"Where did you get your mad, ninja skillz?"
Prowl glanced down at the tiny human, his mouth stretched into a tight frown. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What are mad, ninja skillz?"
Sari hopped up onto the chair next to the motorcycle bot and stared up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Oh, you know, like Enter the Dragon and Bruce Lee and Hong Kong Fooey. Hai ya!" She struck a pose, hands flattened in a karate imitation. "You have throwing stars and you do all kinds of exciting things, even turn invisible. Wait a minute." She jumped down from the chair and hurried off into Autobots' base. Minutes later she was back with her laptop.
Prowl watched the girl silently as she opened the computer and started wildly punching keys. Finally she sat back apparently satisfied. "Here, watch."
A movie was playing and Prowl studied it silently. Surely the humans couldn't really move like that. They seemed to defy gravity as they fought each other. He turned puzzled optics to Sari.
"Mad, ninja skillz," she said with a giggle.
"I see," he answered but his tone definitely implied that he did not see at all. The movie finally ended, and she started up another. The night wore on and Prowl continued to watch ninja movies. Sari dozed and then was retrieved by Bumblebee, who escorted her home.
Later the next day, Sari appeared at Prowl's cubicle, eyebrows raised questioningly. "So?"
"So?" he responded dryly.
"Ninja skillz?"
"Oh, yes. I am not really a ninja, merely an adept of Circuit Su. It appears similar which forces me to ask, can humans really perform the moves I saw in the movies?"
Sari laughed. "No, that's all special effects. Made up. Nobody can do those things. Well, nobody but you. What's Circuit Su?"
"I'm afraid it would take too long to explain it adequately. I spent vorns, many of your years, learning it. To explain it in the time you have would be a disservice to both you and Circuit Su."
Sari's expression made it obvious that she didn't like his answer but she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to explain any more. "How good are? I mean, among other masters of Circuit Su?"
His expression, guarded even during the best of time, grew still and blank. "Apparently not good enough," he said quietly. "Or I would not have ended up repairing Space Bridges, a job I am entirely unsuited for." He shook his head. "I should not have said that…"
"Maybe you were too good," Sari offered. "I know I sometimes end up doing things that seem like punishment because someone got jealous."
His hard expression softened just a bit. "Maybe…I doubt it but it's a possibility. Thank you."
"No problem." She patted his knee.
"So," he said, a slight smile appearing on his face. "About those mad, ninja skillz." He struck a pose straight from one of the movies. "Beware the ninjabot," he growled.
"Hai ya!" Sari responded, mimicking him exactly.
