Work Text:
Hot Rod
“In the red corner…”
Reiner wiped the ash from his hands, looking up at the club’s announcer. He was wearing a cap and red coat, with a bright yellow shirt under it. Reiner only knew him as Blaster, which wasn’t surprising. When you entered the club, you left your normal life behind.
“…Hailing from nowhere, nothing…”
Reiner adjusted his footing in the makeshift wrestling ring, holding his fists in front of his face, as intimidating as possible. At the moment, he only wore a tank top and baggy, hot pink pants, as well as a medical mask covering his face. He didn’t count the bandages on his arms.
“…A new challenger that has already proved himself twice already…”
Reiner took a deep breath, glancing back at the crowd. There were maybe 70 people surrounding the ring, quiet at the moment as they waited for Blaster to finish his spiel.
“He’s Hot Rod!”
Reiner waved to the crowd as they let out a roar of a cheer, face split with a toothy grin. His red hair was a mess from the last two fights, but he was more than happy to prove himself again.
Blaster continued, his excitement obvious from his voice alone. “And in the blue corner…hailing from, as he put it, ‘Fuck You, Iacon’…”
Reiner’s opponent crouched, the eye that wasn’t destroyed by scarring narrowing. His hands and lower legs had been replaced with scrapped-together junk, and she wore a black leather jacket that screamed “anarchist”. Her tealish hair was long and tied in a ponytail, and his face was covered in piercings.
“…Perhaps the most famous no-power to show the Senate what he means…”
Reiner hadn’t met his opponent personally, but he’d heard enough about him. Everyone who frequented the club knew who his as-of-yet undefeated opponent.
“She’s Whirl!”
The crowd cheered even louder for their most infamous fighter, and he gestured to them with her pincer-like prosthetic hands.
“Yeah, that’s right! Best on the block!”
Blaster grinned from where he stood on his podium, and raised a hand.
“Welcome everyone…to the Wreckers!”
He slammed his hand down on a metal disk in front of him, letting out a resounding CLANG! and the fight officially began.
Immediately Reiner was charging forward, practically throwing himself at Whirl. He dodged out of the way, faster than Reiner would’ve expected, and he barely got a chance to turn around before one of those pincers was slicing across the bridge of his nose, just barely missing his eye.
“You block with your face, don’tchya!” Whirl jeered as Reiner stopped the blood with his hand. “Gotta be careful, it’d be a shame if the newbie like you got a boo-boo!” The crowd cheered. They always liked some good taunting.
He pulled his hand away from his face, staring down at the bloodied surface for a split second, before making eye contact with Whirl, who was standing proudly. Waiting for him to make the next move. Reiner raised his head, closing his hand into a fist. “I think you’re underestimating me.” Whirl’s face turned in a grimace, but she just as quickly grinned. Perfect. “I think you’re going easy on me!”
Whirl darted forward, slashing one of her mechanical hands towards Reiner’s stomach. He managed to back up just in time for it to miss him by a couple inches. “Will you stay still!?”
“Sorry! I intend to win this!”
The crowd was going wild in the background, the cheers music to Reiner’s ears. He always did his best when people were relying on him.
And he’d make sure they had picked the right fighter to bet on.
He slammed his hands together with an echoing CRACK, and grinned as they were lit up with flame.
Whirl may have been powerless, but he certainly wasn’t.
He threw a fireball at her, and even as he tried to block with her arms, it still burned his hair and face.
Whirl growled, backing up. His shirt was noticeably singed, and the leather jacket looked even more damaged than usual.
“So, you really are a fighter, huh? We’ll see how long that lasts.”
Whirl spun and kicked him square in the chest, before he even realized she was moving. He let out a yelp of pain as she took the opportunity to grab him by the shoulders and fully slam into him, knocking him to the ground.
“I think you’ll stay down now!” He taunted, pulling a hand back to smash Reiner in the face.
It hurt, it hurt so bad, and Reiner could barely think as Whirl whaled on him, slamming him into the concrete floor of the ring.
Logically, he knew Whirl wouldn’t kill him, but being pinned like this, bleeding out as the crowd cheered, he was sure he was going to die.
With the last of his strength, he snapped his fingers, trying to get just a flicker of flame—
And then the club’s wall exploded.
“Ah shit! IT’S THE COPS!” Blaster yelled, jumping down from his podium and booking it into the crowd. All hell broke loose as people fled, dodging out of the way and in any direction to escape. After all, any power usage was illegal, and that easily included a fighting ring entirely dedicated to it.
Whirl jumped off of him and scampered into the sea of people running towards the exits, yelling some curses and leaving him behind. He managed to look up at the parting dust, and it was then that he realized.
It wasn’t the cops.
It was the villains.
Specifically, Starscream and Soundwave were running out of the rubble. Soundwave immediately spun around towards the hole in the wall and held out his hands, a sonic boom echoing through the destroyed club. He was dressed in his usual suit: mostly blue with short antennae, a mask, and a red visor that revealed nothing about him.
Starscream, meanwhile, was clearly trying to hide behind Soundwave. One of his feathery, white wings had a nasty cut through it, and his red aviator goggles had a noticeable crack.
Neither of them seemed to notice Reiner, too focused on whatever was going on outside. Perfect.
Reiner rose to his feet quietly, hands shaking and nose still bleeding as he focused on Starscream. The villain was facing away from him, and he knew it was the perfect shot.
Sparks danced across his hands as he snapped his fingers together. He just needed to time it right, and…
But, before he got the chance, someone slammed into him.
Reiner cried out in surprise as they threw him to the ground, a cold, metallic hand pushing his chest to the floor. He blinked the dust out of his eyes and looked up to see a villain he’d never before.
They were completely covered in a suit of what Reiner could only describe as power armor. The white, gray, and black armor was clearly thick, and a dark cannon—almost reminiscent of Megatron’s—sat on each of his shoulders. It all led up to a set of red eyelights and pointed…antennae?…that almost looked like wolf ears.
A villain if Reiner had ever seen one.
“So…the little fighter thinks he can be a hero.” The villain’s voice was cold and unimpressed, which was not a combo that Reiner particularly appreciated. He pushed Reiner into the floor, and he saw Starscream and Soundwave running somewhere else. Go figure.
Well, like any Wrecker, Reiner had a few tricks up his own sleeve.
The villain didn’t get much chance to react before Reiner slammed his heated hand into his side. The metal immediately warped under his touch, and he let out a yowl of pain, backing up off of him. Reiner immediately stumbled back, adrenaline burning through him.
“Who even are you!?” He asked, glancing behind himself and judging how risky it would be to run for one of the doors.
He swung his head around as the villain slinked forward, metal boots thumping on the ground. “My enemies call me Deadlock.”
“Yeah, well they’re about to call you fried!”
“…What?”
Reiner ignored the fact that that line kind of sucked and slammed his hands together, a burst of flame exploding from between them. Deadlock howled, grabbing his face, the metal noticeably bubbling. But, before Reiner had time to be proud of that incredibly awesome save, he let out a snarl, and lunged at him, not even giving him a chance to consider what to do.
But he didn’t feel Deadlock crash into him, or even feel those cannons that probably worked tearing into his skin. Instead, he heard an electric crackle and a yelp of pain. It was sudden enough to have him freeze in place, opening his eyes.
There, shielding him, was Optimus Prime.
Optimus Prime had saved him.
The hero stood tall in his blue, red, and gray suit, holding his signature gold-and-blue energy axe. His caped back was facing Reiner, but he’d seen plenty of the hero to know what his face looked like, including the steel mask and blue helmet.
Reiner stared in awe at the Autonomous' leader as he stepped forward, menacing had he not been perhaps the most famous hero out there. Deadlock clearly read the writing on the wall as he turned tail and ran, disappearing into the shadows with little more than a flash of metal.
Reiner looked back at the hero, unsure of what to say. Optimus spoke first.
“I apologize. We were in the middle of a battle, and it seems to have caused some collateral. Are you alright?”
Reiner blinked up at him. “You saved me.”
Optimus’ bright blue eyes crinkled in a way that suggested a smile. “Yes, I did. Though you seemed more than capable of protecting yourself. I’m quite impressed.”
Reiner stamped down his elation at impressing the hero leader, and responded quickly. “Don’t you have to stop Starscream? And Soundwave?”
“Jazz, Mirage, and Bumblebee are currently taking care of them. I wanted to ensure no civilians were hurt.” He looked around, nodding to himself. “You clearly didn’t need it though, seeing how you were able to defend yourself against Deadlock.” The hero paused. “I have a request for you.” He said gently, and Reiner nodded. “You have shown quite the skillset during the short period of time I have known you, and you seem more than worthy.
“Would you like to be part of the Autonomous?"