Chapter Text
With Devastator taken out of commission, the Decepticons were down one Combiner in the Combiner contest. While the Decepticons were concerned that their strength had been drastically reduced, the Autobots were giddy since they thought that the remaining four Combiner teams could battle each other without hassle, and that the Autobot Combiners could easily take the victory.
Superion and Menasor took their positions, before they started circling each other. However, while Superion got out his blaster, Menasor instead produced a sword, confusing the Autobot gestalt.
“So, what?” Superion asked. “Are we doing melee combat now?”
“Where is your sword?” Menasor demanded.
“I don’t have it,” Superion replied, then after seeing Menasor’s bloodthirsty glare, he quickly added. “I mean, I do have it, but I didn’t bring it with me. I thought we would be fighting with either our blasters or our fists.”
“Well, we’re not!” Menasor snarled. “So, put away the blaster and let’s get this over with already!”
“Oh, dear,” Perceptor mumbled. “I supposed I’d forgotten to take that into account.”
Menasor charged forward and tried to slash Superion, who flew up to avoid it.
“Get back down here and fight!” Menasor growled. “This is my fight, my rules!”
“I think you mean our fight,” Superion corrected. “Why do you Decepticons always care about yourselves? But if you insist…”
And Superion flew back down to resume the fight. He tried to block Menasor’s sword with his forearms, but Menasor kept slashing him, forcing Superion to lower them, leaving him open for a full-on attack. Superion tried to dodge his attacks, but Menasor was just too quick. Normally, Megatron would call Menasor’s foul play a violation of the Cybertronian Code of Combat, as would Optimus, but since they were far from Iacon, plus the fact that Megatron was enjoying watching the bloodshed a little too much, they both decided to do nothing about it. Finally, Menasor swept Superion under the leg, causing him to fall over on his back. Superion looked up briefly to see Menasor pointing his sword at him.
“Should’ve brought my sword?” Superion asked weakly.
“Should’ve brought your sword,” Menasor answered with a sneering grin.
In a similar fashion to Perceptor, Shockwave stood at the center of the battlefield. “And the winner is Menasor!” He announced. “Which means the Decepticons score two points!”
“What?!” All the Autobots screamed in shock and outrage.
“Not fair!” Bee exclaimed. “They have more Combiners than us!”
“Well, we did win the first match, if you recall,” Perceptor reminded him.
“What a bunch of scrap metal!” Elita snarled. “When one Combiner wins, they shouldn’t take two points, they should only take one!”
“The Cybertronian Code of Combat doesn’t say anything about doubling our scores after a Combiner fight,” Megatron sneered. “I want this to be a no-holds barred match, and make it a good one!”
“Optimus, do something!” Elita urged her leader.
Optimus turned to Elita with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry, Elita,” He said apologetically. “If Megatron wants to go all out for this final battle, then I can’t stop him.”
“Are you serious?!” Elita exclaimed.
“I am,” Optimus insisted, his tone of voice sounding serious. “No more holding back.”
“Okay,” Elita conceded, but as Optimus walked up to address Megatron, she muttered under her breath. “Took you long enough.”
“Megatron…” Optimus addressed his sworn enemy.
“Yes, Prime?” Megatron asked, feeling bored, as he wanted to get the show back on the road.
“This battle is not over yet, for we still have another Combiner,” Optimus said before unveiling the Autobots’ second and last Combiner, and maybe their last hope. “Defensor, step forward!”
Defensor hesitantly stepped forward and approached Menasor. The Decepticons laughed at Defensor, finding him to be a better guardian than attacker, causing Defensor to shrink slightly.
“Don’t let them get to you, Defensor,” Optimus assured gently, looking up at the gestalt. “Think about how you single-handedly saved Iacon from all three Combiners. Believe me, you’re ready for this.”
“Well, if you say so…” Defensor trailed off. “Okay.”
Optimus stepped back as the third match began.
Menasor and Defensor both circled each other, each of them wanting to make the first move. Menasor got out his sword and tried slashing Defensor with it, who blocked it with his arms. He then swept Defensor up under his feet, causing him to land on the ground on his back, but the Autobots got out of the way just in time.
“Prime!” Elita shouted. “Defensor’s getting slammed out there!”
“At this rate, we’ll lose for sure!” Bee yelled. “You’ve gotta to something!”
Optimus looked at both his closest comrades, knowing they had a point, but he also knew that he could not interfere with or even stop the match, as that would result in an immediate disqualification for the Autobots, meaning that Cybertron would go to the Decepticons, and the war would be lost.
Defensor recovered as he looked Optimus in the eye. He knew everything rided on this one battle, and the stakes could never have been higher. Suddenly, something awoke inside him, a feeling that he’d always felt, but he didn’t want to unleash it: anger. As Menasor raised his sword to finish the job, Defensor suddenly caught it, stopping the blade just inches before his face.
The Decepticons gaped in shock, for they had never seen Defensor do that, not even during their unannounced attack on Iacon.
“But, what?!” Starscream exclaimed, shocked. “How?!”
“Impossible.” Soundwave mumbled.
“That shouldn’t be possible,” Shockwave let out, before turning to Megatron. “Shouldn’t it?”
Megatron, however, could only seethe with rage as he watched the beatdown that followed.
After stopping Menasor’s sword from hitting his face, Defensor threw it away, forcing the Decepticons to dodge before the sword could hit them. Defensor then got out his blaster and opened fire on Menasor, hitting the Stunticon Combiner all over.
The Autobots and Decepticons stared at Defensor’s ferocity, the Autobots in shock and concern, while the Decepticons were in shock and disbelief.
“Okay, Optimus, I think I’ve seen enough,” Elita told her leader, regretting what she had said earlier. “Maybe you should get Defensor to stop?”
“Only if things go to far,” Optimus replied, trying to mask the worry and fear in his voice, but failing.
“Yes, let us continue the battle!” Megatron shouted in agreement, as he was not going to walk away until at least one of the Combiners were still standing.
Eventually, Menasor was unable to withstand the blasts and fell over on his back. He then looked up to see Defensor aiming his blaster at him. Now, Menasor looked frightened.
“Come on, now,” He begged. “You don’t really want to do this, right? The Decepticons need me!”
“Why?” Defensor inquired. “So you can continue to bring destruction everywhere you go? Because that’s all you Decepticons care about! And now it is time for you to pay the price.”
Menasor whimpered fearfully, when Defensor suddenly came to his senses. He looked over at Optimus, who gave him a quiet look that pleaded him not to kill Menasor. Relenting, Defensor lowered his blaster and stepped off of Menasor, then Perceptor came out onto the battlefield.
“Defensor wins!” He announced. “And with that, the score is tied 2 to 2. This next match will decide the fate of everything!”
Almost immediately after Perceptor walked back to the Autobots, Bruticus stormed onto the battlefield, and was the most eager to fight.
“So, Defensor, it is just down to you and I!” He sneered.
“Well, at least in this match I can be my usual, pacifist self,” Defensor said to himself quietly. “Because that’s what I do best. I’m a guardian.”
This time, both Perceptor and Shockwave stepped out onto the field as they glared at each other.
“So, Perceptor, I assume this will be the last match,” Shockwave hoped.
“Yes,” Perceptor confirmed. “And now that we have our last two Combiners out on the field, there’s a 50% probability that either side will win. This battle may not have gone the way I expected, but I still guarantee that the Autobots will win!”
“No, no! The Decepticons will win!” Shockwave boasted. “And when we do, Cybertron will be ours!”
“We’ll see about that, Shockwave,” Perceptor said angrily, although he kept it professional.
The two chief science officers from both factions walked off as the final match, the one that would determine the outcome of the war, began. Bruticus sent a punch at Defensor, who blocked it and punched back. The two then engaged in a barrage of punches, with neither Combiner seeming to be giving in anytime soon.
“Well, this is turning out to be quite the spectacle, is it not?” Perceptor asked Optimus.
“It sure is,” Optimus nodded. “I just hope we win this one, and by extension, the battle.”
Meanwhile, with Megatron and Shockwave…
“So where did this new aggression from Defensor come from, anyhow?” Megatron demanded to know.
“Unknown, Lord Megatron,” Shockwave replied. “But judging by the looks of this battle, it appears that the Autobots have won already.”
“No, no!” Megatron hissed. “I’m so close to taking over Cybertron! I’ve come too far to be beaten now!”
To Be Concluded…