The following morning was chilly, but Sentinel Prime stood silently outside the cruiser, foot tapping impatiently. "Where in the universe is that fleshy?" He snarled. "I swear, if she doesn't show up soon…"
"Cool your jets, Sentinel, I'm here." A voice came from behind him. The mech turned to see the girl in a white hoodie and black sweatpants. "Ready to train, sir!"
"Wait, how did you get behind me?" He asked. "I've been standing here for a while now!"
"Oh, didn't Ultra Magnus tell you? He let me sleep here. I fed him some bullcrap story about me having abusive parents and not wanting to go home to the yelling. I did the whole crying routine and everything."
"Hmmm…very nice. Normally, I don't approve of lying to Ultra Magnus, but still…Not bad." Sentinel replied, seeming genuinely impressed. "See, you're already learning from just being in my presence."
"Keep telling yourself that…" Alice muttered.
"You say something?"
"Uh, no."
"Good. Now, I hope you've cleaned yourself up. It's time to train you." Transforming, he opened the door and the girl climbed in.
--
The two stopped at the park, where small children played and teens made out. "Ugh. What exactly are those organics doing?" Sentinel asked, as a couple began kissing on a park bench.
Alice looked around slyly before asking, "Is your interior soundproof?"
"…Yeeees…Why?"
"Well, then I won't be heard explaining."
"Explaining what?" Sentinel asked nervously.
"…You shouldn't have asked." Alice replied, before launching into a lengthy and detailed explanation about the 'birds and the bees'.
--
After roughly thirty earth minutes, Sentinel's door swung open. "Out. NOW." He gasped. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"
"Well, you did ask." Alice replied, smiling.
"How is that all even possible? I mean…URGH. " Sentinel asked, transforming and shivering. Running off into an alley, there was a loud retching sound…The Elite Guard mech came back after two minutes, looking disgusted. "Remind me never to ask you about that subject EVER AGAIN."
"Jeez, fine! Well, how does YOUR race do it then?" She asked, head tilted to one side.
"When you're older, I'll let you know." He growled dismissively. "Now, stop changing the subject and pay attention: See that organic over there?" He pointed to a boy around her age with brown hair and a green jacket. He was buying ice cream for himself and the girl next to him. Alice recognized the girl as the bully from school, and she growled inwardly. "You remember her, don't you? I'm sure you do. Now, how are we to exact our revenge on that brat?" The blue mech asked.
"Aren't I supposed to be working out?" She asked.
"Yes, but being underhanded is top priority when you want to be tough! Now think."
The girl scanned her memory, recalling all that the bullies had put her through…and one plan stood out.
Sheer and utter embarrassment in front of a boy.
"Sentinel, think you could cause a distraction for her boyfriend over there while I mess with Miss Priss over there?" She asked.
"You want me to be the center of attention? I like the way you think, kid." He replied, transformed, and zoomed off.
Soon enough, the mech was standing in the center of the park, making a spectacle of himself. Naturally, most of the guys went up to him, astonished by his muscles and his constant flexing. Stealing up to a bush, she gathered up a couple of caterpillars and a preying mantis before sneaking up to the girl who had her back to Alice With stealth that would have made Jazz proud, Alice slipped a caterpillar down her shirt and allowed the mantis, who was eating a caterpillar, to crawl onto her head.
--
Nearby, another mech and his human friend were hanging out nearby. Bumblebee had gotten Sari ice cream, and the child was enjoying it, when Bee snorted, "Oh great. What's that pompous jerk doing here?" Sari looked up to see Sentinel Prime flexing for a crowd of humans.
"I don't know. Maybe he just wants attention?" Sari suggested, before a scream split the air. A girl ran about, pulling at her hair, yelling about a spider in her hair. Another girl stood nearby, laughing her butt off. As the first girl ran in her direction, the second girl's foot shot out, and the other girl tripped and fell into a puddle of mud. Laughing, the second girl gave a thumbs-up to Sentinel and ran off. The mech transformed, pulling up beside the girl, who hopped in as the mech drove off.
Bee couldn't believe what he'd just seen. "Was that…Sentinel Prime with a human?" He asked.
"I though he hated humans." Sari replied. "That's what you said, right Bee?"
"Yeah…That's what I though." Bee muttered before transforming. "Wanna go investigate?"
"Yeah, let's."
--
Meanwhile, Alice sat in the front passenger seat, laughing. "Wow, this being tough stuff's easy!" She said. "No wonder you're so good at it."
"Stick with me, fleshy, and I'll show you all you need to know." Sentinel replied with a chuckle. "This is only the tip of the asteroid!"
"Don't you mean iceberg?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure whatever." He answered hastily. "Alright, now we must work on your stamina and strength. You'll be able to pull off more stunts like that once you're in better shape."
From a little ways back, Bee and Sari followed the snow plow, still confused as to why he was hanging around with a human, although they were already formulating ideas..
--
Soon, the two were back in the Elite Guard cruiser. Sentinel had led the girl to the training room that the Elite Guard used to stay fit during long periods of inactivity. "Alright, kid, we'll start off small. I've used what you humans call the internet to acquire fitness equipment." He motioned to an enclosed area where there were a couple of punching bag, a treadmill and a weight bench. "It's not much, but I have been studying what you humans call gyms and I saw the most of these lying around, so I figured they were the most basic."
"Um, Sentinel, how did you pay for this?" Alice asked.
"I punched in random numbers in the space that asked for what you humans called a credit card. After that, I let our computer deal with the technicalities."
"Ohhh…"
"Now, let's get your training started. If you want to be tough, I'll have to go drill sergeant on your aft! First of all, I want twenty transform-ups, missy!"
"What's a transform-up? Are they like push ups?" Alice asked.
"Oh right. You humans can't transform. Fine, do those push ups, or whatever you humans call it."
"Fine, jeez!"
--
"Thanks for letting us in, Jazz." Bee said, Sari on his shoulder. "We were wondering why Sentinel's hanging out with a human."
"Oh, that?" Jazz replied. "Well, apparently, he decided to teach her how to be 'tough', whatever that means. Either way, she's in the training room right now with Sentinel."
"What are they doing in there?" Sari asked.
"Beats me. Wanna take a look from the viewing deck?" The two nodded vigorously.
After a quick ride in an elevator, they came into a booth that appeared to be partially made of glass. Looking down into the room, they saw the blue mech standing over the girl, who was batting at the smaller punching bag, fists practically a blur. After a few moments, she stopped, panting, before resuming her battering of the unfortunate bag. The entire time, Sentinel crouched at her side, encouraging and guiding her.
"I don't believe this…" Bumblebee said, staring out at the girl, who had flopped down on her rear, panting and drinking from a large bottle of water she'd brought with her. "Sentinel's actually coaching a human."
"You think you're surprised? Ultra Magnus nearly off lined out of shock when the girl came to him. Not only that, it appears that he's letting her stay here while Sentinel's training her."
"No way!" Sari said. "That jerk freaked out when I got close to him, and now he's letting another person sleep in his room like a pet dog?"
"Well, not in his room, mind you. He's arranged for the girl to sleep in her own quarters, complete with bathroom. Apparently, plumbing, as you humans call it, isn't exactly difficult to set up." Jazz explained.
"Wow…" Bumblebee looked down at Sentinel, who appeared to be giving the girl advice when it came to hitting, and was now directing her to the treadmill. "This…is a lot to take in." He leaned on the control panel, and there was an ominous clicking noise.
"Battle sequence, activated." A computer announced. "Level: 752. Codename: Kiss Your Aft Goodbye."
"Oh slag!" Jazz yelled, shoving Bee aside and tried to cancel the command, but it was too late.
--
"What the-?" Sentinel looked up. Someone had activated the holo-battle sequence…Wait, he recognized this level. "Uh-oh." He said, and turned to Alice.
"What's going on?" She asked, stepping off the treadmill.
"Looks like we're getting an impromptu lesson in combat." Sentinel said, drawing his energy lance and shield. "I recommend you follow my lead." The scenery around them changed, and the two were staring at a cratered and debris-riddled battlefield.
"Yikes…This is just like that video game…" Alice commented, right before three large mechs holding guns seemingly came out of nowhere and opened fire on the two. Sentinel charged at the mechs, while Alice yelped and dove for cover. Two of the holo-mechs advanced on Sentinel, while the third dug through the rubble, looking for the girl.
--
"Uh, what did I just do?" Bee asked, staring down at the battlefield below.
"You just stuck the two in a simulated battle, that's what!" Jazz replied. "The problem is, this is a custom level made by Ultra Magnus, and it's got a password lock. Only he's got that password that will disable it, and he's off on business. The only other way to deactivate the level is to complete it."
"What happens if they don't complete the level?" Sari asked worriedly.
"That's just it: Ultra Magnus is usually here to supervise this simulation, and he stops it if it gets to rough. Otherwise, he lets it run wild on us…" Jazz's voice faded, and the two knew what that meant.
"So, what's the objective of this simulation, anyway?" Bee asked.
"Get back to the base alive, but no one's been able to do that…" Jazz turned to the two. "You two stay here and let me know if anything happens, I'll go try and contact Ultra Magnus." The cyberninja darted out of the room. Bee and Sari could only watch as the horror unfolded.
--
Sentinel was so busy fending off the holo-mechs that he'd completely forgotten about Alice. The girl had hidden in a pile of debris, and the giant drone was digging through it to get to her. She was scared out of her head, but she forced herself to calm down. Rubbing her sore arms, she tunneled through the mess, and emerged on the other side. Sneaking behind the larger bot, she dashed forward through the battlefield, running past separate battles going on, and dodging the several stray plasma blasts coming from somewhere in the distance. "Wait, don't these virtual simulators always have some sort of point?" She asked herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar. Turning, she saw the huge drone from earlier running towards her. It was slow, yes, but it had larger strides, so no matter how fast she ran, it eventually caught up to her. Snagging her with a clawed hand, she squirmed out of its grip and clung onto its leg armor for dear life. It had not seen where she had gone, so it kept scanning the immediate area.
She was exhausted, but the momentum of the drone's leg launched her upwards until she was on the back of the mech's neck. Tugging at a panel at the back of the mech's head while trying to get a grip, she managed to pry it off and rip several wires out of the attack drone's processor in the process, yelping as sparks flew. The drone bucked and writhed, but it soon hit full throttle, dashing through the mess in such a manner that made it hard for the girl to hang on. After a rough ride, the thing finally broke down, tripping on several rocks and sent the girl flying through the air. She landed with a bump in front of a large if not battered building with an Autobot insignia on the door. The drone behind her gave a violent twitch, causing her to yelp and press her back to the door.
"Simulation complete." A voice said, and the scene before her faded to white.
--
Sentinel, who had been so close to being off lined permanently, looked up. The drones that were about to attack him froze and then disappeared. Shaking his head, he saw Alice standing all the way across the room, panting.
"Well…" He said, standing up shakily. "Enough of this warm-up scrap. Let's get to the real lesson."
"You've got to be shittin' me." Alice rasped. "Please telling me you're shittin' me!"
--
After a little more training, Alice tottered off to her room and fell instantly asleep the second she hit the bed.
Meanwhile, Bee and Sari had reported to Ultra Magnus and Jazz to what they had seen Alice and Sentinel do.
"My, this is a certainly talented young human." Ultra Magnus commented. "First, she manages to get Sentinel to train her, now this."
Jazz, however, was astounded. "She pretty much rode that drone to the finish line! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Sir, if you don't mind me saying, it all looked like an accident." Bumblebee remarked. Sari nodded in agreement.
"Nevertheless, we must keep an optic on that human."
"Yes, sir."