In which Alison watches a spar, learns of a holiday, and makes a promposal
It was a relief to have the tension lifted from my shoulders as the rest of the weekend, then the next week passed. Miles shipped in from Beale in the afternoon with some of the other troops, and he was very happy that we had worked things out between us, and the fact that Ratchet released Barricade from the medbay finally. He had been told to take it easy, and he just scoffed and commented how Tranquility lived up to its name.
I had to agree to that statement, with the only initial blow out being Mrs. Lancaster freaking out over Miles's leg. She didn't do anything crazy like ban him from seeing us but she was very much not happy that she hadn't been informed when he got hurt. We had to throw Optimus under the bus when she insisted on speaking to someone about it, but it did give us a bit of a chuckle to think of him being yelled at by the woman (almost as amusing as if my own mom did it).
School went by well and quietly, with just the minimum notice of Mikaela and I being back together, since everyone was instead focused on the announcement of prom, and the drama of how apparently the captain of the cheer squad had been caught sleeping with the captains of the basketball, football and swim teams by her boyfriend, who was on the baseball team. I'll admit to digging for all the info on that, cause that's just hysterical to think of. Bee, Mikaela and I went on our first date as a triad, and we had a very enjoyable night out, having dinner and watching the new Raven-Symone movie. We were not one hundred percent settled into the triad yet by the time Friday rolled around, but we were getting there.
Our weekend at the base started normally enough, though it was definitely noticed that Mikaela and I moved into Bee's hangar. Ella brought Mikaela and I into her office and basically made us swear to be careful and behave ourselves, and that during times when we have distinguished guests like Keller and Moreshower around, we would be expected to stay in the Command barracks. She also told us that if Bee hurt us, we just had to say the word, and most of the leadership would be on their side. Bee told us later he himself had been getting the Shovel Talk from basically all of High Command, though Elita's had been the scariest.
Saturday was routine, exercise, breakfast, office work, lunch, finish office work, then Asami's training. Today, we were sparring with Epps, Mikaela and Bee, while Miles watched from a bench because of his leg. Barricade joined us as well, saying Ratchet had forbid him from actual sparring until the next week, so this was the only practice he could get 'til then.
"Come on, AliSpark, I know you hit harder than that," Barricade told me as we did a practice spar together. He was pretty much the perfect dummy, since he really couldn't be hurt by us. For the sparring, he changed out his usual cop outfit for a T-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants with sneakers. The shirt was not his "To enslave and punish" shirt, which had been deemed inappropriate by most of leadership, but a new one that had a Unification symbol on a shield, with "Iacon Enforcer Academy, est. 76.06.01" on a banner underneath.
"Maybe I wanna go easy on you?" I quipped back, but did start putting more power behind my swings and kicks.
"I'm not an invalid," he said, and demonstrated by grabbing my arm as I swung a punch towards his face, pulled me into his arms, then hefted me onto his shoulder with an arm around my legs to keep me from going over the whole way.
"Okay, you're not an invalid. And you can kick my ass halfway to Sunday too."
"Only halfway?" he asked and though I couldn't see his smirk, I heard it loud and clear. I smacked his back with my fist.
"Okay, all the way, now put me down!"
He did, by letting go of my legs and letting me slide off, though he caught me before I could fall to the ground.
"You're getting better, I'll give you that," he said. "At least I won't be needing to do extra work like I will on him when he's repaired." He jerked his head to Miles, who just grinned.
"Oh, is that what we're gonna call it?" he asked, and laughed as Cade shot him a half-hearted glare.
"I'd say get a room, but someone in here has to be the responsible adult," Asami said from where she was sparring with Mikaela.
"Hey now, what makes you think I'm not responsible?" Epps asked, he having just finished his own spar with Bee. I'll admit, that was part of why I pulled my punches, but he had his holo make a black crop top under a yellow and black sleeveless hoodie that he wore mostly open, so excuse me for getting distracted.
"There's five reasons running around the Nursery right now," Asami said, before catching Mikaela in a chokehold and pulling her to the ground, where she tapped out.
I suddenly had an idea. "Hey, Asami, why don't you and Cade try a spar? I bet you could kick his aft."
"Oh really?" Cade asked, crossing his arms.
Asami was getting off the ground, a slight frown on her face. "I'm not sure if that'd be wise…." Cade seemed to puff up a bit, smug, and her frown increased for a moment, then shifted into an equally smug smile. "I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of your boyfriend."
"You think you can take me down? I've been fighting for longer than most of your civilizations have existed."
She dusted her legs off casually. "Can't hurt to test it out." She stepped closer to Cade, while Mikaela, Bee, Epps and I retreated out of the way, and got into a ready stance. "Unless you're too chicken to, old man."
"Your people really don't know how chickens really are, or you wouldn't use that phrase." But he settled into his own stance. "How're we doing this?"
"First to ten second pin. Don't draw blood, don't break anything."
"I'll ref," Epps said. "On my mark. Go."
For a moment, neither moved, seeming to be waiting for what the other would do. Then Cade went on the offensive, lunging forward with lightning speed. Asami just barely managed to dodge his initial attack and had to keep taking a step back each time she was forced to dodge or block as he kept up the assault. She took a few swings of her own when an opening presented itself, but none connected.
"Thought this was a spar," Cade mocked as he kept forcing Asami back. "Guess it was too much to hope for a challenge."
Asami only smiled at him, then switched tactics, dropping low beneath one of Cade's swings. Her leg swept out in a low arc, catching his heel and pulling a leg out from under him. He stumbled back a step and Asami lunged, now taking the offensive. Instead of just the same jabs or kicks she'd been teaching us, her movements were more fluid and complicated as she shifted between real and feigned attacks. Each one kept Cade off balance, uncertain where each new strike would come from, but he learned fast.
Cade managed to catch one of her kicks, locking her leg against his side. He then twisted, forcing Asami off her other foot. Instead of just falling though, she twisted her body with the motion, her free heel swinging around to connect with his jaw. He let go of her leg and stumbled back as she landed hard on the ground.
She was only on the ground a moment before she rolled back to her feet. Cade also recovered, rubbing his jaw, and they squared off again. "That was unexpected."
"I thought you wanted a challenge." Asami's smile was almost feral and there was a glee in her eyes like when I had taken that first ride in her car. He grinned back.
They went back at it again, this time seeming neither holding back. Swings, kicks, parries, feints, grapples. Cade offensive, Asami defensive, then a move and the roles reversed. One nearly getting ahold of the other, only for them to just manage to slip free to stop the count. It was like watching a fighting game played by two pro-gamers.
After several minutes, Asami finally caught Cade's arm and twisted herself under it to get behind him. Her foot hit the back of his knee hard and he dropped, she using all her weight to push him forward and down.
There was a scuffle on the ground, but when both finally stilled, Asami was perched on Cade's back, a knee planted firmly between his shoulder blades and her other leg stretched out and pinning one of his wrists to the ground. She had his other arm twisted back as far as it could without harm, and her free hand was clamped around the back of his neck.
Cade struggled, but it was clear Asami had him entirely at her mercy as Epps counted down.
"... Eight… Nine… Ten! Winner, Asami!"
"Whoo!" I cheered and clapped along with the others as Asami got off Cade. She took a few deep breaths and then held a hand down to pull him up.
"Damn," Cade said, rolling his shoulders and rubbing his neck once he was on his feet. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"My father. He started me up young, and I've never slacked off on it." She gave a smile. "And the fact I obsessed over almost every martial arts film this side of Japan while in high school."
"Really?"
She shrugged, her smile turning into a sly smirk. "Cultural heritage to uphold."
"Hmm, might have to try that myself sometime." He rolled his shoulders again. "You're good, that's for sure. Maybe the AllSpark should officially induct you as a Protector."
"Oh, no need for that. I've already made my vow."
Cade nodded, then moved to sit by Miles, obviously done for the day. Miles leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry, I still think you're the best."
"You would." But he still wrapped an arm around his shoulders, then gave me a glare when I smiled at it.
"Don't worry, 'Cade," Mikaela said. "No one's gonna tell that you're just a big softie."
"Who would believe you?" Epps added. "That said, I think we're done for today. Go find something to do, preferably something responsible." He glanced over at Asami, who just laughed.
Mikaela, Asami, Epps and I changed clothes, then walked out with the others, Cade carrying Miles on his back so he wouldn't have to walk. We found ourselves greeted outside the gym by Epps's "signs of irresponsibility", as well as a comet of red curls, escorted by Jolt in his holoavatar. He had the appearance of a Japanese man in his twenties, with deep blue eyes and fluffy, chin length hair parted on the left side. He wore a blue jacket over a black t-shirt and pants, ankle-length slip on boots, and a blue belt, on which were two loops, holsters to represent his electro whips from his mech mode.
"And what are you doing here? I thought Sunny and Sides were on babysitting duty," I asked, stooping down to give Meghan a hug.
"Jolt lost a bet with them, so he's gotta watch us while they do something. And we wanted to meet Barricade," Shareeka said. "Ratchet wouldn't let us into the medbay at all. Not even to give him our 'Get Well' cards."
"Did you get them, Mr. Cade?" Mozembiqua asked, her little puffs bouncing as she rocked on her heels looking up at him.
"Oh, you mean those scraps of paper Ratchet left by my berth?" Barricade asked, tilting his head like he was thinking. "I did. They weren't half-bad, for newsparks."
"I'm not a newspark!" Fred declared from his perch in Epps's arms. "Newsparks are babies. I'm four now." He held up four fingers to make his point.
"To me, even your dad is a newspark. Cybertronian years are a lot longer than Earth ones."
"Talk about cradle robbing," Miles joked, and Cade jostled him under the guise of adjusting his grip.
"So how old are you in human years?" Shaleeka asked.
Barricade frowned a little as he thought. "Eleven thousand six hundred years, give or take a couple decades. That's about a hundred-thirty-four vorn. But that's barely middle age, for a cybertronian."
"Whoa!" Shaniqua said, then looked to Bee and Jolt. "How old are you guys?"
"Nine thousand, seven hundred and twenty-six, or one hundred eleven vorn," Jolt said.
"Just under six thousand two hundred," Bee said. "I need to sit and math out the exact number, but it's about seventy-two vorn."
"We should have a big party when you hit that officially," Mikaela said.
"We'll have one soon enough," Jolt said. "The Sacred Marriage is coming up, and Optimus wants the whole base involved."
"Oh scrap, that soon?" Bee smacked his forehead. "Prima, I got work to do."
"What's the 'Sacred Marriage'?" Epps asked.
"It's the day we celebrate the creation of the cybertronian race, when Primus and the AllSpark joined together in primordial history," Jolt explained. "Optimus and Prowl ran some numbers comparing our calendars, and we found it falls at the end of April. Since you guys are sharing all our holidays with us, the High Command figured we should share some of ours with you."
"There isn't some 'AllSpark communes with Primus' ritual, is there?" I asked. "I mean, he's a god, but two people is my romantic limit, thanks."
The AllSpark laughed and took over. "~There is no communion, but it is a very popular holiday, especially for couples. Many chose to bond or propose, or even just ask a crush out on that day, and love is the central theme of the day. There was even a small sect of the Temple that held a sort of 'free love' celebration, which drew quite a few mecha in.~"
"Well that's not gonna happen here," Asami said. "I can only imagine the fuss that would cause."
"So, it's like your own version of Valentine's Day?" Meghan asked. "Can we join in?"
"~A bit, though the actual celebration has similarities to Beltane, or Midsummer. Every city would host a great big festival, with stalls, games, music, dancing, and performances. As for the details…~" She smiled. "~You'll just have to see for yourselves.~"
"Aww, can't you give us a hint?" Meghan gave her best puppy dog eyes, but the AllSpark and I both laughed.
"~You'll have to try harder than that, Meghan.~" She ruffled her hair and made the girl giggle before She retreated.
"That eye thing is still freaky-cool," Shaniqua commented.
"When is the celebration?" Miles asked.
"Sunday, April 20," Jolt said.
"That's right after prom," I said. "That whole weekend's gonna be a party."
"Hmm, and the theme this year is 'A Night in Paris', the city of love, so that's a weekend long theme." Mikaela gave me a sidelong glance, and I smiled back.
"I'm waiting for the last details to get in place. You're getting a promposal, don't worry."
"Do I get one?" Bee asked with a smile and a tease in his voice.
"But of course. I'd be a pretty crappy girlfriend if I didn't ask both of you." I pressed a kiss on his cheek.
"And that's my cue to leave," Barricade said, already walking away with Miles. "Later, AliSpark!"
"And what are we, chopped liver?" Asami asked, but she was smiling slightly.
"Can you all come play with us?" Meghan asked.
"Well…." I glanced at Bee and Mikaela, the latter of them laughing.
"We'd love to play with you guys," Mikaela said.
"Yes!" Meghan grabbed my hand and started tugging me towards the Nursery, the other girls following her example with my amanti and Epps followed along with Fred, while Asami left to her own business. I glanced over at Jolt, who nodded, and I smiled back.
"Hold on a sec," Shareeka said when we reached the doors to the Nursery. She pulled the door just open enough for her, her sisters, and Meghan to duck in and called out, "Places, everyone!"
"Places?" Mikaela asked, and she and Bee gave me suspicious looks.
I smiled. "The last details were getting you two over here." I took their hands and pulled them in once the doors opened fully. Escapade and Dispensor were holding the ends of a rolled up banner, while Rascal and X-Cat held bouquets of flowers and the girls had confetti cannons in their hands. I let go and pointed to the hatchlings, turned around and knelt on the floor. The banner unfurled behind me as X-Cat and Rascal gave me their burdens, and I extended them to my amanti.
"Will you two go to prom with me?"
Mikaela and Bee both grinned and accepted the flowers, red roses for Mikaela and yellow for Bee. "Yes." "Absolutely."
I bounced up and pulled them close, giving them both a quick peck on the lips. The girls pulled on their confetti cannons and with a loud "whoosh" of air, we were being rained on by pieces of paper. Behind us, there was a clatter as the banner fell when Escapade and Dispensor started clapping, while Fred, Epps and Jolt did the same on our other side.
"How long have you been planning this?" Mikaela asked.
"Honestly, probably since Valentine's. It wasn't a stretch to add Bee to it, and the kids were very willing helpers." I looked back at the banner, which was still legible even in its current rumpled state. "Girl + Girl + Bot = Prom Date?" Around the words were a couple pictures, a red wrench, a blue cube, a bumblebee and the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by squiggles of paint.
"You'll have so much fun!" X-Cat said from her new perch in Shaleeka's arms.
"You gotta go dress shopping!" Shaleeka said.
"Yeah! Get Ella to help, she's got great style!" Shaniqua said.
"You gotta look like princesses!" Mozembiqua added.
Mikaela, Bee and I all laughed. "Almost sounds like you guys are more excited about us going to prom than we are," Mikaela said.
"Should I be a princess too, Mo?" Bee asked.
"No! You're the handsome prince!" Meghan declared, and she and Mozembiqua giggled.
"Okay, I think I can live with that."
And they all ended up playing "Princes and Princesses" for the rest of the day.
So what'd you think of the spar? How about the promposal? And what about the Sacred Marriage holiday, sound interesting? Let me know in the comments.
Oh, also, I recently saw a post about fic playlists, and I do in fact have a Youtube one for AllSpark. Would anyone be interested in a link (which would appear on my profile)? Or perhaps me listing the appropriate tracks in the chapter summary of each chapter? It wouldn't be a song in every chapter, but a majority of the early ones have one, not to mention whenever Alison sings or plays music.
And to all who are celebrating this month, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Guest Review Replies
Guest 1 (CH 30): Unlike those two guest reviews, I enjoy seeing the push and pull between the tough decisions when the hope of the human race rest on the shoulders of a teenage girl inhabited by an ancient intergalactic being. It offers a hell of a lot more substance than the movie ever did and you're doing justice to the source material you're working from. As a queer woman, I love to see those like myself in the genres that I love (sci-fi, fantasy, action, ect,) and am overjoyed at the main character you have given us. Don't let the haters get you down.
Thank you, lovely. They did not get me down, don't worry. They have not responded back, proving themselves cowards or trolls, and so I wash my hands of them.
I'm glad you enjoy seeing Alison's work and struggles. I tell people I love Bayverse, but in truth, I love the potential in it, and that potential is what I bring to life here in AllSpark, and if other people find they like my version of it, I am gifted with the warm fuzzies.
I'll see you all next week, same 'Bot Time, same 'Bot Channel!