Hey Everyone! Here is chapter nine! I apologise for the wait but it took me a while to get into this chapter. You'll be glad that our favourite saboteur shall be here soon (in the next couple of chapters). The story is finally starting to get a little more interesting (I think anyway). I hope you enjoy reading this chapter, which gets better towards the end I swear. Nano is going well (try 26k now) so look forward to updates as soon as I get each chapter done. Your reviews get me that much more motivated. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far or placed this story on their favourites/alerts lists. Now, enough of my talking... *shuts up and lets the readers go read*


The next vorns were spent continuing training until the orn came that Creator Three decided it was time to enter Prowl into the Praxian Enforcers Academy. The mech decided that Prowl was ready for it, his battle computer having been upgraded multiple times over the last two vorns. His armour was now that of a fully grown mech, weapons installed and properly calibrated. No longer did Creator Three have the override for the weapons installed on Prowl's frame, instead he was now in control of them himself.

The black and white youngling was now considered a fully grown mech by all of those at the house in Iacon. Of course, SparkSoul considered him both a mech and youngling. She, herself, was still considered a youngling due to the elongated period of time needed for an ancient to mature. Now Prowl was older than her, chassis wise, but still younger than her spark wise.

Prowl had used the rape and subsequent torture sessions to make himself stronger. No longer did he show emotion or even recognise them. They were now just something to be filed away in his battle computer, letting logic and probability dictate him now.

With each upgrade of his battle computer he had been having more and more problems with his emotions conflicting with the battle computer. Occassionally emotions would rise up over him and he wouldn't be able to suppress them, his battle computer then shutting down automatically to get control of the situation. In these scenarios Prowl found somewhere out of sight of the rest of the household to let his battle computer go on the fritz. The black and white mech knew he would be punished by his creator, or the engineers, if it was found that his emotions were conflicting with this special piece of tactical equipment.

This time in close proximity to creator three and the engineers had made Prowl realise that he was considered an experiment, something to utilise. In essence, he was a tool. The realisation didn't bother Prowl as much as he thought it might have. He finally put it down to the fact that he must have always known it subconsciously and only now he had figured it out.

At this current point in time Prowl was sitting in the recharge room he had been granted after his latest upgrades. The room was cramped but it served its purpose well. There was a berth, larger and more comfortable than any other that Prowl had slept on as well as a large desk off to one side. Other than that the room was devoid of anything, even data pads.

The room now served as the perfect place to let his battle computer go on the fritz, instead of random janitor cupboards. Other than that the room was only used to recharge in.

Creator three had left the room for Prowl, never entering it unless it was to provide "special" training for the mech. Occassionally when left alone and not in recharge the mech thought about his friend from the orn care, his memory files of his time there somewhat corrupted by all of the software upgrades. He remembered the youngling though, simply because it had been the only real companionship he had ever experienced.

Prowl never lingered too long on the memories, it was just too difficult to linger on them. Usually each file had inbuilt emotional responses, too long spent thinking about the memories and his battle computer started to go into glitch mode. Sometimes the black and white mech resented the engineers but his battle computer would reason that it wasn't their fault, instead it was his creators.

It surprised Prowl when the door to his quarters slid open, revealing the silhouetted figure of his creator. The figure didn't step into the room, a voice filling the room in replacement of the figure.

"You will be returning to Praxus in the solar cycle Prowl. I have arranged for you to study at the enforcing academy there. You will be going specialising in tactical planning and self defence while taking your other main courses needed. You will need nothing except a few datapads and some energon. I will accompany you to the station where you will catch one of the transport ships. Be prepared for the journey in four joors," the mech said, leaving straight after delivering his message.

A stunned silence filled the room as Prowl thought over what this would mean for him. It scared and intrigued him that he would return to the city he was brought online in and spent the first few vorns of his life cycle in. He spent a brief moment wondering whether or not Jazz would still be in the city. He pushed the thought from his processor as he lay down and fell into recharge, setting an internal alarm to wake him up in three and a half joors.

Unbeknownst to Prowl, Jazz had been in Iacon for a vorn at the academy not far from their place of residence. Prowl had never left the house so he hadn't seen any of Iacon or it's surrounding areas. If he had have gone outside, or gone through the public schooling system he would have run into Jazz. Unfortunately it didn't happen, leaving Jazz feeling guilty over Prowl's disappearance and collapse.

His internal alarm woke him up on time and he hurriedly prepared himself for the orn ahead. Prowl subspaced two energon cubes for the ourney before downing a third cube. the black and white mech entered the communal washracks down the hall, ensuring his finish was clear of any imperfection.

Prowl was perched upon the edge of his berth when Creator Three entered the room. His creator, seeing the mech ready, just turned and expected Prowl to follow just like he always had. The path through the house to the frontdoor was one barely used and one never used for Prowl.

Stepping out onto the Iacon streets was a shock to Prowl's systems after being kept inside for vorns. The hustle and bustle of the streets caused his sensor net to light up, streaming data at amazing speeds to his battle computer. Everything was categorised, compartmentalised. Nothing was left unanalysed as he sorted through the data.

The black and white mech transformed into his vehicle mode, on not used since he had driven the streets of Praxus. Now, he kept close to his creator as they made their way to the docking station for the transport ships. They wound through the traffic with ease, forms agile and skilled in avoiding other cybertroinians.

The two mechs arrived at the docking in a matter of breems and transformed into root mode. The station was full of mechs and femmes, many waiting to catch the same transport as Prowl. Many of the other people there would be going as tourists, to see the sights of Praxus. For Prowl it would be a major trip, one full of acquiring knowledge and training.

Creator Three wasted no words, saying nothing, as the black and white mech aquired his ticket and boarded the shuttle. Prowl didn't linger very long on thoughts of missing the life he had had in Iacon.

The black and white mech boarded the shuttle after it pulled up to the station. Withou a goodbye or looking back he left Iacon, and his old life behind. He settle down in a seat on board the transport ship and waited until he pulled into Praxus.

When the ship pulled into Praxus the only thing that could be seen was the platform at the station. This small are was packed with mechs, each with broad doorwings and elegant lines to their frames.

The hustle and bustle here was similar to that of Iacon, except for the fact that it seemed much more civilized and community minded.

Disembarking the ship was somewhat difficult for Prowl but he found that everyone looked out for doorwings, purposely avoiding the appendages if at all possible. The blacks and white mech allowed them the same courtesy, being extremely careful not to touch any one else's doorwings.

Prowl struggled through the crowd until he made it to the exit from the station, allowing him to step out onto the Praxian streets. Here everyone was on vehicle mode, zipping along on the packed roads. Each driver displayed immense skill as they wound between the vehicle around them as they struggled to go in their desired direction.

The black and white mech transformed and joined the fray, following the map of Praxus he had downloaded to his battle computer. The enforcers academy was a fair distance from the transport station, on the other side of the city to be exact.

Prowl utilized the extra sensors on his doorwings, allowing their read outs to guide him through the heaviest sections of traffic. The flow of traffic in the city was supported well by well planned roads and overpasses.

The black and white youngling made his way through both the upper and lower ends of the city. He had never seen the poorer parts of any of the places he had lived, this was an optic opener.

The streets were full of grime and regurgitated energon. The buildings here were crumbling, their once beautiful exteriors now drab and dull. The bots here had thin frames and dull optics, energon depletion obvious to anyone who saw them.

Prowl tried to ignore this area, focusing on the less hectic roads instead. His didn't work vey well because even the road infrastructure here was in a state of disrepair.

Potholes littered the road while sections of the sleek metal had crumbled away from the sides. In some places the road disappeared, leaving a dangerous gap in the road, one which had a bottom kilimetres below. Any bot who wasn't paying attention would surely fall to their offlining.

Prowl transformed and jumped across these gaps in the road, rather than risk falling down into the depths of the canyons beneath. The shadowed bots in the doorways watched his every movement, he could feel their gazes on his chassis.

The black and white mech was extremely thankful when he left the slum area behind, and came upon the academy. The exterior of the place was drab, as it would be located in the seedier area in the city. Why it hadn't been built in the better areas, Prowl had no idea.

What he didn't know was that the area he had just driven through was where he used to reside, in one of the large crumbling houses he had passed. He hadn't laid optics on the orn care, simply because he wasn't on that road. The area had come down hill over the vorns after he left, mainly due to the enforcers themselves.

Within the walls of the enforcer's academy they were teaching the new mechs to uphold the law, in a very dodgy matter. The promising enforcers weren't taught about the underground gladiator rings that were hidden below the city or the congregation of warrior mechs who met every four orns.

These things were ignored, not taught, simply because if they were taught then people outside of Praxus would see the city the way it really was. Iaconians and Tyger-Paxians knew nothing but the gleaming perfection of the city, of the crystal gardens and all their glory. To marr this image with things such as the gladiator rings was unheard of. The nobles in the city wanted it to remain a perfect city and they ignored what was going on with the corrupt enforcers and the underground rings. Some supported these shady dealings, in secret, but continued to uphold the false image of the once great city.

Of course Prowl knew none of this, of the politics the city was caught up in. He knew nothing but what he had downloaded from the public archives. These archives only held the false image of modern Praxus, the way the city used to be.

The black and white mech pulled up in front of the gates of the academy and transformed to root mode. It was hard to distinguish between the barracks and the training building. It was harder yet to define where the reception was. He located it, after consulting his map of the academy, and entered the building.

Inside the building was just as bad as it was on the outside. Stirrings of unease rose up in Prowl but he ignored them, he had been ordered here by creator and he would surely find out if he did anything wrong.

"Can I help you?" asked a fairly high voice from over by the long desk, the only feature of the room.

"I am here to become an enforcer, my designation is Prowl," Prowl responded as he spotted a blue and red femme behind the desk, doorwings held stiffly to her back.

"Ah, we were expecting you today. Your roommate is already here and lectures start tomorrow. Your roommate will fill you in when you get around to your room. Here is your key, you will be on the second floor over in the third building. Have a nice day!" the femme says as she pushed a key into Prowl's hand and turned her back to him.

He didn't bother to try and analyse her weird behavior, it was just too weird. Instead he focused on the map in his processor and left the reception, heading straight for his building.

The building he was to be rooming in was much like any of the other buildings. It's exterior was dark and drab, small windows along its side. There were a few outdoor platforms up on the higher levels, most likely for any fliers that would attend the academy.

The inside of the building was different from the main building, the hallways and doors actually had some colour. Posters were put up here and there, most on slanted angles which threw Prowl's tactical computer for a little bit. He resolved not to focus on any of the wall features as he spotted an actual framed picture hanging skew-wiff along the next part of the hallway.

The black and white mech glanced at the number on his key and looked up to the sign on the wall pointing which direction the rooms were. His room was number 213, to the left if the sign was correct.

As he walked the hallways Prowl passed a few mechs, none looking particularly happy, or friendly for that matter. It bothered Prowl that everyone in this building seemed to have very drab colours and extremely strong chassis.

He had thought, not unrightly, that most of the bots training to be enforcers would have slimmer frames, more like his. However all of these frames seemed to be built for battle, harsh battle at that. Although Prowl knew he could stand up against immense pain he was unsure on how well he would stand up against any of these mechs in a fight.

The black and white mech found his room with relative ease, the door to the room adorned with yet another poster, hanging diagonally. The door was slow to open as he pushed against it, the hinge half jammed by rust. The hinges themselves squeaked with the effort of allowing the door to swing open.

The inside of the room was better lit than any of the hallways had been but the walls were just as dull. The colour grey seemed to be the in colour here, if the way the place was decorated was any indicator. The room held two berths, pressed up against the opposite sides of the room. Straight in front of the door was a small window, set up quite high in the wall.

Upon one of the berths, the one to the right, a mech was sprawled. Doorwings sat upon his back, waving lightly as the mech listened to music internally. The mech's chassis was red, blue and white while his doorwings were blue and white. From the side Prowl could just make out the outline of a chevron, a yellow one. The mech didn't even lift his helm as Prowl entered the room and sat himself down on one of the berths.

Just as Prowl was about to introduce himself to the mech across from him, the mech in question abruptly sat up and turned to face him.

"I don't particularly care who you are or where you came from. The only thing that matters to me is that you work well in our team and don't make the rest of us fail. I've heard rumours that you've got a battle computer and you think you're all high and mighty because you have one. Here is a reality check, almost everyone here has a battle computer and those that don't won't need it in their job," the mech said, not even introducing himself. "Work well in my team and there won't be any issues, if you don't work well and jeopardize the rest of us then expect to be offlined, painfully."

Prowl was somewhat stunned by the miniature rant, especially considering he still didn't know this mech's name, or what was going to go on in the academy. The mech looked at him expectantly until he realized he was meant to talk.

"Your assumption about my battle computer is correct although I do not think of myself as "high and mighty" as you put it. My designation is Prowl if you would like to know. May I inquire as to what your designation is?" Prowl asked, not really responding to what the mech in front of him had said.

The blue, white and red doorwinger gave him a weird look before answering. "I'm Smokescreen, training to become a tactician and psychiatrist; I'm the leader of the team you will be in."

"It is very nice to meet you Smokescreen; I am also training to become a tactician. When will I meet the rest of our team? Also, what do you mean I have the ability to make the whole team fail?" Prowl asked as he tried to inconspicuously settle into a more comfortable sitting position.

"We can go meet the rest of the team as soon as you are settled in here. As for how you could make our team fail, the moment anyone does something wrong here the team they are part of gets punished as well as themselves. You step foot over the boundaries and we could all end up in deep slag, worse, if it's really bad we could end up getting failed in our classes therefore failing the academy. No one gets a second chance here and all of us want to be enforcers," Smokescreen snarled, whether from the unfair rules or the fact that this newcomer could take down their team, Prowl had no idea.

"I do not have much to do in order to settle in here. We can leave immediately if you wish," Prowl replied, choosing to ignore the hostility in Smokescreen's voice.

"You don't have anything? Anything at all? Now I get why everyone was going on about you being really up tight, you musn't ever relax. Admittedly that might be good for the team…" Smokescreen said, extremely surprised.

"Well, I have some energon cubes in my subspace but other than that I have nothing. Where will we be meeting the team?" Prowl questioned as he tried to figure out why this mech was so surprised to hear he had no possessions with him.

"We can go down to the recroom now, have you been there yet?" Smokescreen asked as he jumped off his berth and led the way out of the room.

"No, I have yet to go to the recreation room as I thought it would be better to familiarize myself with our room and introduce myself to you," Prowl replied as they went down to the first floor.

"You would..."Smokescreen muttered.

The recroom when they got there was full of door winged mechs, most with dark colour schemes. The mechs were sorted in to groups, each in a different part of the room. Prowl figured that they must have been the different teams at the academy.

Smokescreen led him over to a group towards the back of the room, close to the energon dispensers. Each of the mechs standing there were tall, much taller than Prowl. Their chassis were broad and their door wings held high over their helms. The sound of their voices carried through the room well, each having a low voice.

Both of the mechs got energon cubes as they joined the small group of mechs near the dispensers. The conversation they were involved in halted suddenly when Prowl joined the group. Cool stares were shot towards the black and white mech. It was at that point in time that Prowl noticed that he was the focus of the entire room.

Although not shy, Prowl was by no means a "bot" person. Being the center of attention didn't suit him well, actually it suited him terribly. His battle computer started to run calculations such as what the best route out of the room would be if everyone attacked him. The idea of them all attacking him didn't seem so farfetched with the way each bot was looking at the black and white mech.

Smokescreen glared at the other bots around the room before focusing his attention on his own team. The blue, red and white mech didn't get the team to stop staring, instead he just waited until they would all introduce themselves, or pick on the new mech.

"He doesn't look like much Smokey," the largest bot said, energon cube in hand as he finally stopped staring at Prowl.

"I agree with Inertier, I don't think he's going to be an asset to the team," another mech said, the comment making Prowl bristle.

"I can not see why I would not be an asset to this team. I always do my best at everything and I have already been trained to an acceptable level by my creator in tactical planning and close combat," Prowl put in, disconcerted by how much of the conversation was going on around him but without any care for him being there.

"None of that matters here, the only thing matters is that you perform to the standards required by the teachers here. None of us give a slag what you've done with your creator, what matters is now," the mech called Inertier replied.

"Back off a little you guys, he's not going to be quite as bad as we thought. Turns out he has a battle computer but he isn't as high and mighty as the rumours said. He's just a little uptight is all, especially with the lingo," Smokescreen interrupted.

"I hope you're right Smokescreen. What do you reckon about his performance in our team," the mech next to Inertia asked.

"He should be fine, just a little difficult to converse with but he'll do okay," Smokescreen replied as he downed his cube in three easy gulps.

Prowl continued to stand on the outskirts of the group after his outburst. It continued to annoy him how the rest of the bots there were speaking as if he wasn't there. Already he was starting to feel out of the group here, especially on the more social level. His annoyance at the group was starting to form, Smokescreen's more than the other's.

The black and white mech sipped his cube slowly, doorwings to the rest of the room. His vulnerability from this position disconcerted him, his back open for an attack from any bot in the room. The sensor nets along Prowl's doorwings continuously collected data and fed it into his battle computer, not missing any movement from within the recreation room.

The conversation continued around Prowl as he stood there, observing every interaction within the group. He never got a chance to add anything else to the proceedings although the overall conclusion to the discussion wasn't overly bad. The black and white mech was glad to be able to leave the recroom and return to his recharge room, sans Smokescreen. The blue, red and white doorwinger had decided to continue talking to other bots in the recreation room, leaving Prowl to do as he wished.

It was with relief that the black and white doorwinger returned to his room and settled down to recharge. He could tell that the experience ahead of him wouldn't be overly pleasant but it would be a far cry from getting trained by Creator Three. In an odd way Prowl was looking forward to the next few vorns, if only for the fact that he would be away from his creator and the engineers.


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