Hasbro owns Transformers, Lego owns Bionicle and the name Ketongu, and Galem owns Tali, Ava, Amber, Iris, Diego, Alyan, Adhira, Valera, and Kasar.

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Chapter 45: Calling all Toabots

As the morning sun rose once more on the red sandy desert of Mars, the Toabots rose from their berths and prepared for yet another day of ship maintenance and Bible study. Studying was never a bad thing as it kept them in faith and their core beliefs came from it. It was the maintenance that they had a problem with. Always doing diagnostic checks and trying to figure out how to repair the cannon should any hostile aliens pass by. But they all had to admit that it was something, and a decent distraction from the death of their leader and their failure to protect the earth from the vengeance of the Makutacons. Not only had they been overpowered and outnumbered, but the Makutacons had also snuck past their watch long enough to get the Toabots banned off their home planet by threatening the loved ones of the Turaga. It was certainly the perfect time to do so after their base had been destroyed. There was no base to call, and com links could only go so far. The Toabot base had actually been within their com link range, hence why they had picked out the location.

Diego sat quietly at a window, his gaze unseeing as his thoughts focused on his family once more. He remembered how angry he had been at his parents growing up, mainly at his mom for leaving him with only a faint memory. But now that he was here, everything sadly made sense. If his mother had not done what she did, he would have been taken away, never to meet his friends, his cousin, his dad. Tears welled in his optics. In hindsight, Prowl had always been watching out for him, keeping him safe, and silently showing he loved his son, and yet Diego had always been cold towards him at those rare meetings. Diego's Liark ached as the tears streamed down his face. More than ever, he just wanted to apologize to Prowl and let him know he loved him. No, he wanted to apologize to Prowl and Adhira. Her sacrifice had ensured he lived a better life and not in constant war and fear. She had committed the ultimate act of love and he had scorned it. The realization and shame struck Diego like a razor blade, and he promised in his Liark to apologize to both his parents should he ever return home. No sooner had he made this promise that the silence was shattered by the ringtone of the interplanetary phone in the other room.

"Who could be calling us?" Getting up, he walked over to answer it.

But Athena was there first, having practically sped over in bike form before transforming and picking up the phone. Practically pressing it to her cheek as she spoke into it.

"Hello"? She was silent for a moment before perking up with a smile. "Outilisa?! Hold on, sweetliark". Athena ran quickly to the nearby control panels and turned a dial, activating the speakers all throughout the ship.

Outilisa's voice spoke almost immediately: "Hey everybody, Killer has his claws on the Key to Vector Sigma and he's going to use it to turn the entire earth mechanical".

"Say what?!" Diego sputtered in horror. He remembered his studies on the Key to Vector Sigma and clearly remembered watching an historical hologram of when it had been used on organic life. Let's just say that the results was amazing and horrifying at the same time. On one hand, he had thought it was cool how it turned organic into metallic, but on the other hand it terrified him as such an event would wipe out half his family, him included, along with the Toa and humans.

Armor looked down, feeling helpless as ever. It had been bad enough knowing they had failed to set out what they had promised to do, protecting everyone on Earth from the vengeance of the Makutacons. Now to know how they were going to pay in price, losing oxygen or being turned mechanical which depending on their biology, could've ended disastrously("Seriously, have you SEEN Circuit Breaker"? #Z). Also keeping in mind that they had officially been banned from the planet and therefore could do absolutely nothing to save anyone. They could pray all day for an opportunity, for the chance to return home. Paradox being confirmed alive would be more than enough to bring them all back as he had been a good talker when it came to the Turaga Council and earning their forgiveness. Seeing the direness of the situation, the planet definitely needed them now.

"So, what will you do about it"? Armor asked, in a tone that conveyed the sadness over not being able to help.

"I shall give you what I hope will be my final order". Another voice spoke next, causing a hushed silence amongst the gathered floor of Toabots as they thought they recognized it.

'Could it truly be'? Athena thought as the hundreds of Toabot optics widened around her. Athena looked up to the cloudless sky, and imagining looking up into Heaven as she prayed: 'Lord, have you truly answered my prayers and brought my husband back to me, proved the Makutacons to be liars? Giving us another chance to fight for our home? Are my children no longer without their dad'?! Happiness welled up inside her as the hopefulness continued to build in her liark that the Toabot leader, and the mech she had fallen in love with was still alive and still ready to fight against the ones who refused to forgive, for the sake of a better future united in Christ's undying love for all sentient life. If this was so, she would have so many thank yous for The Lord when her time finally came.

Ketongu voiced her suspicions before the others could get a chance: "Are my ears lying to me or is that..."

Of course Athena wasn't the only one hoping for the return of their leader, as well as the chance to fight back and foil this cruel Makutacon plot. Ketongu had always viewed Paradox in his own way. Even more so when they had first arrived on the planet. Paradox had always tried his best to keep everyone in faith after the destruction of Planet X and assured them that it had not been the end for their race. That one day, God would allow them to walk freely on the earth once more as if they were equal to the ones who had exiled them out of a rageful and fearful hatred from the old Lead Turaga, before Lesovikk. And because of this, the Toabots had been glad to defend the people of Earth, even if they had still hated them at the even now, Ketongu would be happy to fight under Paradox's command and bring the Makutacons down once and for all. If they played their cards right in this very battle, the Makutacons would practically be crippled and no longer able to continue the war.

That, and after his failure to protect Angela and Golden per Green's instructions, he really needed something to go right. Though he didn't show it, all in an effort to keep everyone else as distracted as possible, he still regretted failing the Matoran whom he had actually come to befriend after all of these years they had previously spent kind of being arch enemies. Even now, Ketongu wanted to make it to Green AND his family for not being able to fight off the Makutacons. Sure, he had been outnumbered, and he might have died in the process, but at least he would have died honoring his friendship to ensure their safety.

"Paradox? Is that really you?!" Diego's voice trembled with uncontrollable joy.

"Indeed it is, Diego". Paradox responded, a mere second after that question, earning a collective cheer from the other Toabots on the ship, and tears of joy that streamed down Diego's cheeks as he laughed happily in relief.

Now with Paradox back, and the Makutacons lie uncovered, victory was assured. Like Paradox, everyone was very much ready to get this war over with. To finally end the hundred year war against hate fueled racism and malice. So many lives had been lost as a result of their hatred. Though they understood it, the Toabots had dared not to stoop down to their level by attempting genocide on a rather constant basis. Instead, they had decided they would rather make peace and had even dared to hope that the era of temporary peace that followed would be enough to convince the Makutacons that there was still a future worth fighting for on their end. But it hadn't. Even now, the Makutacons were convinced that the Turaga Council would turn on their race once again at a moments notice and wipe them all out. But Paradox knew better. Even when Turaga Jala had nearly had him killed, Paradox had seen good in them, and knew that with enough effort, peace could be found in a much better way than before. And for that vision, inspired by Jesus's love, they would continue to fight until finally the Makutacons conceded.

Once the commotion had finally died down enough for the Toabot leader to get a word in, Paradox said: "Now listen carefully, I need you to contact every Toabot you can. After that, fly to my coordinates and get ready for battle".

"Already on it sir"!, SkyFighter shouted in response, before running off to a control panel and checking the databases of Toabot contact numbers. Sure, the law about the Bioformers not being allowed to return to Earth had been abolished, but there were still thousands upon thousands of Toabots still among the stars who had decided to stay in space in an effort to prevent overpopulation. Even despite Paradox's attempts to convince them otherwise, they still didn't want to risk it so he let it slide. After all, Paradox felt that it was not his place to judge another persons free will so long as it did not result in the harm of others. But Paradox had kept their contact information anyways in the case of a situation such as this.

"I'll try and see if I can get the cannon working"!, Armor shouted as well, running down a hall that would lead to a large case of stairs, with Red following behind.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Diego asked, not liking having to stand aside and watch everyone run around with preparations when he could be doing something to help.

Felicia entered the room quickly after the announcement had been made. An announcement that had made her liark soar. Paradox was alive. She didn't doubt it too much. After Xanthium had betrayed them to the Makutacons and killed hundreds of people, she knew very well that there was a very good chance that he had been lying about killing Paradox. No doubt now it had been a ploy to put the Toabots in enough emotional despair to either leave them open to a blind rage which would only get them killed in a battle, or dis inspire them entirely to the point of retreat. The end result of course had been the latter. But Xanthium had failed to keep him contained, and now he would soon get his comeuppance for trying to enact a genocidal vengeance, and for nearly leading the Toabots to retirement. Felicia smirked then, as there was no doubt that the second they got back, there would practically be a line of Toabots and allies waiting for their chance to get a shot in at Xanthium. Finally, true justice would prevail.

Felicia smiled once more as she then noticed the Toabot of lightning ask his question, and look around like a cute puppy. It was honestly adorable for her to see him this way. Plus, she admired him for wanting to help even if he probably didn't know half of the controls to this ship. Now was definitely the right time to spend a little quality time with the handsome mech, maybe she could even flirt around a little with her dad out of the picture. Not that she thought he would mind her having such a huge crush on the son of Optimus Prime's first lieutenant, but knowing full well of his protective nature towards her, she decided that it would be best not to take any risks for now. Besides, at that moment she finally found something for the two of them to do together. Not wanting to waste too much time and waste this opportunity, she walked over quickly, giving the half praxarian a casual smile as she spoke up, meeting his attractive blue optics with her own red ones.

"Here, hold this control panel up". Felicia called, pointing to the control panel directly behind him.

"Okay." Diego responded as he carefully lifted the mentioned control panel for her.

As Felicia crouched down to get a better look as she was doing, she turned her head for a moment, noticing the slight tone of muscular biceps that were beneath Diego's chest armor. She turned her head quickly back to the underlying cords and controls under the panel, resisting the urge to swoon at the already treasured memory. Not only was he cute and a pleasure to watch, now she found him hotter than Adhira's lightning bolts. She sighed a bit in happy despair that she hoped he wouldn't notice. With a war for the fate of the earth in need to continue, any long attempts she could make at flirting with the Bioformer of lightning would have to wait. She definitely wouldn't hesitate in making a few minor flirts here and there, but for now the war had to come first. Plus her dad was nearby and she didn't want him scaring this one away.

A solid minute later, the console made a loud humming sound for a moment, followed by a slight screech from the speakers in the ship. She waited for the screeching echo to pass before backing away from the pannel and smirking up at Diego.

"There, now the lead-Toabot is hooked up to all the speakers in the ship".

Diego grinned brightly at the report as he set the panel back down carefully. "Great!"

SkyFighter spoke quickly into the phone: "It's finished sir. The other Toabots are preparing an airstrike as we speak".

"Good". Paradox responded. "We will need it". A long moment passed, a moment which would often mean Paradox was praying for the right words to say to his army, before he finally spoke for every Toabot in the ship to hear: "Toabots, load your weapons and get over to earth as soon as you can. Though we are outnumbered and outgunned, we cannot let the civilians of this earth pay for what happened all those years ago. The time has come my friends and family. Let us take up arms. Let us fight. And Let us stop Killer once and for all. Together as one. And remember that although we all have a choice in life, The Lord expects us to choose right. Let us honor God now by bringing the Makutacons the knowledge that some will finally accept, and for others the defeat they were always destined for".

"Yes, sir!" Diego grinned, eager to get back into the fight.

Seconds later, there was a slight static noise in the speakers and Armor spoke with much enthusiasm in his voice: "YES! Everyone, we finally got the cannon working! The cannon is fully functional"!

Not even a second passed after Armor had spoken before the ship began to shake a little rough, accompanied by the sound of several loud booms beneath their feet. Once the shaking had stopped, several of the inhabitants ran to the window to notice that the ship was rising off the ground. Felicia smiled with glee at this. Not only had they fixed that stubborn cannon, now the entire ship was operational again! Somehow fixing the cannon had woken up the ship and readied for battle once again. The Toabots were already insured their victory in numbers, but now they had their ultimate weapon up and running again. Yeah, the ship could still fly before that, but now it was fully operational. Armor piercing bullets, machine cannons that fired hundreds of rounds per second, manual cannons, and the ships later to be revealed ultimate defense. The fact that the Makutacons were using a city as their stronghold with thousands of weapons didn't even matter anymore. Years of prayer for this ship to finally start working again had been answered. Whatever the Makutacons had up their sleeves, they were in for one heck of a fight now.

Armor's voice broke the silence as he then warned with a bit of worry in his tone: " And before it lands, we'll need to get somewhere on the battlefield as far away from the Firepower as possible".

Diego didn't need a supercomputer to understand the underlying message. "In other words, hit the ground running, right?" He looked over at Felicia for confirmation.

"Yeah, pretty much". She responded.

"Nice." He smirked in eagerness. "Care to make it a race?"

Felicia smiled innocently as she tauntingly responded: "I thought it already was".

Diego grinned back, eager for a good race. "Excellent!" He cheered, already pondering what to offer for the winner. He was between a kiss or first shot on the enemy. As much as he liked the kiss idea, he reasoned it was too cliche, plus he wanted to be respectful and not entrap Felicia into having to give him a kiss. He had been taught better than that, therefore he went for the second option. "Winner gets first shot at the first Makutacon they see?"

Felicia chuckled. "No. We'll already be doing enough of that upon our arrival". Then walking a little closer with a mischievous smirk, she then added with a taunting tone: "How about this: the first person who lands gets to kiss the other"?

Diego blushed as he began to stammer. "S...sure...I...I guess." He was so shocked that she had suggested to reward he had thought she wouldn't like.

Felicia smiled brightly, almost like a child who had gotten that one gift they had always wanted for their birthday. This smile was only a small percentage of her true excitement. Inside she was practically dancing with glee. She had caught a few looks from him over her shoulder in their time on the ship so she had assumed that he had had a crush on her. It only made sense to her to have him possibly kiss her on a dare if he were terrified of the very idea of asking her out. This way there was no escape. If he kissed her, she would feel his hidden passion and attraction for her. And if she won the race, vice versa. Regardless, she was happy for the convenience of Diego wanting to do dares with people. It may have granted them both a future together. Even if not, Felicia was willing to take the risk. Diego just looked too yummy to her for her to risk otherwise.

"Then it's set". Felicia responded, then holding out her right hand for him to shake. "Shake it with your left hand, your right one is sweating". Felicia pointed

Confused, he looked down to see that his hand was indeed sweating. "Oh sorry about that." He murmured, hiding it behind his back as her shook her hand with his left one.

Felicia smiled kindly. "Don't be". Then leaning up close so she could whisper: "I find it attractive". before then walking away with a sly smile over her shoulder to him., which grew wider when she tended to a key pad on the wall. 'Sweaty palms? Oh yeah, he digs me'! She thought happily.

Diego followed her retreat before shaking his head with a deep sigh. "Oh man, what did I do?"

Having been close by when this deal had been made, Ketongu couldn't pass up this new chance to annoy some people with his radio once again. 'Now which song to choose...' Ketongu looked to the side in thought. Obviously it would have to be a romantic song in order to make the moment more embarrassing for Diego. Considering how forward Felicia was, he doubted anything he did would annoy her. 'Stubborn as her dad, but definitely more tolerable of my pranks'. Ketongu thought. 'But back to songs. Should I go with Perfect by Ed Sheeran. Nah. they just met and Felicia might point out the "we met when we were kids" lyric. Crush by David Archuleta? No way. They song is about a guy left wondering about whether or not a girl loves him as much as he loves her. Not only depressing, it also doesn't fit. No way am I believing that these two aren't aware of each others feelings to some capacity'. His smile widened then as he finally thought of the perfect song. One by Michael Jackson. This song didn't entirely fit in with the situation, but a couple more popular lyrics probably did.

Without Diego expecting it, Ketongu commanded his radio to play the following lyrics loud enough for him to hear: "Billy Jean, is not my lover. She's just a girl, claiming, I am the one"!

Diego jumped in surprise at the sudden music only yo turn apple red when the lyrics sank in. "Wha...Key!" Running his hands over his face in panicked frustration, he continued, "We hardly know each other! How could she even be sure about that?! Oh man." He rubbed his head as he muttered. "I wonder if Dad had this problem?"

"Not likely considering he's the Autobot rule book encyclopedia". Ketongu joked to hopefully ease whatever tension Diego was feeling before he continued with a shrug: "Sometimes love is just awkward that way. Plus, she clearly wanted to kiss you, otherwise she wouldn't have suggested it as a challenge reward to begin with. Yeah, you're both pretty young but sometimes young love is senseless. I should know, I was a victim to it".

This comment was followed by a com link response from Armor who simply asked: "Since when? I don't recall you having very much charm". Armor finished teasingly.

Ketongu pouted visibly. "More charm than you buddy". He retorted.

"And who out of the two of us has a child"? Armor asked, again through their com link.

Deciding then to ignore Armor, Ketongu continued his conversation with Diego: "Anyways, I've had romances with several femmes. Since I was way younger actually. It happened at least 134 times if I remember that right".

"You definitely don't". Armor once again commed.

Continuing to ignore Armor, Ketongu continued: "I was VERY popular among the ladies. Then the war happened and it turned me more serious about this kind of stuff".

"And believe me, it took a lot of that to finally break him out of that habit". Paradox spoke through the speaker in that room.

Ketongu looked down as he began to remember the memory of how that happened. Years ago, Ketongu had dated a femme soldier mainly for her looks, entrapping her easily with false promises of a long romantic life together. The worse part was that Ketongu didn't regret it at the time and had done this with several other femmes during the war. Paradox had even scolded him a couple times for putting more focus on flirting than winning the war. But Ketongu had refused to listen. Then the day came when he and this same femme fought in a battle that cost the lives of many of the soldiers in Ketongu's unit. Including that of the femme he had been dating. To make matters worse, she didn't die as quickly as everyone else did. It had been a slow and painful death that had taken the course of several days due to a bullet that had lodged itself into her abdomen. The reason she got that wound: shoving him away from incoming fire. All in an effort to save a guy who had only pretended to love her, and as a result of the guilt that had build up inside of him, he confessed that the relationship with her had been a sham. Much to his surprise, she had forgiven him, but she didn't dare spare him from a lecture on the emotional damage he had inflicted on those other femmes who now surely had trust issues or may have also died believing the concept of romantic love to be a lie. To this day, Ketongu was ashamed of himself for having waited so long to heed Paradox's warnings. This lecture had left an even bigger impact on him as she had passed away in his arms, after they had just made it back to the base in a new-found love for each other. Ever since that day, Ketongu had truly found Jesus's forgiveness, as he had finally started listening to
Paradox's teachings about His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all, and as a result decided that he would never ever lead a femme on with false promises or break whatever chances they could have at trusting someone, ever again.

"Oh. Umm, Paradox?" Diego was silent as his mind raced for something, anything, to say but only coming up with one thing that he was scared to address. "Don't tell my Mom about the bet!" He finally blurted, shaking in fear of what she would do if word reached her.

Paradox sighed on his end. "I am sorry. If she asks me, I cannot lie. Also, she already heard you".

"Diego."

The young Toabot winced at the flat, stern tone that was said to rival his father's. "Uh, hi mom." He managed to squeak out.

"What is this I hear about a BET? Especially one involving KISSING?"

Diego ducked his head as though expecting to be hit as he fidgeted with his hands. "W...well, I...uh, I mean, we were...she...I..." He looked towards the others pleadingly.

Ketongu smiled and crossed his arms, deciding to reference Star Wars Clone Wars by stating matter of factually: "No way. I'm enjoying this way too much".

Armor heaved an irritated sigh as he spoke next through the shared com-link: "Felicia, you are SO getting grounded when this battle's over".

Armor had had enough to worry about knowing that his daughter was helping the Toabots fight the war. Armor had considered himself blessed to have not dealt with "boy problems" before now. 'Well, I guess it was good while it lasted'. Armor thought. Every since he had lost his wife in the birthing process, he had been protective of his daughter, seeing as the last remnant of her existence in this current life. Having to raise Felicia wasn't too easy as she would rebel here and there in different ways. Many of which he could still recall, including the times he told her not to prank people with Ketongu, not to fall asleep during a class, not to touch his guns, not to attempt a back flip off of furniture, not to balance off of high settings, and in more cases than not, no following daddy in war time. Armor still wasn't quite sure what had happened to make Felicia this way. She definitely had the energetic energy her mother did, but he didn't recall hearing anything about his wife being rebellious. But at the very least, she had never gotten into any trouble with boys, which he was for the most part happy with as he genuinely felt that her mother would've handled those discussions better. Now not only did he have no choice in the matter, now he had to worry about her being close to some boy who liked her. Already his protective instincts were beginning to settle back in, telling him to keep a close optic on the two. In that moment he knew, if Diego did so much as touch his baby girl the wrong way, there would by pit to pay.

Ketongu finally spoke after a couple suspenseful moments: "Alright. Look, Adhira, here's the thing:... Diego has a crush"., he finished with a snicker. Now was his chance to embarrass someone other than Green relentlessly, and no way was he about to pass that up. 'I've been bummed out for too long today. Time to have a little fun'.

"Oh?" Adhira's voice still cut clear through her son's incoherent stuttering and he stared at Ketongu with wide, horrified optics. "My little boy has a crush?" The stern tone had shifted somewhat to blend a protective growl.

Ketongu's smirk was evident in his voice as he responded: "Yes he does, and she likes him too. She's actually been flirting with him too".

Not a second later, stomping was heard approaching their location as Armor shouted: "Felicia"!, to which said femme simply looked over her shoulder as if noticing a slight breeze to the sight of him walking towards her with an angry expression.

Felicia wasn't stupid. She knew her dad was protective of her and she knew the lecture that would surely follow the second he stepped foot in the communications room, but she cared little. Felicia was well old enough to be living on her own if she wasn't already sharing a room with him in the Toabot base per Paradox's orders. Something about families needing to stick together for the time being, and while Felicia respected that, it didn't mean she was going to stay with her dad forever. Even Slash was crushing on a girl at this point, so why couldn't she crush on an attractive individual too? Why couldn't she make her own decisions on this matter without having to look over her shoulder to potentially spot her dad spying on them? It wasn't fair. Everyone else got to date and chat around with each other. Some of the younger Toabots who had lived under the roofs of strict parents had even snuck out of the base late at night and had fun shopping or eating out. Felicia didn't one hundred percent condone this, but she knew she could be careful. She remembered her training and everything her dad had told her about boys who would only want her for her body. But Diego was different. This was a guy who wasn't looking at her chest whenever she talked with him. Diego actually listened to her and was interested in whatever she had to say and she knew that this was something hard to find. Looking up in hidden despair to the heavens, Felicia prayed in wonder: 'Will my dad ever trust me enough to leave'?

Warm laughter poured from the speakers. "I see." After another minute of giggles, Adhira managed to get herself under control. "And Diego has no idea how to respond to her, does he? He tends to look like a deer caught in headlights?" Diego wasn't sure if he should relax at the teasing tone in his mother's voice.

"More like a butterfly splattered on a windshield". Ketongu responded, earning another fit of laughter from Adhira and a slight glare from Diego.

Finally turning to face Armor, Felicia gave him the innocent smile that she knew he found adorable as she replied: "What's up"?

But rather than the expected effect, Armor kept his stern, parental glare and responded: "Don't "what's up" me, young lady. I know what you dared him to do".

Felicia slumped with a groan. "Dad, it's OK. He and I have been chatting for a while now. If he were going to make a perverted move on me, it would've happened by now. His dad definitely taught him his boundaries".

Armor opened his mouth again to keep arguing, but found himself finding no other logic in his thought processor to order her to stay away from Diego, other than the fact that he was a boy. As much as he kind of hated to admit it, Felicia was right. From what he had gathered of Diego in the past six months, he was a smart, well educated, and a guy you could definitely trust if you were alone with him in a battlefield. Which unfortunately also meant that he had no reason to suspect the newly recruited Toabot of any foul play. Then again, seeing as this was the son of Prowl he guessed he should've seen this coming. Armor had had a few encounters with Prowl and he had proven himself to be an okay guy just so long as you weren't as dumb as most boys appeared to be these days. Though Prowl refused to gloat about it, he had certainly done something right with the boy, and he had been half tempted to ask for parenting advice despite the fact that with Felicia as an adult, that information would be useless. Armor wasn't even trying to control Felicia in this instance, he only wanted to protect her from the dangers of idiotic mechs who didn't think with their thought processors. But Armor supposed that if he were to give his daughter up(willingly) to any mech out there, Diego might actually have been a good candidate.

With a slump and a sigh, Armor asked Felicia: "Do you really trust this male"?

"Of course I do, daddy". Felicia responded. Then with a smirk and the usage of her baby voice: "Don't you trust me"?

As in most instances, this made Armor chuckle. Then with a sigh of defeat: "Alright. You can take the bet". Which made Felicia smile brightly. Then with his stern look again and a pointed finger: "But only on the cheek unless you want him to lose the usage of his mouth".

"Yes, make sure it's just the cheek, Diego." Adhira's commanding voice resounded, the serious tone causing Diego to stand a bit straighter. "A kiss on the lips is a sacred gift to reserve for marriage."

"Yes, ma'am." Diego nodded. He remembered the multiple times his father had to remind him to avoid kissing a girl he liked on the lips as that was only allowed for the wedding ceremony.

At this, Felicia raised an optic ridge. 'Say what now? Since when is a kiss taboo'? She would never have guessed that anyone had seen kissing as that big a deal considering she had seen multiple couples kissing. Not that she and Diego were a couple yet, but still. Did that mean kissing on new years eve was prohibited? What if there was a mistletoe on Christmas time? What about on valentines day? Would this be enforced on their future children if they had any? Felicia certainly hoped not. In her optics, kissing was a wonderful way to express ones love for another. 'Why would anyone want to be deprived of that'? Felicia pondered.

"What do you mean sacred"? Felicia asked.

"A woman's first kiss is a gift from God," Adhira explained, "to save or give away as she chooses."

"What if she chooses to give it before? As most women normally do"? Felicia asked with a normal tone. Felicia almost instantly felt Armor's disapproving frown on her shoulder.

She wasn't wrong. Though Armor agreed with Felicia's point of view on this kissing matter, he still felt it would be wise to respect her views in action, even if Diego didn't necessarily agree either. No matter how awful this moral obviously was to his daughter, she still needed to win her potential future mother-in-laws trust and like, otherwise family gatherings would be chaotic. Then there was Prowl who absolutely loved to enforce the rules, sometimes despite emotional reactions to his warnings. Though Prowl had gotten better, there was still a bit of a rule book lecture instinct in him. Armor very much doubted Felicia wanted to spend the next couple courting years in a room with an angry Guardian Toa and an Autobot disciplinary. Even Armor hadn't had parents that strict.

Seeming to understand that she didn't have a high ground in this discussion, Felicia ducked her head and audibly conceded in this discussion as she responded: "Not to sound mean".

There was a tense moment of silence that seemed to stretch for eternity as Diego silently worried that his mother would not approve of Felicia. Finally, the speaker came to life again in a warm tone that Diego well remembered.

"Like I said, it is her choice. But consider the possibility that she gives it to the wrong person or one who does not understand how special it is. What do you think will happen if the kiss was a priceless gem or artifact in such hands?"

Diego remained silent as he knew what his mother was trying to get across. She was trying to get Felicia to think logically about the situation.

Felicia looked down for a moment, actually considering Adhira's logic for a moment. Though she still didn't entirely like it,she understood what Adhira was telling her. Her first kiss would be something she would remember for the rest of her life, regardless of whether or not she would want to. She had never really given any mech a kiss yet so the lack of experience may have really been a benefit to her. Especially now. Didn't entirely mean she would follow her advice, but it would remain in the back of her mind. She looked at Diego a moment before returning her gaze to the floor. She really did want to keep the bet going, but now whether or not she trusted Diego with such a jewel was now put into question. Of course she trusted him. But did she know for a fact that this was the guy she wanted to marry. Diego definitely had a few personal issues from the recent betrayal and her mother being away for most of his life so she already knew that the following relationship would have issues, but they did get along for the most part and Diego didn't let all of that stuff affect him too much. Felicia figured that for now, she would just give Diego a chance, and if she found herself trusting him enough, kiss anyway. But ONLY under that circumstance.

"Okay". Felicia responded.

"Okay, what?" Adhira's voice sounded genuinely confused and was seeking clarification.

"I'll be careful about the kissing". Felicia responded.

With a satisfied smile, Armor finally left the room, though not before turning a head over his shoulder and give Diego a "treat her wrong and I'll kill you" look before being followed out by Ketongu.

Diego leaned against the wall, struggling to not let his knees knock too obviously as he ducked his head to Armor respectively. He had seen him in battle and knew he had skills that could whip him to the last ten millennia should he ever hurt Felicia in any way, shape or form. The thought made him really scared if he was really ready for a relationship now. He liked Felicia a lot but...could he really handle all this stress? He decided to talk with his Dad later for some advice after this was all over. His thoughts were interrupted by Adhira's voice.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that. That goes for you as well, mechling."

Diego stiffened. "Yes, Mother." He swallowed nervously.

Paradox was heard chuckling a bit. "Now that that is settled, over and out".

As Ketongu and Armor left the room, Ketongu was fighting to keep himself from chuckling at Armor's evident worry. Ketongu had seen how deceptive Felicia could be numerous times since her arrival on earth and therefore knew that Armor might be right to be so worried. If Felicia was determined enough or had the right distraction at hand, Felicia would use the distractions and ultimately accomplish her goal despite what Armor said or did to prevent it. Now Felicia didn't always win when she was younger, having been under Armor's strict household and every grounding afterwards would work for a few months at most before she was back at it. Now she had the perfect distraction. Splitting up after the Firepower landed was mandatory so that in itself was an opportunity for her to still get what she wanted if she still desired a kiss from her current dream boy. 'Note to self, keep a close optic on BOTH of them'.

Armor slumped once he heard Ketongu's question, asked in a teasing tone: "Do you think she really meant that"?

Armor heaved a sigh and rested the urge to hit the Toabot of light. Again. "Honestly with her, you can never tell".

Ketongu raised his single optic ridge enough for it to convey confusion as he asked: "Then why not keep her away from him"?

Armor stopped in his tracks, then turned to look Ketongu in the optic as he replied matter of factually: "Because even if I did, she'd find a way around it. She's far too clever for that". Then turning and continuing his walk with a slump. "And to make matters worse, she got from both me and her mother".

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Biomarve740: Prowl is owned by Hasbro, as is some of the cybertronian terminology.

Galem: (is giving Adhira a hard time about her son)

Biomarvel740: lol! Looks like your baby boy is growing up.

Adhira: no! I don't want him to! I just got him back!

Biomarvel740: (places my hands on her shoulder) Sorry.

Adhira: it's life.

Biomarvel740: (Hugging her)

Adhira: (hugs Biomarvel740 back)

Biomarvel740: (Cradles her as I look at the readers) What did you all think of the chapter?

Galem: Please let us know by leaving a review or PM either of us if you have any questions.

Biomarvel740: We thank you for reading-

Galem: and please...

Biomarvel740 and Galem: Have a God-blessed day! XD :D

Also, HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY GALEM! Everyone please wish her a happy birthday tomorrow! XD