Life for my life, soul for my soul
Truth for my truth and heart for my heart
Drive for my drive, match it inside
Fight for this fight and don't you ever never
Give up, give up - you gotta play like a master of chess
It's a long road and it’s a mental endurance stress test
Sometimes you fight and you win, sometimes you fight and
You lose
It's the fighter in you
Not to lose

So keep your head high

‘Cause they will always kick you when you’re down

Starscream was the first to wake up.
His optics opened slowly, and the suns bright light shined on him. He blinked several times, and registered he was up a lot earlier than usual. He gave a moan of discontentment and rubbed his face with both of his hands, not realising his arm had rested on Megatron’s shoulder the entire night. He smacked his head back against the ledge behind him and then shook himself, trying to wake up his protesting mind and body. He may as well get up now that he was awake.
He carefully avoided touching Megatron as he swung his legs over the edge. That had been one hell of a night …
Fire. Darkness. Pain. Pride…
He sighed, and stood. Looking around the room, he noticed how terribly dull it was. There was seriously no life here.
He had to get Megatron out.
He stretched his body like a panther and flexed his wings. He had to withdraw his third one into his back so he could sleep, and he could only withdraw it so far. It had been uncomfortable, but he had rested in worse places. It sprang back out now, and the proud ruby tetra jet yawned loudly, and started looking around the room for some spare energon.
“It’s in the cupboard.”
Starscream jumped and whirled around. Megatron was awake, and looking up at him with a neutral gaze.
“You stayed.” He said quietly, and Starscream caught a brief flash of gratitude in his optics. Starscream gave him a small grin.
“Of course. You asked, so I had to.” He chuckled as he walked over to the cupboard to fetch some energon.
“No you didn’t.” Megatron replied. “You didn’t have to at all. You chose to.”
Starscream closed the cupboard and now had two cubes in his hands. He tossed one to Megatron before answering, “So? What’s wrong with that?”
Megatron stood, and then went over to the side of his room to sit on his bed. He drunk the cube before answering the seeker, and when he did his optics carried a look of sadness.
“I don’t know.” He said softly, shaking his head with closed optics. “Maybe it’s trust.”
“Hmm.” Starscream murmured thoughtfully, finishing his cube and tossing it in the trash. “Is it you still don’t trust me Megatron?”
He looked up. “I think it goes both ways … but …”
Starscream sighed, and went over to sit next to him. The silver mech turned to him but said nothing, but looked surprised as Starscream reached out and laid a hand on his cheek.
It was a trick Starscream had learnt a long time ago; the Trust Test. It worked especially well after a war, when the only time you touched someone on the face was to hurt them. And so, under the circumstances that were present, it was logical to preform this test. Neither really knew if they could trust the other, but this was the only way Starscream could think of testing it out. He nearly gasped. He had never touched Megatron’s face before, unless it was indeed a blow. He was surprised at the feeling of warmth that the sensors in his fingertips picked up. He had always thought his leader’s face would be cold. Cold, like his spark was …
Megatron, like usual, showed no emotion on his face, but his optics were like windows to the abyss of his central pool of hell-fire emotions, and Starscream could see that he was surprised that Starscream would dare to touch him.
Or was it that the seeker really did trust him? …
Slowly, Megatron raised his own hand like it was meant to be, and touched Starscream’s face. He had never let anyone touch him like this before, and he too was surprised by what his fingers registered by this touch. He had always thought Starscream’s face would be cold and hard, but in fact it was just as warm and soft as a young child. It really proved that no matter how old Starscream was, he still remained young by his looks.
The seeker did not flinch, or indeed move at all. As their gazes locked, they each saw a small amount of nervous trust in their depths. That settled it.
“See?” Starscream said softly as their hands fell. He did not need to say anymore.
Megatron gave a slow nod, and then whispered, “Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t know.” The seeker replied honestly. “I really don’t have the faintest clue why I am helping you …”

Love for my love, hate for my hate
Strength for my strength and pain for my pain
Pride for my pride, match it inside
Keep up the drive and fight this fight
Because some shit ain't right
Don't lose our sight
Get our heads right
Shine our star too bright
Nothing in life is for sure
It's just a gamble
So play it for all that its worth

***

The Guardians were six mechs in charge of Cybertron. They were ancient warriors, or scientists, or even writers that knew Cybertron better than anyone. Once the war had begun, three of them had left the planet to remain safe, while the other three stayed to fight in the way. This was necessary as they were fit to fight, and also to gain knowledge of the ways of war also. Either way, now that peace was back on the planet, the three returned to rule. One of the Guardians was Shockwave, unsurprisingly, and another was Thundercracker, surprisingly. Two of the Guardians had died in the war, and only Alpha Trion was left out of them. The other three were Firebolt the teacher, Glowlight the scientist and Lasershot the writer. Firebolt was red, with flames on his legs and a face like a cat. Glowlight was a seeker, coloured black, silver and highlights of pink. She looked nothing like Starscream, but had more in common with Sunstorm. And Lasershot had a black main body, with green lower legs and arms and a red visor covering his dark grey face. All of them looked around the ages of Thundercracker and Starscream, while Alpha Trion was the oldest of the lot. Shockwave was also one of the older ones.
Right now, about an hour after Starscream had seen Megatron, he was now sitting at the long table with the other six Guardians listening to him as he talked about the Gladiator Tournament.
“It would be worthwhile to consider.” He finished, looking around at the other faces watching his.
“It would be risky …” Alpha said. “There are those who would see this as barbaric, but it IS apart of our culture, and it was always a great way to bring people together in a sense.”
“We can’t ever stop the fighting of Transformers forever.” Thundercracker said, and looked at Starscream with a small grin. “And in a way this tournament would be a good way to let bygones be bygones.”
“How so?” Lasershot asked, looking a tad confused.
“Well, it will show everyone that we are willing to let some of the old sports back in despite the war.” He answered.
“I don’t know …” Glowlight said, looking warily at Firebolt. “Heavy War Ball I can see as being a good way to promote team spirit, but the Gladiator tournament is senseless beating up of another! I just can’t see it going over so well with some people.”
There was a silence, as each thought about this, before Firebolt piped up.
“I think we should still go for it.” He said.
The others looked up at him.
“Well, think about it!” He said, looking around at all the questioning faces. “Sure, putting some of the more insane warriors against each other would be barbaric, but for the more sane ones it could be their way to finally fit back in! We can’t deny that almost all the population still has their warrior hero out there. Sheesh, I won’t even begin to count how many fans Megatron has.”
There was a murmur of agreement, and Starscream held his breath.
“Well, I can see the logic in that,” Glowlight said with an acknowledging nod towards Firebolt, “but never-the-less, we must be careful on who we pair up in the battles.”
“So … are you saying?” Starscream didn’t want to push anyone.
Alpha stood up. “Very well, it is settled. The Tournament will be re-opened.”
Starscream almost jumped up in joy, and Alpha seemed to read his mind.
“On one condition.”
“Yes?”
“Some of the rules will be altered.”

You have to trust in yourself
You must believe in yourself
You have to follow your heart
You overcome, improve, endure

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Song - Motor Head - Kick you when you're down