The Diego Diaries: Game Changer 13 (dd3-4)
=0=Club Cybertron
Sideswipe slowly arose with a look of intense anger on his face.
Blue grabbed his arm to pull him back. :Sideswipe, no:
Sideswipe looked down at Blue. :What's going on, Blue? Why does he look at you that way? He has to know you're with Sunny and me:
:I don't know. He's just an aft. Sit down please: Blue tugged on his arm so he slowly sat.
Sunstreaker peering around Tie Down's shoulder looked at them both. :What's going on?:
:Nothing, Sunny. Let's have a nice lunch. Everyone is here. This is Flint's first time to relax and be with the family. Please, let's enjoy ourselves:
Stiletto glancing at Barricade noted a slight smirk on that worthy's face. "What?"
"Nothing,"Barricade said sipping his drink. "I'm watching football."
Stiletto looked back at Blue admiring the impeccable colors and luminous shine of his armor. The mech was a looker and as Stiletto stared at Blue, Sunstreaker put it together.
Rising with anger, staring at Stiletto with his 'game face', Sunny was ready to rumble.
Ratchet grabbed his arm. "Sit, Sunstreaker."
"Blue?" Sideswipe asked leaning closer to the distressed winger. "What the frag is that aft staring at you for?"
"Nothing. It's nothing, Sideswipe. Really," Bluestreak said glancing at Prowl. "He just stares and really, it's nothing."
"Then he needs to know he can't," Sideswipe said rising again. "You're with us. No one can touch that."
Sunstreaker rose and so did Ratchet. "No fighting. None. We're here to welcome Flint into the family. That aft is a troublemaker. I can't believe that you two would allow him to control you like this. You all go home together and he goes home to nothing."
"It wouldn't be their place to do anything, Ratchet."
They all looked at Venture who was sitting next to Flint with an expression of intense irritation. Venture stood up and looked at Stiletto who sat watching with slight amusement. "You're bothering a member of my family. That isn't allowed."
"Is that so?" Stiletto asked. "What did I do?"
"You've disturbed the peace in my family and I won't allow it. You either step back or there will be consequences."
"Venture," Sunstreaker began before the winger next to him jerked his arm.
"Sunstreaker, I'm senior mech in our family. It's my duty to defend all of us." He looked at Stiletto. "Either withdraw from further contact with my family or step outside and face me."
It was intensely quiet in the room as everyone hushed to watch.
Stiletto smirked. "You'll do what? Fight me?"
Venture nodded calmly. "That is right."
Prime started to stand but Prowl caught his arm. Looking down, he noted Prowl's expression.
Prowl shook his helm slightly so Optimus sat. :What is going on?:
:An honor fight. You can't prevent it. It's complicated: Prowl said over their internal link.
:Praxian custom?:
Prowl vented a sigh. :It is:
:Venture is going up against a serious criminal, Prowl:
:My atar is no fool. This could end Stiletto's threat. He bothered Bluestreak and provoked a bond. This has to be done:
Prime looked at Venture and considered his dilemma. If he put end to this now Venture would pursue it somewhere else. If he allowed it here he could end the problem of Stiletto once and for all as well as protect all involved.
Maybe.
Sitting back, he waited like everyone else.
"Are you going to stand down?" Venture asked calmly.
Miler watched him without visible emotions.
The twins looked at each other, then Venture.
"Venture, we can handle this," Sideswipe said rising again.
Blue jerked on his arm trying to pull him down, then Sunstreaker rose with his war face in evidence.
Venture looked at them again. "I'm head of the family. This is my duty. You will defer this to me."
"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, sit," Ironhide said standing up himself. They looked at him hesitantly, then slowly sat.
Ratchet looked at Venture. He was waiting calmly and Stiletto was staring at him doing the math.
For a moment it was still, then Stiletto mech. "All right. Where?"
"Outside. Now," Venture said nodding to the door. He began to walk that way.
The guards with Barricade looked at him as he rose, too, to follow.
The room almost as one watched Venture as the entire family and the bots with them arose together to go outside with the two.
"Venture, you shouldn't do this. He's a dirty fighter," Sideswipe said with concern.
"This is our fight, Venture," Sunstreaker said.
"This is mine. This is an honor fight. Bluestreak, you understand my responsibility and why this is happening do you not?"
Bluestreak nodded. "I do."
"Then maybe you can explain it to me," Sideswipe said with irritation as he watched Venture turn to leave.
"Praxian customs, Sideswipe," Blue said gripping his arm as he began to follow.
It was if a fever had broken as the entire establishment rose up heading for the door. Through the bar they poured out onto the sidewalk beyond with Prowl, Miler and Prime plowing through the throng to get to the front.
Venture was standing in the street facing Stiletto. That bot watched Venture who stared at him silently with his servos balled into fists and tension evident in his wings.
The crowd moved around the pair as traffic on the street halted to watch and to accommodate the gathering crowd.
Ironhide and Ratchet moved to stand on the curb, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe pausing behind the two. Wreckers and soldiers, civilians and friends of the family crowded around them.
Kup and Springer halted near Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.
:Kup, if those two make a move take out Sideswipe. You're closer to him. I'll grab Sunstreaker: Springer said quietly.
:Gotcha, kid: Kup stuck his stogie in his mouth stepping close to Sideswipe as Lon and Drift moved into the space between the two front liners and the street.
"What now?" Stiletto asked.
"You either stand down from my family or we fight. Honor demands that this occur." Venture moved slightly to one side, his expression calm and his manner steely.
Stiletto shrugged. "I'm not agreeing to anything. I wasn't aware that there was a law about looking at good looking mechs."
"There is if they are in a trine-bond with my grandsons-in-law. It's my duty to protect my family. Either stand down or let's do this," Venture said.
"Then I guess we do this," Stiletto said with a smirk. He stood stock still a moment, then moved closer with his fists coming up as he sought out his first blow.
Miler standing with Prowl watched closely as Venture turned with Stiletto to face the 'Con as he moved slowly around. It was quiet and tense as others walking by or working in shops gathered to watch as well.
Stiletto moved slowly around Venture with the big bot turning with him.
Venture watched Stiletto closely, his data programming working through the battle possibilities.
Sounds not normally heard over the activities of the city and her people were discernible in the intense quiet.
Ratchet watched Venture move, his optics focused on first him, then the tightly wound Stiletto.
Across the circle that surrounded the two combatants, Payload and Scar with their bonds as well as Bulkhead and Tyro watched. Bulkhead slammed his fists together as he watched the two circle each other.
Lon who'd moved to the side with Blurr, Jolt and Hot Rod stood together quietly watching the spectacle play out. He was surprised that this was happening. He didn't know what an honor fight was but the adults with Prime did. Prime must, too, because he was allowing it and so was Prowl.
He looked around the crowd at the mechs standing in the circle watching the show with a professional optic. He felt the same thrill again that he was in the company of seasoned warriors and stand up mechs all. They let him come, too, asking him along and it still felt amazing.
Glancing to the side, he saw Bluestreak's strained expression. Looking back, watching the mechs in the middle, he felt rather than saw the fist that lashed out. He could almost feel it as it struck metal.
The crowd winced at the blow landed and the bot struck staggered backward. Then he threw his own punch.
Bluestreak flinched as he watched Stiletto punch Venture out of nowhere. Venture gave with it stepping back to turn slightly, the energy flashing through him. Lights sparkled, then he forced himself to clear his thinking. Eons of sublimating his feelings and attending to the moment no matter how dull, deadly or ridiculous it was came into play.
Venture swung his arm, his servo straightened like a blade and caught Stiletto under the chin. The blow was like a sledge hammer and the 'Con was lifted off his peds. He flew backward and staggered, stepping back until he got himself into control.
Shaking his helm, he looked at Venture with new optics. The mech had tricks. But he thought to himself before stepping forward that he had eons of war and a brooding hatred of high castes to carry him through.
Venture watched as he turned with him, his arms relaxed, his ped work loose and expectant. He was ready to pivot, press forward and back in the blows to come. And come they would.
Stiletto swung on Venture's face missing him by centimeters.
The big winger leaned back, then inward laying a punch into Stiletto's chassis. Stiletto felt it and stumbled backward. Another punch landed on his face, then a blow to the chassis dropped him. He sat on the ground a moment, then rose up again.
Venture stepped back waiting for Stiletto. He'd organized several set pieces for his defense as he watched Stiletto. All of them required speed and finesse but his internal computers which were the prototype model for Prowl engaged programs he'd never used before, programs just for this kind of occasion.
He hadn't fought or even sparred in a long while. Stiletto was a professional and used to fighting. It would be difficult to win but he was determined.
Stiletto rubbed his chin and grinned without mirth. "You have some skill. That was unexpected. You're a high caste fragger. You expect front row center always and you don't care about the lives of anyone else."
Venture nodded. "You were right once. I didn't know what anyone else lived like. I existed in my own prison. I did what I was taught to do. But not anymore."
"You can't change anymore than I can," Stiletto said. "We are what we are."
"You would be wrong," Venture said. "Look around you. There's no caste system here. You're the one who's the outlier. The rest of us are redeeming ourselves here. If you had the wit you thought you had you would reform, too."
"You judge me," Stiletto said. "You who never had a hungry day. You who never had to wait for anything. You have a lot of gall to judge me."
"I don't judge you," Venture said. "I don't judge anyone. I work for everyone here. I want everyone to have a life they choose."
"I chose my life," Stiletto said. "No one tells me what to do. Not you, not Prime, not anyone."
"And Megatron? Did he or did you run because you didn't listen?" Venture asked.
Stiletto stilled. "Are you going to fight or talk?"
A punch flying out of nowhere slammed into Stiletto's nose structure followed by a flurry to his chassis. When Stiletto staggered back then leaned forward in a daze, Venture took his helm in both servos slamming it down on his knee.
Stiletto dropped like a rock. It was silent a moment as Venture stared at the 'Con who was laid out cold. "Talk would have been better."
For a moment no one said anything or moved, then the guards with Barricade stepped forward and tapped him with a ped. One of them called for the Day Watch as the group turned to Prime. He was staring at Stiletto, then looked at Venture. "Is this over?" he asked.
Venture nodded. "Honor is satisfied. It's over."
Prime looked to the Day Watch officers who were coming through the crowd. "This mech needs medical attention. When that is taken care of let him go."
They picking Stiletto up, The walk to the hospital in Metroplex would be short.
Glancing at Venture, Prime considered him. "Do you need medical attention, Venture?"
"No," Venture said.
Ratchet scanned him. "You're going to be sore later but you're fine."
Bluestreak and the twins silently watched the spectacle.
Sunstreaker looked at Sideswipe. The two were unaccustomed to having someone defend them, particularly a high caste mech. It was all new.
Bluestreak walked to Venture and hugged him. "Are you alright?"
"I am," Venture said hugging him back. "All is well again."
They walked back inside the club followed by everyone who'd been watching including a couple of passersby. Sitting down at the table together, they watched the end of the game on the monitors and ate their lunch amid great hilarity.
-0-Later
"What do you think?"
"I don't know."
[Pause]
"Venture has some skills."
(grin) "He does. It wasn't circuit su but it was something."
"I was listening to Atar and he said every Praxian is taught self defense in school. The honor fighting is a big deal in Praxus, I guess."
Sunstreaker considered that. "It makes sense. Praxus has a lot of rules."
"Stiletto could have killed him," Sideswipe said. "Prowl and Ironhide knew what he was doing. I wonder what Prime thinks about it?"
"I don't know." Sunstreaker glanced at the clock on the wall nearby. "Blue is off duty."
Sideswipe rose. "We still dismantle Stiletto at the first opportunity."
Sunstreaker smirked. "Goes without saying."
They both walked out the door of the studio heading toward Ops Center to meet up with Bluestreak.
-0-Later
"We need a servo signal or something, Prowl," Optimus said as Prowl walked into his office with a stack of work.
Prowl grinned. "We probably should," he said. "My atar has some moves don't you think?"
"He does," Optimus said with a grin. "I will remember that."
Prowl grinned as he dropped work on Prime's desk. "He'd chew off his own servo before he'd ever lay a punch on a Prime."
"Then I have an edge against him ever invoking against me?" Prime asked as Prowl began to go back out.
Prowl paused to look at his Only One. "Nope," he said with a grin.
/... nice one, Prowl .../ Prime began to work again with a slight buzz in his processor.
=0=TBC 2012 (9) edited 4-23-2022