CHAPTER FIVE
Planet X
“Your friend is unwell. He has been twisted by this Hell.”
“You said it, lad,” Kup muttered, sitting across from his cellmate. The small orange bot went by the name Wheelie and had an odd way of speaking, often using rhymes. So far, Kup had not been able to discern much about Wheelie’s history and how he had ended up in the Quintessons’ clutches, though he supposed it didn’t matter much at the moment, with there being more pressing matters at hand.
He looked outside to see that Guzzle had been brought back out for another match. While the mad tank-bot was still shaking and loudly declaring his craving for more bots to kills, Kup could tell that he was not as energized as he had been previously. These barbaric matches were wearing Guzzle down, and the Quintessons had not been doing much to keep him in good shape. If this next match didn’t kill Guzzle, the next two or three certainly would.
“Much as I hate to admit it, I’d say he’s our best chance of breaking out of here,” Kup said quietly. “If we could find a way to distract him and lure him here, maybe we can provoke him into tearing the door open.”
“Your idea is sound but I cannot lie, if the monster comes to us, we most certainly would die,” said Wheelie.
“It’s a big risk, I know. But honestly, I’d rather have him tear me apart than be fed to the Sharkticons. Besides, your small and would have a better chance at evading him.” Kup’s expression turned grim. “He wants me dead anyway.”
Wheelie gave him a quizzical look but thankfully did not ask Kup to elaborate on the last bit. “Among the Sharkticons, I have a friend,” he said instead. “He can save us from a terrible end.”
It was Kup’s turn to look quizzical. “You’re friends with a Sharkticon? How did that happen?”
“Gnaw is his name. He did not eat me, whereas the others would have. Visits me he sometimes does when his masters are not looking.”
Kup frowned. “And how exactly is he going to help us? Do you have any way of summoning him?”
Wheelie shook his head. “Gnaw arrives as he pleases. Far be it from me to impede on his freedom.”
“Well, I’m afraid we can’t abide by your friend’s schedule. We need to get out of here now or else we’ll never have another shot at this.”
Kup watched through the bars as Guzzle was taken into the arena. Waiting for him there was another batch of Monstercons, all looking terrified of what they knew was their impending doom. Guzzle looked down at them with a look of hunger in his optics.
“Ah— dessert time!” Guzzle rubbed his large hands together. “What do we have on the menu tonight? Some Croctobot stew with a side of Lobstercon?”
“W-we ain’t afraid of you!” cried a teal and yellow reptilian Monstercon, shaking as he pointed a gun at Guzzle. “W-we outn-number you!”
Guzzle laughed as he brought his fist down onto Razorgrille, smashing him into the floor. “Numbers don’t mean nothing.”
“This… this isn’t worth the XP,” murmured a red-orange lobster-like Decepticon. “Can I skip this level? There’s gotta be a cheat code for it. I knew I should have leveled up before getting to this part….”
Bisk turned to run away only to be grabbed from behind by Guzzle. Just as the ex-Wrecker was about to tear the Monstercon in half, Kup chose that moment to make his move.
“Hardspark!”
Guzzle froze and a deathly silence fell over the room. One of the Quintessons overseeing the arena turned in the direction of Kup and Wheelie’s cell and sneered.
“Silence, or your time will come sooner than you would prefer,” growled the overseer.
Kup ignored him and proceeded to speak to Guzzle. “Remember Hardspark, lad? Your brother? The same brother that I killed?”
Guzzle roared out in rage and he threw Bisk into a bat-like Monstercon, before turning in Kup’s direction. His optical sensors flared madly as steam exhumed from the vents in his faceplate.
“I’d say it’s by time you got your revenge, wouldn’t you say, pal?” Kup went on, aware that Wheelie was staring at him as if he was a mad man (he wouldn’t have been wrong, either). “You’ve been denied your shot at me once too often.”
“Silence!” the overseer bellowed. “Do not interfere with the match!”
Kup smirked, locking eyes with Guzzle. “Come and get me, kid. I know you want to.”
With an ear-splitting roar, Guzzle charged towards the cell, barreling past the Allicon guards that stood in his way. As he backed up against the wall, Kup glanced at Wheelie.
“You can still transform, can’t you, lad?”
Wheelie slowly nodded, still looking between fear of Guzzle and annoyance with Kup.
“Once you see an opening, go through it. Go and find Gnaw or whatever his name is. I’ll hold this guy off.”
“You will not last long,” Wheelie whispered. “He is much too strong.”
“I know. That’s the idea.”
The Quintessons’ efforts to reel Guzzle back in were ineffective and the tank-bot came crashing into the cell, undeterred by the electrical shocks that the bars tried to surge into his body. Without hesitation, Wheelie transformed into a small orange car and sped off, leaving Kup to his fate.
“YOU’RE GONNA DIE, YOU SPAWN OF A GLITCH!” Guzzle roared. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU SO HARD!”
Kup smirked in the face of death. “Promises, promises.”
* * *
“Well, well, well. Looks like we have a useful distraction.”
Leo Prime peered through the bars of his cell to see that Guzzle had broken off from his fight with the Monstercons and was instead attacking one of the many cells that surrounded the arena. He then glanced at Steel Jaw, who had a thoughtful smirk on his lupine face.
“How is this useful?” Leo Prime asked. “We’re still stuck in a cell. This doesn’t change anything.”
“But the guards are distracted,” Steel Jaw pointed out. Indeed, the Allicons that had been stationed at their cell had abandoned their post to deal with the raging Guzzle. “Meaning there’s no one here to stop us.”
“Stop us from what? Are you saying you’ve had a escape plan this whole time?”
Steel Jaw flashed a sly grin. “Who do you think you’re talking to? Do you really think I would have gone so many days, so many weeks, without having formulated some sort of plan?”
Leo Prime rolled his eyes, already fed up with the wolf-Con’s arrogance. “Well, what’s your plan then?”
“You know how I have a penchant for sonic weaponry?” Steel Jaw asked.
Leo Prime’s optics narrowed, recalling how Steel Jaw’s “penchant” had botched his plans back on Earth. “Yes….”
“Well, I took an interest in our late friend Carnivac’s ability to temporarily disable others with his sonic howls. I took some time to build a device that could replicate his power.”
“So, what, your plan for escape is to knock everyone out cold, including ourselves?” Leo Prime asked wryly.
Steel Jaw chuckled. “It doesn’t quite work to the same extent. Just enough for our purposes.”
He raised his right arm, which converted into the shape of a gun. He pointed it at the ceiling and it let out a single “burst” of sound, at a low enough frequency that Leo Prime could barely hear it. Instantly, all of the cell doors across the arena opened, allowing the captive Monstercons, Chimeracons, and Star Seekers to pour out.
Leo Prime gawked upon this scene before looking back at Steel Jaw, who smirked back at him.
“Am I forgiven now?”
Leo Prime shook his head as he stepped out of their cell, out into the now-crowded arena. “Ask me again if we survive this.”
* * *
Kup should have been dead by now.
He wasn’t just thinking about Guzzle, who was mere inches from killing Kup and was held back only by the Allicons trying to reel him back in. He was also thinking about the countless other near-death experiences and scenarios he had been through over the course of his life. From being trapped in the Nightmare Engine to being shot into a sun, he had practically been through hell and back. Yet somehow, against all odds, he was still holding together to this day. Kup couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing as Guzzle continued to rage in front of him.
“GET OFF OF ME!” Guzzle bellowed as an Allicon stuck an electric prod into the back of his head. “I’M NOT LETTING YOU GREASE-STAINS KEEP ME FROM MY DESTINY!”
Kup knew he should have been using this opportunity to escape. But he knew wherever he went, Guzzle would follow and endanger the lives of not just Kup but anyone around him. No, he had to stay put and make sure that Guzzle was put down for good… even if it came at the cost of his own life.
As Guzzle threw the Allicon off of him and into two others that were approaching, Kup chose that moment to act. Launching into the air, he transformed into his truck mode and rammed himself into the tank. Despite the vast disparity between their sizes, the force of the blow was enough to knock Guzzle back, bringing them out of the cell and into the arena. Returning to his robot mode, Kup threw his fists into Guzzle’s head, not pulling any punches as he tried to keep the ex-Wrecker disoriented enough from throwing back.
Suddenly, a symphony of cheers and roars filled the arena. Looking up, Kup saw that the cells surrounding the arena had inexplicably been opened and countless prisoners were pouring out, all converging on his and Guzzle’s location.
“Oh, slag.” Kup jumped off of Guzzle before the larger Autobot could recover and attack him. At that moment, a serpentine Monstercon lunged at Guzzle and wrapped himself around the ex-Wrecker, holding him in place.
“I’ve got him!” Vertebrake cried. “He’s all yours!”
At first, Kup thought the Monstercon was talking to him, until the other Decepticons all swarmed in and attacked the restrained Guzzle, guns ablaze. Among the assailants was a purple Chompazoid, who eagerly charged towards Guzzle and wrapped his huge maw around the ex-Wrecker’s legs. The scream Guzzle uttered as his legs were ripped from his body was a sound Kup hoped to never hear again.
It wasn’t long before Guzzle was on the ground and Kup could no longer see him beyond the sea of Decepticons that was overwhelming him. Guzzle continued to scream but his attempts to fight back were in vain as the Monstercons proceeded to pull him apart piece by piece. Kup looked away, not wanting to see what would remain of his former comrade once the Monstercons had had their fill.
Looking up, Kup saw that the Quintesson overseers and their Allicon guards were gathering together at the rim of the arena, watching the unfolding events with vague expressions. Realizing that they were not paying attention to him, Kup transformed into his truck mode and drove up the side of the arena. Jumping up, he converted back to his robot form and landed a punch into one of the Allicons’ faces, attracting the Quintessons’ attention. The veteran Autobot held up his fists as the other guards pointed their spears at him.
“You really think you can beat me with those sticks of yours?” Kup said with a wry grin. “’Cons bigger and stronger than you have blasted me with worse, and yet here I am still.”
“Know your place, Cybertronian!” snarled one of the Quintessons. “Stand down and comply or else we will—”
“Rexian!” said another overseer. “We must get this situation under control! Once those… those beasts are done with our fighter, they will come for us!”
Overseer Rexian frowned as he looked back down into the arena. “I believe they already are.”
Kup followed his gaze and saw that the ‘Cons were indeed already finished with Guzzle, leaving nothing but what barely qualified as an endoskeleton, and were now heading towards where he and the Quintessons were.
“Fall back!” Rexian cried. “Fall back!”
With “Nightmare Engine” and “being shot into a sun” already being on his list of impossible survival scenarios, Kup could only hope that “fleeing from Monstercons with a bunch of alien squids” would be one of them.
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