TFA: Together We Stand (Season 1)

Chapter 5: Her First Test

Mantis frowned. "Are we supposed to have a visitor today?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Prowl replied already getting up and dropping into a fighting stance.

"No way that's Shifu, his pede steps are as light as zero gravity." Mantis said as she too rose up from her position and dropped into a fighting stance.

"We may be dealing with an intruder." Prowl said.

"We have to warn Shifu." Mantis hissed.

"We can't, we don't have time and wouldn't Master have noticed by now?" Prowl pointed out.

Mantis went silent as she realized he had a point. "So what's our next move?" she asked.

Prowl - realizing that as the only 'adult' in this situation, it was his duty to take charge- opened his mouth then closed it.....then he realized that he didn't exactly have a plan.

"You....don't have a plan, do you." Mantis pointed out bluntly.

"......Admittedly, no at the moment." Prowl admitted.

A bulb then seemed to go off in Mantis's processor. "Wait, you have a hologram projector thingy, right?" she asked.

Prowl nodded. "I've got an idea." Mantis said.

Next thing he knew, he was hanging upside down on the rafters, disguised as a lamp using his hologram projector. "This is your great idea?" he hissed at Mantis who was hanging upside down beside him also disguised as a lamp. Turns out, she too had a hologram projector like Prowl except hers was installed on her midriff.

"I never said it was great." Mantis muttered. "Besides, this way we can get the drop on him...or...her or whatever. Sides, bots hardly look up."

Before Prowl could continued to argue over a better plan, a silhouette appeared by the door.

"Looks like our guest has arrived." Mantis said.

The bot had a menacing black and grey paint job with a....cannon protruding from his chassis?!

"Does that bot have a slagging cannon on his chassis?!" Mantis hissed.

"Language." Prowl reprimanded, wondering how she knew such a crass word at such a young age. "And yes, he does." he added grimly

The bot walked through the dojo, heading towards the nearby storage cabinet. Opening it, he began to store whatever items he could find into his subspace.

"That bot's ransacking our home!" Mantis hissed in indignation and anger at the gall of the intruder. "We have to stop him."

"How?" Prowl asked.

"Um....you go high and I go low?" Mantis said.

".....Seriously?! That's your plan?!" Prowl hissed.

Mantis's optics darted around before she noticed the lamp that was conveniently dangling directly above the intruder. A mischievous smirk made its way onto her faceplate.

"Actually, this is." She said before she swung up and crawled towards the lamp. "Keep an optic on the bot and make sure he doesn't move from where he's standing." She told Prowl.

She crawled along the rafters until she reached the lamp. Rummaging around in her subspace, she took out a small energon knife that was used in cooking.