him as he continued to speak. "You would think that the femme who could go pede to pede with Megatronus would be able to pace herself. Perhaps your fight against him was just a fluke."

I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get me riled up so I made a mistake. However, there would be no mistakes from me this solar. For Rillen's sake, I couldn't afford any. I was focused on my objective: taking Overrun's spark from him. And come what may, I would feel his spark sputter out of existence this solar. "I'm more than ready enough to deal with you." I shot back to the mech.

"Fighters," Haywire spoke. "Once the signal sounds, you begin."

"As expected," I could hear the condescending tone behind his vocals. He actually thought he was getting the advantage over me? Maybe if I had done his fight first and this was Zardil, I might be overconfident. However, this was the fight that I had been waiting for. And that was why I had Swindle line up the fights the way we did.

Every byte of data we scoured through, from our records and Finaqua's, had come to this click. With a glance toward Haywire, I gave a single nod. He nodded back to me before he left the field. The two of us launched at each other at the signal's sound. A snarl slipped through my vocals as our fists met against each other. Back and forth, our blows flew.

After a few clicks, the mech scoffed, which caused me to narrow my optics. "What?" I demanded as I dodged a punch and sent my own to him.

The mech scoffed as we continued to fight. "The great merciful rookie. I figured you were just pumping up your reputation. Since you have obviously been in fights with Pollog, Schadium, and Zardil. Given the surprising lack of rule," He then shoved me back and pressed his advance, "and you are still here; they are offline. So much for a merciful rookie."

"I never gave myself that nickname." I shot back at the mech.

"But you didn't refute it," He laughed as he danced around me. "You eat up the attention just like everybot else in these Pits. And that's why you won't win this solar."

No, I wasn't like them. I wasn't here for the glory or because I had given up hope. I had plans, and I needed to see them through. And for those plans to succeed, I needed to keep moving forward. But I didn't only fight for that anymore. No, thanks to him, I had a new goal. A goal that Megatronus and Soundwave shared. It was time for the caste system to fall, and we were the best way to do that. There would be no more bots who felt they could just offline another without suffering the consequences. And Rillen would be avenged this solar.

Grabbing Thunderboom from my subspace, I slashed out against the mech, causing him to back away with a hiss. At first, I had been reluctant to take the weapon when Soundwave mentioned the idea. It was Rillen's, and nobot else should use it. Swindle had convinced me otherwise. Using Thunderboom to move forward was the best thing I could do for the mech's memory.

And he was right.

"You shouldn't count your credits before they're cashed." I moved forward, Thunderboom in servo, as I started our close combat again. I needed this victory, and I was going to get it. For everything that I went through, and for Rillen. It was the only thing I could give the mech to try and repay my debt to him.

Megatronus' 1st P.O.V.

Pandimala was struggling.

At least to the untrained optic she was. However, I knew better. Right now, it looked to any untrained observer that Pandimala was being backed into a corner. Given the damage that she had on her chassis, I didn't blame them for thinking that. In most situations, they would be right. Even when she first started to go on the defensive, seemingly overwhelmed by Overrun's attacks, I thought the same.

However, this was different. It was the look in her optics. They didn't show the fear the rest of her chassis seemed to be showing. In those optics, she showed that she was making a plan. And Overrun was going into it like the fool he was. Pandimala had learned so much since we started to watch her. When planning her fights, one of the concerns we brought up was Overrun and his fighting style. However, Pandimala insisted that she knew how to deal with bots 'like him'.

Despite our asking, she refused to give us her plan, only to trust her. And we had. Pandimala knew what she was doing. Each step was calculated as she backed further and further away from Overrun. Every strike she let land was allowed to bring Overrun closer and closer to his offlining. Just as the others who fought against her had already fallen. She had used Thunderboom to decapitate Zardil, ripped Schadium's helm clear off, and embedded Thunderboom in Pollog's chassis. Each had lost to the femme with no other offlinings at her servo. Soundwave had been right. She was ready for this. And, despite the situation that brought this about, the femme's reputation in the arena would only grow.

Before this, some negative ideas had been floating around, saying that the femme didn't allow offlinings because she was too weak to follow through with them. However, the femme was showing otherwise. Three offlinings in a row, four after she took care of Overun, and those rumors would vanish. Very few bots could take part in four fights in a row and offlining each of those bots.

Even better, she was my ally now. That influence on my side would allow us a real chance to make a change.

I focused on the fight as a gasp came from the crowd. My optics narrowed in on the cause of said gasp. Pandimala held her servo against her chest plate, a long injury spanning across and energon leaking out. What was she doing? Despite the pain in the femme's optics, I still saw that same planning look. She wanted that hit to land…but why? There was no value in her doing that.

"I told you earlier, femme," Overrun laughed as he walked forward. "Your attention-grabbing ways are going to be your offlining."

Pandimala was bent over, acting like she was in immense pain as she backed up. Overrun didn't realize that she was luring him into a trap. To be fair, if I hadn't fought the femme before, I would think she was truly at the end of her fight. "Swindle, if she doesn't offline him," I heard Finaqua start to address his new ally. "He can walk out of here and probably fight your fighters with a vengeance. Cycliar is probably already counting the credits he is going to make."

"Finaqua, she isn't going to lose," I interrupted the idiot as Overrun taunted the femme. "She's played the mech better than any great fighter could. Of course, she seems to have tricked you too."

Before Finaqua could say another word, Pandimala bolted at the mech with speed her injuries shouldn't have allowed. "Offlining is never an apology," Pandimala snarled as she tackled the surprised mech to the ground. Overrun struggled against the femme, yet he couldn't shake her as she disarmed him. "If it were, I would have offlined the nano Rillen offlined from your attack. As I held him, broken and bleeding, in my arms, he was worried that I was sad. That I was sad as he was offlining!" Pandimala placed her servo above Overrun's spark chamber at those words.

"She was bluffing," I barely heard Finaqua gasp in realization as the crowd grew silent, listening to each word as they knew the fight was ending.

"Rillen fought in a world that could never appreciate him, and he was still worried about my happiness as he offlined!" Pandimala had a glint in her optics that I knew from her. The apex predator that was inside of her. It was on the hunt, and Overrun was its target. Her digits slowly dug into the seams of his chest plate as she spoke. "You don't deserve to keep your spark beating anymore," At that word, the femme wrenched open his chestplate. There, exposed for the entire arena to see, was the mech's pulsating spark inside its spark chamber.

"What are you doing," Overrun growled as he glared at her. "Just get it over with. I have a date in the Well and don't want to miss it. So hurry up. Or do you crave the attention that you have always fought for?"

"I will offline you." She snarled back at him. "And I'm not doing it for the attention. I couldn't care less about that. But your spark isn't going anywhere nice. There is only one place your spark is going to end up!" She grabbed his spark chamber and started to pull it out of his chassis. The fear in Overrun's optics was apparent from here. "May Unicron rend your spark to shreds for all of eternity. May the Chaos Bringer ensure you never know peace as he destroys your existence!" The mech's optics were wide as Pandimala held his spark chamber right before his optics. "Say hi to Unicron for me," His optics dilated even further as she crushed the spark chamber.

Instantly, Overrun's optics darkened, and his helm fell back against the arena floor. The crowd was silent as they took in Pandimala's final blow. She had a strange habit of calling on Primus and Unicron when she spoke. Not only did she call on Unicron during our fight, but according to Soundwave, she called on the Creator when she was keeping watch over Rillen. She asked the Creator to welcome the mech home to him.

The cheers of the crowd deafened the stadium. Pandimala had won the fight. However, when I glanced at the others, most of whom were celebrating, I noticed that Soundwave looked tense. He was still staring out at the battlefield. After a few nanos, the mech stood and walked onto the field. The crowd was too busy to notice the mech as he walked out. After a few nanos, Soundwave stopped by Pandimala, who looked as if she wasn't sure what to do.

It was now that the crowd noticed what was going on and watched. Soundwave waited for a few more nanos before holding a servo to Pandimala. "You've done good."

Pandimala looked up at the mech and seemed to study him before she smiled and took his servo. Good. If the femme did have any issues in her recovery, this click would allow Soundwave to help her through it. While she seemed fine now, the femme would struggle with what she did this solar. These were her first offlinings; she had offlined four bots practically in a row. She would need help sorting through all of the emotions she was about to have.

But for now, her victory needed to be celebrated.

Pandimala: *lays helm on table* I want to nap.

Authoress: I know you've been through a lot, but you aren't done yet.

Pandimala: *whines* I'm going to sue.

Authoress: *raises eyebrow* Who? Me? I'm broke, and you know it.

AN: And here it is! The revenge chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Helms rolled during that. *Drums play in the background*. Seriously though, Pandimala got thorough revenge for Rillen. She earned her revenge, and now she isn't sure where she will go from here. At least, that is what Megatronus sees as he watches her claim victory. And look at Soundwave there. Getting close with Pandimala in her time of need. They have no feelings yet, but their friendship is growing quickly. Well, relatively speaking, that is.

That's all I feel safe typing without revealing things. The next chapter should have some inter-compound interactions and something interesting happening with Megatronus.

And speaking of the next chapters, here are the next names!

Chapter 17: A Spark of Revolution

Chapter 18: Deal For Freedom

So that's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Until next we meet, TTYL! *listening to Rainy Days and Mondays by Karen Carpenter*