CLANG!
The sound of metal against metal reverberated through the air as Mantis and Prowl sparred away. Punches were thrown, kicks were lashed out, attacks were blocked, dodged or countered and optics were narrowed in concentration.
"Go, Mantis!" Sari cheered.
"Come on! You almost got im'!" Bee cheered.
"Thanks for the support!" Prowl shouted back sarcastically before seizing Mantis's wrist and trying to flip her over, only for the femme to twist out of it at the last minute and land on her pedes.
"Come on, brother. That all you got?" Mantis taunted.
Prowl smirked. "You asked for it."
"Wow, they really go all out." Bulkhead said as he watched the two ninjabots duke it out.
"They look cool now, wait till they come hobbling to a med-bay with dents." Ratchet grunted.
"I think it's pretty productive." Optimus said. "I wonder how she'll fare against an actual Decepticon though......" his optic ridges furrowed in worry at that prospect.
So far they haven't seen any trace of Decepticon activity, not since the Blackairachnia encounter during the Halloween fiasco and the recent Soundwave encounter though he wasn't exactly a Decepticon per se.....right? Either ways, they were glad those were in the past.
But it was like the calm before the storm.
Ratchet won't admit it, but even he's aware of it if the annoying aching itch on his old war scar was anything to go by.
They turned their attention back to the fight just in time to see Prowl slip behind Mantis and put her in a chokehold.
But Mantis wasn't giving up she lifted her pede down and stomped down on Prowl's pede earning a cry of pain from him which gave her the chance to slip out of his grasp and slammed a palm fist strike onto his midriff. He stumbled back and they came at a standstill.
"That was a pretty dirty trick." Prowl remarked.
Mantis shrugged. "You learn a trick or two as an outcast." She said.
Prowl just shook his helm. "Let's just call it a draw." He said.
"Sure." Mantis said. She didn't mind, not like they were actually fighting anyways. She'd know a full out hardcore battle and this wasn't it, not yet. She always did enjoy a nice good-sportsmanship spar.
"Aw man, just when it was getting good." Bee said.
"Why don't you spar next then?" Prowl snapped.
"Fine then, I will!" Bee said and walked up to them.
"Whoa, hey little buddy calm down." Bulkhead said.
"He was just kidding." Mantis said.
Bee waved them off. "Yeah, yeah, but I wanna try anyways." He said.
"This isn't a game, you know. You could get hurt." Prowl said.
Bee rolled his optics. "Wow, I didn't notice." He said sarcastically.
"How about this." Optimus said, intervening before things escalated into an argument. "Bumblebee and Mantis can spar together and Prowl can standby on watch in case things get out of hand."
"Fine by me." Mantis said.
"Okie dokie, Bossbot." Bee said.
"........fine." Prowl agreed.
And that was how the two minibots found themselves staring at each other from their respective sides.
"Nothing personal, right?" Mantis said.
"Nothing personal." Bee agreed. "Well, other than the races of course." He added.
"Then I hope you're ready to have another tally on your losing list." She said.
"Oh, it's on." Bee said, getting fired up.
Prowl raised his servo up and........
"Begin!" he shouted, bringing it down.
^^*************^^
Bumblebee found himself staring up at the sky for the third time.
"I think that's enough for today." Prowl said.
"Best 3 out of 5!" Bee said.
"I've already won 3 times." Mantis pointed out.
Bee groaned then accepted defeat. "How do you keep doing that?" he asked.
"It's not me, it's you. You leave way too many openings and you rush in so fast your style gets sloppy." Mantis said, helping him up.
"......let me give you a tip." She said. She knew Bee was actually capable of being a pretty decent fighter if he had the right teachings to him. And in a way she.......kinda felt that.....empathy with him, what with being one of the shortest among their peers.
Yoketron and Prowl helped her learn; it's only fair she does the same for someone else in the same boat.
"When you punch, don't focus on driving in your fist, try to drive in your elbow." She said.
"Why?" Bee asked.
"When you drive in your elbow and 'snap' it in a way, it makes it easier to transfer maximum power since your elbow is supporting your wrist. If you focus on launching the fist alone, it'll be weakly supported and it'll just waste your energy." Mantis explained.
"Ok, try punching me like you did before." She said, putting her servo, palm out for him to punch.
He punched.
"Now, try again but drive in your elbow and snap it like I said." She said.
He did and.......
The servo was pushed back a bit more with a stronger impact.
"Whoa....." he said, surprised.
Mantis smirked. "Sometimes even the smallest changes can leave the biggest ripples."
"Not bad." Prowl remarked. "Though it could use more finesse."
Bee looked at her, optics shining in excitement and determination. "Can you teach me more?" he asked.
Mantis chuckled. "Later. Let me buff myself up then we'll have a go."
Bee smirked. "Hope you're ready to prepare me to wipe the floor with you." He said, throwing out a punch for emphasis.
Mantis smirked back. "I wouldn't get cocky if I were you, hot shot." She said, playfully elbowing him before walking off.
Then Bee froze as he felt a servo clamp down on his servo and he swore to Primus he felt death creep up on him.
"Mark my words, if you touch or so much as think of her in any wrong way, I will personally make sure you wish you were never protoformed, is that clear?" Prowl asked, a very, very dangerous beast lurking underneath his even voice waiting to pounce.
"Loud and c-clear." He said with a shaky smile.
Prowl nodded and was about to walk off but Bee stopped him.
"Wait!" he called. Prowl turned around and wondered what the minibot wanted to say now.
"Look, Prowl, I know this ain't really my place to say it but.....you gotta let loose a little when it comes to Mantis." He said, for once, careful with his words knowing he was on pretty thin ice. "I think I speak for all of us when I say she can take care of herself. So just......you know, maybe tone down the brother complex a bit?"
Prowl surprisingly stood there and processed his words. Then he saw him sigh, his shoulders slumping and looking tired for once.
"I know.......I also know how trouble seems to always come our way." He said.
"Then we'll just have to send the trouble back." Optimus said, coming over and giving Prowl a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "All of us have her back, alright? You don't have to do it alone anymore." He said.
".....thanks, Prime." Prowl said, mouth twitching upwards slightly.
Yeah........everything's fine. For now that is and.....that's enough.
^^*************^^
"Your stance is too wide." Mantis chastised. "That leaves a huge opening for someone to throw you off balance."
"I thought I was gonna learn how to fight, not look like I will and do no fighting." Bee grumbled.
He received a whack on the helm for that.
"A fighting stance is very important in a fight." Mantis stressed. "Do it right and you've got good balance. More importantly, it might help you make a move that could save your skid plates."
"Like......dancing?" Bee asked.
"Something like that. Ok, I'll teach you some basic moves first. Keep doing them and eventually they'll become muscle memory. Then we can move on to the more complicated stuff like grappling." Mantis said.
"Can you show me a grapple?" Bee asked, intrigued.
"Sure." She said. "Come here."
"Wait, you're doing it on me?!" he asked, backing away.
Mantis rolled her optics. "Who else? Now come here, you wussy." She said, stepping forward.
"Uh, can't we call Prowl or something?" he asked.
"Bumblebee, I'm not kidding." Mantis said, her tone becoming more serious and slightly annoyed. "This could work for you too. You'll get used to being thrown and your body will get used to the backlash of the impact after an attack."
"Like endurance training." Bee said, catching on.
Mantis nodded, slightly proud. Bee wasn't stupid. Impulsive? Yes. Reckless? Yes. Leap before thinking? Definitely. But he's not stupid.
"Ok, here's a simple one. You can use it when one of their servos stretch out in a punch or a stab. You pivot one foot out of your opponent's line of sight." She shifted one of her pedes. "Then grab the wrist and neck." She seized his wrist and the nape of his neck.
"Then......pull!" she yanked him forwards and he yelped at the sudden pull, stumbling off balance and-
Onto the floor, Mantis on top of him, pinning him down.
"And if your opponent is armed, you can twist the wrist." She twisted his wrist with the servo still grasping onto it and he hissed in protest. "Sorry." She said, loosening it.
"No, it's fine. Keep going. Then what?" he asked.
"Then well, they drop the weapon and with you on top of them....." he yelped once again as he felt a fist stop an inch away from his helm. "You can clobber em' and knock them out." With the demonstration done, she got off and helped him up.
"That was.....awesome!" he said in slight awe.
"It isn't fool proof though." Mantis said and began to list off the faults. "First off, when you go against someone bigger and heavier than you, it won't be easy to pull them off balance cuz they'll resist and have the strength to pull it off.
"Secondly, they could always end up grabbing you to pull you down with them. Thirdly, you have to get the timing and position just right or it won't work." She listed off with three digits raised.
"But.....if they're heavier won't that make it easier? The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right?" Bee pointed out.
"True but that's if they're slow." Mantis said.
".....well that sucks." He said.
She patted him on the back and offered him an encouraging smile. "That's why we're here to learn. Now let's get started......."
^^*************^^
Prowl couldn't stop the smile twitching onto his faceplate as he saw how Mantis taught Bumblebee. Albeit, the smile was bittersweet as he felt the nostalgia take over.
Watching that scene.......for a moment, his optics seemed to glitch and he saw Yoketron there instead of Mantis.
"She's really good at this." Sari commented, coming up beside him.
"She is." Prowl admitted. "She really is her father's daughter......" his voice was tinged with that same bittersweetness.
"Aren't you gonna go join them?" Sari asked.
Prowl considered it for a click.
"No. I think my sister is handling this just fine." He said, for once more than certain.
^^*************^^
"You're short, you're small, you're a minibot." Mantis listed off. "That's what everyone will think the moment they see you."
"I'm pretty aware of that already." Bee said.
"You can use that to your advantage." She said.
"How?" Bee asked.
"Easy. For starters......." She dropped down and her pede lashed out in a sweeping kick. "You can aim low."
Bee grunted as he suddenly felt his back collide on the ground.
".......ow." he said.
Mantis pulled him then.......
She pushed him back and a kick stopped an inch away from his knee joint.
"Aim for the weak spots. The knee joints, the shins, the thighs, the chinks in their pede plating or the place where the sun doesn't shine." She went on as she lowered her pede back down.
"Mess with the pedes so they can't kick and lose mobility!" Bee said, understanding.
Mantis nodded. "Yup but you have to know where to target. Decepticon plating will be tough since they're strong so you have to watch out. Now let's focus on your strengths."
Bee snorted. "Sorry to disappoint but strength isn't my forte." He admitted a bit sadly.
"Exactly so we'll just have to focus on other points." Mantis said. Then she tilted her helm sideways. "You're the fastest thing on four wheels, right?"
"Of course." He said, chassis puffed out proudly.
"Good. I prefer speed over strength. Agility is good too." She said. "So, instead of trying to get in a fist fight head on, try to......make your own fighting style.
"Use one that focuses on your speed and agility. Like what brother and I use."
Bee slowly nodded, processing all this. "Ok......screw strength and focus on speed and agility."
Mantis nodded then an idea came to her. "How about a test run?"
"A test run?" Bee asked.
Mantis smirked. "Wait here." She ran off and came back with a wire wrapped around her servo.
"You ever played tag?" she asked.
Bee nodded.
"Well this is different. I want you to grab this wire off my servo." She said, extending her servo out.
"Seriously? That's it?" he asked.
Mantis nodded. "Just grab the wire off my servo, that's the end goal. Do that and game over."
Bee wondered where this was going but.......hey if that's what needs to be done then why not?
He reached out to grab it and......
He felt a sting of pain as a backfist smacked his servo away.
"Ow! Hey!" he said, annoyed.
"Well, grab the wire." She said a bit too innocently, servo extended out there again, wire dangling as though taunting him.
He tried again and.......
He stumbled back with a pained gasp and she slammed a palm fist strike to his chassis.
'Oh....so that's how you wanna play it....' He realized as he cradled his chasis.
"No mods, no weapons, just your servos, pedes and wit." Mantis said, dropping the act.
'So she's not gonna let me grab it just like that huh?' he thought. "Fine by me!" he said, charging forward.
His servo lashed out but she kept evading it, slapping it away and fluidly moving her servo in all directions, making it almost impossible to grab the wire and rip it off. It was beginning to get pretty frustrating.
Prowl sighed as he saw Bee floundering and decided to take pity on the yellow minibot for once.
"Use your processor for once!" he yelled at Bee.
He wasn't sure if Bee heard him or not but he began to do feints and once, almost caught her even.
"Now you're starting to do it right!" Mantis said as she blocked one of his servos.
"I'm just getting started!" he said.
Then he dropped down and tried to do a sweeping kick. Mantis jumped up and avoided it.
'Damn it!' he thought.
Mantis landed and he barely scrambled away in time to dodge the low roundhouse kick headed towards his faceplate.
'Huh....he actually learns pretty fast if he wants to.' Mantis thought.
Then as she slapped away his servo again......he lashed out and gripped her outstretched wrist.
'Wha-'
Suddenly, she was yanked forward and she felt a servo grip the nape of her neck.
With a yell, Bee pulled and.......
Her faceplate met the ground.
He fumbled a bit then reached out and grabbed the wire off.
"Hah! Gotcha!" he said, triumphantly.
Mantis found herself smiling. "Not bad, BB. Not bad at all." She said, dusting herself off. "That was only the beginner's level though."
"Ye- wait.....you were holding back?!" he asked.
Mantis just gave him a sly smirk. "You better practice." Was all she said. "And that's the end of today's lesson."
Bee then pressed a fist against his palm like what he once saw on TV and bowed. "Thank you, o wise master."
Mantis blinked then laughed before returning the gesture. "And to you, o dedicated student."
Prowl felt a sense of content wash over him.
And he wasn't sure if he was over-imagining it, but.....somewhere, deep in his spark, he knew Yoketron was proud of Mantis too.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hi, readers. FP here with another chapter and thankfully not dead from the new school year yet.
Anyways, I'll cut to the chase. One of the things I noticed about TFA Bee from my perspective is that he isn't stupid per se, he's......a bit dense, yes but mostly impulsive and cocky. In the episode Total Meltdown, I saw how he fought with his speed and agility like his predecessors in other Transformers continuity. Plus when it comes down to it, he's pretty decent at thinking on the go.
And considering the environment the Elite Guard bootcamp was and how much of a jerk Sentinel Chinhead was, it would make sense if he wasn't a good fighter if he never even had good guidance to begin with.
That's why I figured Mantis could take on that role. To genuinely give her a bonding moment between Bee- minibots unite!- and to show that she was like Yoketron at the same time show that Bee isn't all talk and no bite.
Ok, that is all stay tune for the next adventure the duo of minibots are about to face.
FP, over and out. Peace!