Trials and Tribulations 1
Just some scribbles about Zoom-Zoom's training. There will probably be more of these. Feel free to give me a prompt or something if you want to see anything in particular.
1.
Zoom-Zoom knew he was going to regret the words almost as soon as they left his vocaliser.
Jazz pivoted round and stared him down with a look of mad glee on his face. “I am old and decrepit?” he pondered for a moment before the most evil grin crept across his features. “Right, half-bit. You and I are going to settle things on the training mats. NOW.”
Zoom-Zoom hadn’t got that far in his physical training. Jazz had started him on the most basic forms but he hadn’t ever faced an actual opponent. Now he stared up at his mentor and mentally revised the number of times he’d mouthed off to his master since his apprenticeship had started.
Well. Slag.
He was going to get slaughtered.
One brutal aft pounding later…
Jazz waltzed out of the dojo in a very good mood, humming an old, jaunty Iaconian song. That had been fun. Very fun. In fact, he was going to move Zoom-Zoom’s training forward. Get the brat used to sparring against a person.
Yoketron would be a good choice for that. He didn’t take slag from any mech. And he was a little bit older than Jazz which meant Zoom-Zoom would talk back to him constantly.
Things were going to be just perfect.
Behind him, Zoom-Zoom’s battered frame was laid out on the mats.
One pede twitched.
The mini-bot had known Jazz could move quickly when he put his prcessor to it but not that fast. It didn’t seem physically possible for Jazz to be everywhere and just smash through his defences like they were nothing.
Everything hurt.
2.
Jazz’s faceplates took on a pinched look as he tried to understand what the slag had just happened. Surely his processor had just glitched and he’d imagined the scene. Surely. Otherwise he was going to beat the slag out of his apprentice for what he’d just done and then give the mech a deep processor scan to figure out just what the frag the mini-bot was thinking.
“What are you doing, half-bit?”
Zoom-Zoom looked up from the side street where he knocked a passing civilian offline. “I found a Quintesson infiltration drone!” he said excitedly. “They are really getting quite advanced. I almost didn’t notice him.”
“Brat,” the ninjabot began patiently as he resisted the temptation to shake the mini-bot until he made sense, “What makes you think he’s a drone?”
“I was listening to his comm chatter, like you taught me, and the language he was transmitting wasn’t Cybertronian!”
Jazz exvented sharply and rubbed his faceplates with a hand. “I know that, Zoom-Zoom. I was filtering his chatter as well. He was speaking a Nebulon dialect.”
The enthusiasm left the mini-bot. “Oh.”
“Yes. OH. Have you never heard a language from off planet? What the slag are they uploading to new sparks these orns?”
“Hey,” Zoom-Zoom protested feebly, looking guiltily down at the innocent and offline mech. The mini-bot practically wilted in embarrassment at his mistake. “I really didn’t recognise the language. Never heard it before.”
“Fine, I’ll give you that. But you might have wanted to consult with me before suddenly attacking a civilian!” Jazz narrowed his optics behind his visor. “In fact. NO. I’ve told you this way too many times before, don’t do anything remotely cyber-ninja-ish without my permission!”
“I’m sorry,” the mini-bot apologized. “I won’t do it-”
“Shut up, I’m not finished talking,” Jazz interrupted coldly. “I was standing right next to you. If there was an actual problem, I would have let you know! You really have got to work on thinking before acting AND LISTENING TO ME.” The ninjabot thwacked his apprentice on the helm.
“I said I was sorry!” Zoom-Zoom protested with a scowl.
“What part of not listening to me did you not just get? I told you to shut it. I’ve given you plenty of slack, Zoom-Zoom. I allow the backtalk, the insults and pretty much every other form of pettiness you possess. All I ask is that you respect what I’m teaching you and pay attention.”
The mini-bot levelled a rebellious death glare at his master. Jazz glared back at him. Zoom-Zoom was spectacularly outclassed as Jazz had long ago mastered the sullen, brooding glare of DOOM. Zoom-Zoom subsided and finally let himself listen to what his mentor was saying.
Once Jazz saw he had Zoom-Zoom acquiescence, he continued in a softer, though no less pointed tone. “Being a cyber-ninja isn’t just the martial arts, the blending into the background and spying on people. You need to have a lot of patience and wait to assess a situation completely before acting or else you wind up hurting innocent mechs. We have a lot of power entrusted to us and we cannot afford bad judgment.” Jazz skated himself closer to his apprentice and poked a servo at Zoom-Zoom’s spark chamber. “Our job is to protect Cybertron and its people. Nothing more, nothing less. It has nothing to do with personal glory. At some point, you may even have to give your spark in the line of duty. That’s what being a cyber-ninja is.”
Zoom-Zoom shrunk in on himself and gave a small nod. He would reflect on this, Jazz was certain, one way or another. He might even need to have it beaten firmly into the mini-bot’s processor but that prospect did not bother Jazz too much. He was serious about this, if Zoom-Zoom couldn’t grasp the responsibility and maturity required…well. Jazz really didn’t want to turn the mech away from the Corps but either Zoom-Zoom would remain his apprentice until he understood properly or he’d only make it the most junior ranks in the Corps.
He huffed and relented somewhat. “Look, it’s not your fault that Cybertron appears to be getting more secular with every vorn and mechs don’t give a slag anymore what’s happening off world or think it’s important. You’ve got major deficiencies in your general knowledge that I’m going to have to correct so you don’t make a mistake like this again. And I’ll put in a word with the other member of the Corps, see what the frag the mechs in charge of the Allspark are thinking when they program new mechs. Now come on, we’re going to have to deal with your mess up.”
“…master?” Zoom did not like that sudden smirk that had appeared on his mentor’s faceplates. “What exactly are we going to do about this?”
“Quiet. I’m filing a report,” the ninjabot replied as he concentrated on a particular comm frequency.
“A report?” Zoom-Zoom echoed faintly.
“Yup. A report. One detailing your assault of this poor, innocent civilian. Sending it to the enforcers….now.”
“Wait, what?” the mini-bot stared at his mentor with complete betrayal. “That’s not dealing with this!”
Jazz’s entire demeanour darkened instantly at his apprentice. “This is how you deal with crime, Zoom-Zoom. You tell the enforcers and they take the offender away for how many vorns the judge deems adequate for the offence. You’ve committed a crime, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“But-but cyber-ninjas are above the law!” Zoom-Zoom protested.
“Cyber-ninjas are above the law,” Jazz agreed. “You are not a cyber-ninja, therefore you are not exempt. And with this kind of attitude, I’m afraid you are a long way off from joining the Corps. I’m serious about this, Zoom-Zoom. Your actions can have serious consequences and I will not shield you from them.”
The two mechs’ sensitive audios caught the sudden wail of the enforcers as they drew closer. Zoom-Zoom gave one last try. “Are you actually sending me to prison?”
“Yes,” Jazz said bluntly. “Look at this way, your next assignment was to meditate and reflect upon the lecture I just gave you. You are going to have plenty of peace and quiet to accomplish it for the next…six vorns or so.”
“That seems an abnormally long sentence,” the mini-bot replied distractedly as he listened to the sirens that were getting closer…and closer.
“Well, as you reminded me, I am a cyber-ninja and therefore above the law. I may have embellished the report somewhat. You’ve abused my training so I’m abusing my authority. I hope you take the time to truly understand just what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a cyber-ninja’s misjudgement.”
Zoom-Zoom’s visor darkened as he stared back at his master in outrage. “You are blowing this mistake way out of proportion,” he said, visibly straining to keep his temper. “I get the prison sentence, I do. But extending it just to teach me something is way too extreme. Or maybe…I could spend that time in the dojo or something.”
“If it was just a mistake, I would have stuck to a standard sentencing,” Jazz replied darkly. “But you’ve got a whole attitude problem that needs fixing and a serious need for a reality check. And since everything I say seems to sit in your short term memory banks and gets wiped before ever making it to your long term memory core, I’m giving you time off to do nothing but figure yourself out without any distractions. But keep talking back to me, brat. I’ll just extend your vacation time.”
Zoom-Zoom looked away and scowled unhappily. Jazz waited for a few astroseconds, but Zoom-Zoom did not say another word. Perhaps there was hope for him yet. The silver mech took a few steps away and his apprentice did not move. He just stood there and glared lasers though Jazz’s plating.
Good. Finally the brat was learning something.
Jazz sauntered out of the alleyway.
He needed a break. Teaching a mech how to be a cyber-ninja -a responsible cyber-ninja- was hard work.
Alpha Trion stared at Jazz.
“He’s been arrested?”
“Yeah.”
“You said you wouldn’t lead him down the wrong path!”
“I’m not. The brat broke the law and now he’s facing the punishment for his actions. In fact, I’m the one who had him arrested.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring to hear!”
“The mech has an attitude the size of a small moon. I’m trying to deflate it and instil some humility.”
“Jazz, I will be the first mech to say Zoom-Zoom needs his humility sub-routines reinstalled and backed up. But I was under the impression that the cyber-ninja bettered themselves through meditation and self-reflection.”
“That’s what he will be doing.”
“In prison.”
"Yes.”
“…you don’t think there’s a problem with this situation?”
“Do you?”
Alpha Trion paused. “Just one.”
“Oh?”
“What are you going to do with yourself now?”
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