Fite 17- A Singer's Crown is Serious Business (Starscream vs. Delmond)

It's late at night, and the mall parking lot is near empty. The only cars illuminated by the glow of streetlights are those of employees who had to work late to clean up the shelves. In the parking lot, a familiar tentacled referee feasts on the janitorial staff who were just arriving. It was waiting for the two fiters to arrive. Had they arrived earlier, Starscream and The Deleter would have been told to "Fite Yer' Mate!"

But neither competitor was there, so Gezora had no one to say it too except the portly old man it munched on, but he had no idea what the cuttlefish meant.

What Gezora didn't know was that high above it, the two competitors had been hovering in place and waiting for the kaiju to give the signal for the fite to commence. When the squid muffled it through a mouthful of sanitation workers, the two began their battle.

On the front end of Starscream's jet form sat the null ray, which immediately launched a barrage of pink energy beams meant to disable the Viking that the Deleter piloted. The ship moved around in the sky with ease, dodging the Decepticon's attacks while it fired its own ammo. The Terran Ship's weapons pelted Starscream's wings, weakening the robot's ability to sustain flight. Starscream tried to close the distance so he could increase his weapon's accuracy, but the Viking swirled about in the sky effortlessly and was always able to outmaneuver him.

The Decepticon Air Commander realized his weapon was not doing much of anything in the sky, so he determined that if he could ground his opponent, then his gun would have no problem disabling the massive mech he piloted. Starscream rushed towards the Viking, which dipped beneath the Decepticon to dodge what Delmond had judged to be an attempt to ram into his machine. But Starscream wasn't that foolish. As soon as he was positioned above the Viking, he immediately shifted back into his humanoid form and landed on top of the Viking. The Deleter realized what happened and immediately tries to barrel roll his opponent off, but the Deception had already pulled up the null ray and fired.

The Viking's systems power down around the Deleter. Starscream laughed a sinister laugh as the Viking begins to plummet towards the parking lot below.

Gezora had finished eating the cleaning staff at this point and was passing the time by stacking cars, hoping to create some sort of Jenga tower if it had the time. It didn't. The Viking came crashing down right on top of the car pile, sending the stacked automobiles flying. Starscream lost his footing on top of the disabled machine and tumbled into the pile of cars. Gezora scrambles out from under the pile so he could watch things from the sidelines like a proper referee. Starscream begins to hurl the cars about as he digs himself out, recognizing a few as models that other Transformers had used as their disguises.

Inside the Viking, the Deleter fiddles with advanced technology as he tries to figure out a way to get the machine back up and running. Absolutely none of the technology responds to any of the frantic button pressing and switch pulling. Soon, Starscrean's face appears outside of the Viking's cockpit. The Decepticon looks inside the tinted glass of the Viking, hoping to locate the corpse of the Deleter. It was a bit presumptuous to assume the Terran would be dead already, but Starscream was never known for being very cautious, and his smugness had no problem believing he could beat an opponent so easily.

The Deleter realizes Starscream can't see him through the cockpit's glass yet, so he makes a difficult decision. The Viking is now a useless hunk of metal. It was time to fite the old-fashioned way.

Deleter breaks through the glass and uppercuts the surprised robot, causing the King of Beats crown to go flying. Starscream stumbles backwards, more shocked than hurt by the Deleter's surprise attack through the windshield. Delmond takes a moment to assess the situation. The shock had prevented Starscream from immediately disabling his mechanical suit with the null ray, and he should use this moment to gain the upper hand.

The crown landed on the parking lot ground, and Deleter saw his opportunity to hit Starscream where it hurt: his ego. The Terran dashes towards the crown and quickly places it on his head. Starscream regains his bearings just in time to see the marine place the crown on his head.

"YOU ARE NOT THE KING OF BEATS! I EARNED THAT FAIR AND SQUARE BY BEING THE SUPERIOR SINGER!"

The silliness of the title they fought for was hard to ignore, but the Decepticon took any title indicating power as serious business, and to be challenged for the title enraged the robot immensely. He pulls up his null ray and begins to fire wildly at the space marine, who tries his best to dodge the beams as he leaps behind the husk of the Viking for cover. Starscream slowly and angrily goes to the back of the Viking to find that the Deleter isn't there. A voice from inside the Viking called out.

"Yoo hoo. Ahm in here ya measly hunk of metal."

" I AM NO MERE HUNK OF METAL! I AM THE TRUE KING OF BEATS! YOU ARE BUT A JEALOUS PRINCE SEEKING TO DETHRONE THE VASTLY SUPERIOR KING!"

Starscream hops up onto the Viking's top and looks inside the broken glass. The Deleter was inside, wearing the crown and flipping him off. Starscream jumped onto the Deleter before the marine could even react. He hadn't expected the Decepticon to move so quickly, and he didn't expect the pink beam to be fired into his suit so unceremoniously. No monologue or long spiel about the true king of singing as he had the Terran right where he wanted him. No, Starscream was being effective for once, and it terrified the Deleter. What could the Decepticon do when he was being serious?

The Decepticon went to retrieve the crown, which tumbled off when the Terran was pinned down. The Deleter struggled in his disabled suit. Eventually, he found a way to get himself free, but now he was completely unequipped. Starscream would have no trouble taking down the marine now that he had no offense capable of harming the robot. The Deleter's mind begins to race as he tries to think up an answer. Starscream is placing his crown back on. The Deleter makes his decision. The Viking may be disabled, but it didn't need to work properly to self destruct.

The Deleter knocks something in the machine's insides, causing unstable elements to violently react. He scrambles out of the machine before Starscream can, barely missing out on the huge explosion. Both his suit and the Viking were now destroyed, but if Starscream had died in the explosion as well, it would have been worth it. Delmond looked at the smoking remains of the explosion hopefully.

As the dust around the Viking's smoking remains cleared, a horrible voice rings out.

Starscream's failing voice systems utter a terrible banshee shriek proclaiming his earned title. The robot's crown is dented, but he still proudly wore it, even though the rest of his body had been damaged and melted into a horrifying new form.

The Deleter smiled. The explosion may have left Starscream alive, but his body was a wreck. He would have no problem grappling with this feeble form. Starscream shambles towards the Terran, who begins to circle his robotic opponent with a new found confidence. Starscream's arms swipe out at the man, but he has no trouble dodging the clumsy swings and delivering a couple strong punches to the robot's stomach. Starscream stumbles, the body cracking a bit from the blows. Even though the Deleter had been reduced to bare fists, the explosion had damaged Starscream enough to render his body prone to such simple physical attacks.

Delmond circles the Decepticon in a boxing stance, taking any opportunity he could see to punch the robot's prone midsection. Starscream wailed in his horrific distorted voice. Every swing of his arms ended in a flurry of punches from the Terran. His midsection was cracking and giving way. Soon, Starscream would be half the Transformer he used to be. Starscream wasn't ready to be split in half though. He was ready to kill.

Starscream stops swiping his arms as the Deleter takes advantage of the situation, delivering a series of strong punches to the Decepticon's body. Starscream let the marine attack him until he saw his chance. Starscream's arms jut out as the Deleter lands another jab. The arm is seized quickly by the cold steel that makes up the robot's hands. One arm pulls the arm away from the body, the other pushes the shoulder and body away from the arm. The Decepticon was still immensely strong, and soon the right arm of the Terran marine was separated at the shoulder. Starscream lifts it up to his mouth and bites off a huge chunk of flesh so he can spit it into his opponent's face.

The Deleter looked at Starscream with the proper amount of terror one should have if their arm was ripped off and nibbled on in a gesture meant to intimidate one's foe. His remaining arm tried to suppress the blood flow, but he knew he couldn't keep it up for long, and his opponent couldn't just win because the Deleter died of blood loss. Delmond pulled his remaining arm up and delivered a powerful fist right into his opponent's stomach once more. Metal creaked and groaned as the strength of the blow broke the supports in Starscream's midsection. Starscream's torso fell backwards onto the ground. He quickly righted himself only for the Terran's boot to send him back down. The Deleter began stomping furiously on Starscream's face, bending the crown and further mutilating the Decepticon's face.

Starscream's arms jutted up, one going right through the Terran's chest. Starscream used his injured foe to pull himself up. The Deleter looked down at his chest. He could feel Starscream clutching his heart. The Decepticon's face might have grinned, but it was hard to tell. His other hand reaches up and tries to grab the marine's head, but the Deleter grabs it and snaps the arm off at the elbow. Releasing the heart momentarily, Starscream causes the Deleter to fall to his knees.

"FOOLISH FLESHLING. I AM STILL KING."

The remaining hand grabs Del's head and crushes it into a bloody mess. When the body falls limply to the ground, Starscream reaches in and pulls the heart out so he could show it to all who dare question his strength again.

Starscream looms over the corpse of the marine, clutching the heart as his hideous face moans from the pain. He has won, but he is in terrible pain. He drops the heart back into Del's chest cavity and he falls over onto the corpse, his exhaustion from the strain of the battle causing him to power down.

Gezora declared the winner from the remains of the Viking explosion. It appeared some of Deleter's armor had survived the explosion, and Gezora was still in an impersonating mood since his Saguaro costume went without comment. He tried to fit into the Terran's armor.

 "Despite Gezora's pose, it does not want a hug."