Newer World Order

Chapter 1: Blast from the Past

"Here we go," Miko said under her breath as she stared at something behind Jack. He turned to find her host parents approaching.

Just what we need, another argument. Jack glanced at Arcee, standing at the edge of the training room. She and Bulkhead were watching via their human-size Pretender bodies, along with Miko's real parents and an assortment of base personnel. Ashanti's team, along with others who expected to find themselves combating enemy troops sooner or later, had been learning a new set of combat techniques over the past couple of weeks. Jack and Miko had joined them, since Decepticon-related trouble always ended up finding them one way or another.

It made sense for Miko to be here, anyway, since a lot of the new moves were inspired by her inventive use of her armor's jetpack during a sparring match with Ashanti. She wanted to continue going on missions with the rest of the team, and had been fighting with both sets of parents over it ever since they'd arrived at the base two weeks ago. Her host-mother had been objecting to it more strongly than anyone else, though her host-father seemed increasingly weary of Camille's hostility to nearly everyone involved.

With Miko's real parents, visiting from Japan, the dynamic appeared to be reversed, with her mother beginning to see Miko's side of the argument as time passed. Her father was harder to read, remaining stoic for the most part. The only times he showed any emotion, it was usually sternness while watching Miko training with the actual soldiers. Still, he clearly didn't approve of any of this.

Ashanti clapped her hands, snapping Jack's attention back to her. "Okay, everybody, let's see how well this has sunk in. Grab a sparring partner."

Arcee grinned and blew a kiss at Jack. His heart beat a little faster and he tried to blow one back at her, but ended up slapping his hand into the front of his helmet. His face grew hot and he hung his head while Arcee laughed.

Miko reached out to a member of the support unit and grabbed his arm. "Okay, Terwilliger, you and me." She dragged him to the center of the mat.

"Gee, how did I know you'd want to be the first one to show off?" Ashanti laughed, glanced around, and motioned at Jack. "Everybody else has already paired up, so you're stuck with me."

Jack nodded and joined her as she and the others moved to the wall to give Miko and Terwilliger some maneuvering room.

"Kick his ass, Miko!" Bulkhead thrust a fist into the air.

"Take it easy, Bulk." Terwilliger held his hands up. "It's just for training." He glanced at Ashanti. "Uh, you might wanna be ready to notify my next of kin, just in case."

A quick laugh rippled around the room. Miko's mom smiled, while her dad remained expressionless and her host-mom shook her head and sneered.

"Come on, Camille," Miko's host-dad whispered, "stop being a wet blanket."

"You want me to let her start thinking we'll allow this to continue?" She scowled at him. "She's going back home, and that's final."

"Honey, look how much she's changed in the last few months. Before, she spent more time in detention than all of her classmates combined, she didn't care about anything but goofing off, and she didn't even have any friends. Look how driven she is now. She actually cares about what's at stake, she has friends who care about her, and she feels like she can make a difference."

Camille glanced at him and rolled her eyes. He shook his head and sighed.

"Even if she goes back home, you can't deny that she's changed for the better over the past few months. She's grown up a lot."

Camille just stared as Miko and Terwilliger faced off.

Terwilliger fired his thrusters and launched into the air. Miko kept her eyes on him, took a few steps back, and snapped her arms up to protect herself. He fired another set of thrusters, shooting himself down at her, and cocked his right fist back. Miko's suit thrusters fired, scooting her to the right, and Terwilliger slammed through empty space and into the mat. Miko immediately jetted back to the left and swung her right fist. He blocked it and jabbed at her visor. She jerked to the side, lit up another set of jets, spun around, and landed a kick to his gut that sent him reeling across the mat.