Angry Starscream, Victorious Punisher

"Boom!" After landing, Starscream rolled a few times in his robot form before looking up in shock at his attacker.

"Who is it?"

"Arcee?" Bumblebee, snapping out of the explosion's daze, clearly saw Arcee flying in the sky, transformed beyond recognition. He called out uncertainly.

After all, the Arcee sisters had always been weaker in firepower and engine specs compared to them. But what the hell was that flying up there?

On her shoulder, a Vulcan Machine Gun; in her hands, laser pistols; on her back, two pod-shaped missile launchers. An Atomic Engine spewed blue flames, suspending her in midair.

Compared to the original Arcee—slim, with just two pistols—this was a one-woman arsenal.

Starscream and Barricade stared at her in disbelief. On Cybertron, they'd tangled with Autobots plenty, and Arcee was basically a scout—her attacks barely stung.

But now... she looked nothing like before.

"Oh, shit. You still had the resources to pimp out a little bot? You're nothing but a bunch of resource-wasting idiots." Starscream snapped back to reality with a sneer.

Cybertron's resources were hanging by a thread, all funneled into essentials. The mods on Arcee were pure waste.

"This isn't Cybertronian tech, you brainless fool!" Arcee shot back without hesitation.

"I'll show you that no matter how you upgrade, you're still just a weak little bug." Starscream's rear engines ignited, lifting his massive frame into the air as he charged at her.

Several missiles streaked from their pods, homing in on Arcee.

Facing the incoming missiles, Arcee took a deep breath out of habit—useless, but it made the engine feel stronger under the psychological boost.

A leftover habit from her piston-engine days.

Instead of retreating, she surged forward.

Behind her translucent red visor, a virtual panel flickered. Red frames flashed a few times, locking onto the missiles.

She raised both pistols and pulled the triggers.

Red laser beams shot out, precisely striking the incoming missiles.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!" Fireballs bloomed across the sky.

"Whoosh!" Arcee burst through the smoke, right in front of Starscream.

"Try this!" The Vulcan Gatling's barrels spun up, and a stream of bullets poured into Starscream's face like a solid beam of light.

Point-blank alpha strike.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!!"

Sparks and fluid sprayed across Starscream's face.

"AAAAHHH!!!" He howled in agony, crashing back to the ground, clutching his face.

"Starscream?" Barricade, mid-fight with Bumblebee, stared in shock at the crumpled form.

Since when was Arcee this strong?

Above, Arcee pressed the advantage. Deadlock Missiles rained down on Starscream and Barricade like a storm.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

"Let's go!" Arcee glanced at the explosion engulfing Starscream and Barricade, then shouted at the still-dazed Bumblebee.

Starscream was right—no matter the mods, her frame and reserves were limited. After that barrage, aside from the laser pistols, most of her missiles and ammo were spent.

No point dragging it out.

"Right, right!" Bumblebee snapped out of it, transforming into a sports car. He picked up the shaken Sam and sped off, following Arcee in the sky.

The smoke of battle slowly cleared, revealing Starscream—face twisted, fluids still leaking, torn and ragged like a demon.

Under the Vulcan Machine Gun's point-blank barrage, his mouth, eyes, cheeks... nothing was intact.

"Arcee!!!" He growled, watching her and Bumblebee vanish, the sound forced from his throat like gravel.

Barricade shot him a wary glance. The way he looked and sounded now was genuinely terrifying.

That night, Merlin's Custom Shop.

"What? You made me part of the bet?" Stark's voice rang out as they stepped off the helicopter one by one.

"You're worth ten heads. Otherwise, everyone would just go killing and no one would bother saving you." Merlin and the Punisher carried Erica's body down as he spoke.

Natasha and John hauled Bullseye down together.

"Come on, this bet shouldn't even exist. It's too childish." Stark fumed at being used as a prize.

"Because of this bet, you scared the hell out of me."

"You guys are way too unprofessional—hiring a lunatic like that." He pointed at Bullseye, then added regretfully, "Too bad about the red-haired beauty who saved me."

The situation had developed too quickly; by the time he reacted, both of them were already on the ground.

"No helping it—the people who take on quests are random. You should pray your team doesn't have more than one lunatic." After setting Eliza down, he waved a hand dismissively.

"If the entire rescue squad was made up of people like that, you'd probably be bleeding out by now."

"That's true... The people on this Game Platform really are a mixed bag. Looks like I shouldn't post quests there so casually from now on." Hearing this, Stark also felt a lingering unease.

He didn't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"What do we do with these two?" Natasha and John asked after setting Bullseye down on the ground.

Although they both knew Bullseye and Erica were top-tier mercenary killers, they knew little about their friends or families.

"Leave them to me," Merlin said.

"Tony!" At that moment, Pepper and Happy, who had been waiting anxiously, walked over excitedly.

After Tony confirmed the quest was complete, he left with Pepper and the others first, while John and the rest began splitting the reward.

Since Bullseye wasn't dead, the fifty-million Bet was still transferred to his player account as agreed.

Erica's share was handed over to Merlin for handling.

None of them cared much about the money. After getting what they wanted, they prepared to leave.

"So who ended up winning the Bet this time?" Natasha suddenly asked.

Frank and John, who were about to leave, stopped in their tracks in tacit understanding.

"Let me check..." Merlin opened his laptop and took a look.

"The final winner... Punisher."