Red Alert, Jazz, Soundwave and Skywarp were working over time and together to make sure no one disturbed the red energon while it was being processed. Aside from high speed if it was ignited without any precaution it would blow the race tracks, plus the audience sky high. Devastator and Scavenger were using their brute strength and size to keep the curious onlookers at bay but you never know when some upstart might think about trying to steal it.
The race went on without a hitch with the fastest racer from Velocitron named Hotshot taking the lead followed by Cheetor from Jungle planet. The two racers were racing neck to neck in the beginning but when the race tracks changed their pace changed as well. Bumblebee and Blurr who had learned about the terrains from their human friend took it easy and followed his advice of slow, steady and perseverance wins the race. It was not a bad advice especially after seeing so many become disqualified so easily though it seems Cheetor and Hotshot were used to such racing.
Suffice to say Hotshot won the race and received the largest amout of red energon while Cheetor received half of that amount though it was not a small thing. Blurr and Bumblebee came in fourth and fifth after Arcee who was third and received three caches of red energon. She would be sharing it with her two partners who had originally encouraged her to take part, high speed racing really did make her feel better, she should do it more. Blurr and Bumblebee didn't get red energon, thank Primus (that was Ratchet), but they did manage to impress the professional racers.
Hotshot, "You should consider joining professional racing youngling."
Blurr, "Really?"
Cheetor, "You two are quite fast despite being beginners."
Bumblebee, "Maybe after returning from Earth I will."
Hotshot turned to Bumblebee, "Are the rumors true then?"
Bumblebee looked at the older bot amused, "Which ones?"
Cheetor, "About Lord Prime and High Lord adopting an organic sparkling?"
Blurr, "That one is true. And he is really nice and soft and kind."
Hotshot, "Tell me about him. He has many of the High Elites interested."
Bumblebee, "Not here, we were planning on joining the others at Maccaddams though."
Blurr, "It's a popular hang out, come join us."
Cheetor, "Just let me alert my team leader, Rhino, then I am good."
Hotshot, "Let me give Ariel a message as well. She can get really prissy if she is not given a helms up of who is doing what."
Arcee, "Cool, follow us."
They led the visiting guest to Maccaddams a very popular oil house and ordered drinks for everyone. Maccaddams being the usual cryptic self congratulated Bumblebee on his lovely organic sparkling getting bewildered looks from them. Maccaddams then muttered it has not happened yet and left shaking his head while Blurr guided them to their seats in their corner. Cheetor and Hotshot talked to the young racers and Arcee chimed in with her own observations while waving Tailgate and Cyclonus over. The group bugged Blurr and Bumblebee about the rumours and to show them any pictures they had.
Bumblebee, "Well we do have some but most were taken by Lord Prime and the High Lord."
Blurr muttered, "Not like they were sharing."
Bumblebee, "Ooooh! We have a video of them mock battling too."
Makeshift a mech with dark colouring spoke up, "You have been hanging out with the organic sparkling? Are the rumours true? Are they a real beauty? Did they really win a High Councilman's favour?"
Blurr, "Uhhhh.. Yes, we have been, which rumours? Yes, he is adorable, you should have seen them sleeping. I'm not sure about the last part.... I mean the ex Councilman wanted him dead.. "
Bumblebee, "Well Roadblaster's Sire seems to respect Ash."
Rath, Cheetor's bodyguard blinked, "Are you talking about Shockblast by any chance?"
Blurr nodded slowly, he understood the ridiculousness, the Councilman was one of those who looked down on others. For him to favour an organic was... well it made them wonder if he was replaced. But then again he was very pleased by what Roadblaster had to report about the mine and had offered more help in making the mining easier. The old Mech actually saw the opportunity Ash had found and wanted credits out of it, Bumblebee did not say it out loud of course. But it's what they had been thinking.
Hotshot was watching one clip, "No way!"
Cheetor, "He was the one to suggest the different race tracks?"
Bumblebee grinned, "Yup, he even gave us tips on tackling a marathon track of a similar nature."
Blurr, "Yeah, I can't wait to race again. It was so much fun."
Rath was interested, "May I request for the mock battle clips?"
Bumblebee, "Sure... Blades is here! Blades over here."
Blades, "Bee, what's up? Oh you are watching the mock battle again?"
Blurr, "You recorded it too right?"
Blades, "Yup, want to join both angles and then project it?"
Bumblebee, "That was my plan too."
Rath observed the fight, "Oh they are good."
Landmine, Hotshot's bodyguard gave a whistle, "They used High Lord Megatron's size against him."
Makeshift, "So that's Ash.... I must admit he is quite lovely for am organic sparkling."
Swirl, Makeshift's buddy eyed him, "You are not planning on challenging Lord Prime, are you? I mean I know the Allspark well and Vector Sigma didn't spark for you... And you want a sparkling."
Blurr narrowed his optics, "You are not touching Ash."
Makeshift raised his servos, "I am not suicidal, thank you. I'm just saying if the rest of the organics are as lovely as he is then I might go to that organic planet myself. Who knows maybe I'll find my own sparkling out there."
Bumblebee turned to Blades, "Oh yeah! Guess what?"
Blades, "What's up?"
Bumblebee, "Maccaddams reckoned if we go to Earth to meet Ash, we will be finding our own sparkling."
Blades gaped before looking hopeful, "You.. You think so?"
Bumblebee nodded, "He seemed pretty sure of it."
Rath blinked, "Wait.. Wait a nano click... Are you implying that Maccaddams is a seer?"
Blurr, "Ash seemed to think Maccaddams has future sight after meeting him once."
Hotshot, "What does that mean exactly?"
Cheetor, "Don't seers see the future?"
Bumblebee, "No, according to him, future sight is a move used in battle. Sometimes it can come to you simultaneously like in Maccaddams case."
Blades, "Absol used future sight while battling Megatron. He was really hard to pin down."
Rath looked interested, "Are you saying anyone can learn that move?"
Blurr, "Anyone who trained for it specifically, according to Ash. He mentioned he had to train his Pokemon very intensely with one goal in mind for it to work."
Landmine, "Do you think he could teach us? It's a very useful technique from what I am observing here."
Bumblebee, "I don't think he will say no. But good luck trying to get time with him though."
Blurr chuckled, "You know how Sires and Carriers can be."
Rath nodded feeling a little disappointed but understanding, "Yes, I know."
Landmine, "Bummer! I had forgotten the Lords want him as their sparkling.... Wait is that Sunstreaker?"
Arcee, "Yup, it sure is."
Tailgate, "He is talking to an organic."
Cyclonus stared, "That is the same arrogant Sunstreaker right?"
Shadowsteel joined them, "That sure is, and yep he likes Ash. In fact, rumour has it, he wants to court our Ash."
Cool Aid snickered, "No one can resist my boss, not even that proud Mech. Though good luck to him getting past Lord Megatron."
Cheetor and Hotshot looked at each other before looking at the hologram of the young organic sparkling. They could see he was adorable but for someone like Sunstreaker who's rude and disrespectful reputation is quite well known to like him. Well, the little one must have impressed the Yellow ex gladiator and they soon saw why. Ash had given a performance for them, called Pokemon showcase art and Sunstreaker was very impressed.
Rath purred, "What a lovely kit! If Lord and High Lord had not claimed him, I certainly would have."
Landmine, "Indeed he is quite talented."
The group talked more about the things they had observed about Ash, especially about his flow between acting like a strict trainer one minute then an oblivious sparkling the next minute. They had only gone to Maccaddams once and Optimus had to hold Megatron back from ripping one of the Mechs who was flirting with Ash apart. They had decided to stay at their housing unit after that, not to forget while it was hilarious watching Ash be oblivious to the blatant flirting, they didn't want anyone to try anything.
They also talked about the race track or more like Bumblebee turned the topic to the race track when he noticed the unholy interest in Makeshift's optics. Yeah, he didn't want to be held responsible for giving information to the wrong person, thank you. Blades mentioned Ash had shared stills of some of the regions and areas with them and showed the pictures to the group. Rath and Cheetor looked ecstatic to see the grassy lands, jungles, forest and swamp areas, perhaps they should mention building a ship to their leader too.
Hotshot however was more interested in learning about this Pokemon journey and what it meant to them. Turns out the journey was like a rite of passage that the sparklings went on to decide what they wanted to do with themselves. Hotshot was not sure if something like that would fly on Cybertron especially with the way their Sire and Carrier codes worked. Not to forget no Mech, femme, beastbot, etc, would easily let their sparklings leave their protective custody.
Makeshift didn't look happy with that idea as well, "Well if he was my sparkling, he would not have to worry about any of that. I would provide him everything."
Blades snorted, "Good luck trying to adopt any of them with that attitude. Human sparklings from what I have seen are very curious by nature and will find a way out."
Bumblebee snickered remembering Ash wandering off so many time outside the housing unit. The yellow bot laughed and started to tell them about this one incident when Ash had faced an infected. The other bots tensed up when they heard the story and Makeshift looked ready to pummel something probably the infected. Blurr eyed the bot and had a bad feeling inside his frame, Ash called it survival instincts. He also told Blurr to trust his instincts as they are rarely wrong when it comes to danger.
Blurr, "What are you getting so worked up about? You never even met Ash before."
Makeshift sneered, "I don't know what you are talking about!"
Blades watched as the dark coloured mech stormed off, "I have a really bad feeling."
Blurr nodded, "Yeah, let's make sure he doesn't come near Ash. I am a little worried about what he might do."
Bumblebee, "We should probably warn Optimus and Megatron. I have a feeling he is going to challenge their claim."
Hotshot, "That's actually very common on Velocitron, does it not happen here?"
Cool Aid, "Well, sometimes not always. I mean it increased during the war but after it tapered off and people knew Primus was still active things became calmer.... At least I think it did, I have four Sires and two Carriers myself."
Shadowsteel, "No one tried to claim me from my Sire and Carrier after I became a youngling, not sure about before that though."
Bumblebee, "My previous Sire and Carrier were killed and I was adopted by a new couple who fought with another couple. I must confess however that I would have preferred going with Ash back then though."
Cool Aid, "Yeah, me too. I wouldn't have to move between Guardians this way. Not that I'm complaining, of course. Ash himself told us he had many Sires, Carriers, Grand Sires and Grand Carriers who claimed him. So that is one big similarity between us."
Cheetor hummed, "He is a sweet kit, isn't he?"
Rath, "Young Lord Cheetor, perhaps we can find a sparkling to call our own, on this planet Earth. Perhaps one of his friends would be open to the idea of being claimed by us?"
Hotshot perked up, "That's not a bad idea. I know Overdrive would love to have her own sparklings, not just one."
After a few more cycles of talking and drinking energon, the group broke up and went on their way. Overdrive like Hotshot predicted was very interested, she had heard nothing but good things about the organic sparkling, though the little one did warn them about the questionable adults. The femme Leader has decided for a sparkling very strongly even before she became a leader for her people. Now with Hotshot doing well in his studies and work, she was ready to step down as a Leader and let the young adult lead their planet.
Scourge the leader of Jungle planet was having similar thoughts, especially about one of his students Predaking. The predacon was the oldest among three brothers and the most patient among them. He had been learning from both Scourge and Rhino on how to be a good leader and Scourge felt like he could leave Jungle planet in safe hands. The leader of Jungle planet had been interested in going to this planet Earth after learning about Charizard's existence. The fire lizard looked similar to him except he was organic and ash grey coloured with the ability to mold fire and create walls. Yep, Scourge wanted to challenge him but couldn't just leave his planet nilly willy.
After a few more vorns the ship that would take them to planet Earth was ready to sail across the Galaxy. Lamaria was a very magnificent ship with quite an impressive team on board which consisted of two Lords, a Rescue team, a scout team, the sailing crew, a group of scientist, artists, warriors and strategist. Soundwave was exasperated by the large group but bore it with as much grace and dignity he could muster. The silent Mech grumbled under his denta, he was not sure why certain mechs and femmes like Sunstreaker and Arachainid were going to earth but as long as they don't cause trouble he supposed.
Sideswipe eyed the painting Sunstreaker made, "It looks good Sunny."
Sunstreaker, "Don't call me that. Course it does I made it."
Sideswipe, "I bet Ash would love it."
Sunstreaker, "I hope so Sides."
Sideswipe looked at his twin, ever since he met the organic Sunstreaker had been distracted quite a bit. Spending most of his time alone creating art, especially art that Ash had told and explained to them. If he didn't know any better then he would say his twin was smitten by the organic but he knew better. Organics don't live long like Cybertronians, it was risky to claim them as sparkmates. Pit it was risky to claim them as sparklings as evidenced by what happened to Megatronus Prime and yet their glitched Prime claimed Ash.
Surely Sunstreaker knew better then to fall for an organic? Sunstreaker was not sure how to deal with his strange new feelings, he wanted to see Ash again. He remembered touching the lovely spark's face, he was so soft to touch and smelled quite nice. Normally he avoided organics but this one was someone he could tolerate and like. He even knew about art and appreciated art, Ash had even happily showed some of his own creations.
Sunstreaker rumbled, 'On top of that, he didn't fear me at all.'
Makeshift was looking outside one of the glasses, 'Looks like I will finally meet you little one. You saved my life back in Vos, I swear, I will pay you back. I shall take good care of you dear Ash. You will have nothing to worry about.'
Optimus and Megatron had their own thoughts and emotions about the trip, they were going to meet their sparkling. Their little one would no longer be traveling to dangerous unstable areas of Cybertron to meet them. The rescue squad and scouting squad were very ecstatic as well, they would be seeing their friend soon. Back on Earth Ash felt a shiver go down his spine, he was going to help Cynthia with Meloetta. Ash looked around them to the sky feeling a bit of dread yet happiness, something would happen soon that would change things drastically.
[A. N.: Hello lovely readers!
Hope you all are doing well. Have a wonderful Sunday darlings. And Happy Rakhi everyone, don't forget your sweets. :)]