A Blessing in Disguise - Chapter 1
"And now, ladies and gentlemen... The final round is about to begin... It all comes down to this. Can the Extraterrestrial Bulldozer from Cybertron conquer the Firefighter of Terror, the Griffin Rock Rockstar, the Super-Soaker of-"
"Kade, it's a video game, not a gladiator match."
The red-head grumbled as his partner interrupted his spiel. "Whatever...Me vs. Boulder."
The green rescue bot chuckled as his fingers fiddled with the joysticks and buttons on the cybertronian-sized controller Graham had built for him. "I find this portion of human culture fascinating, though I don't see why humans would risk Carpal Tunnel Syndrome just to beat up each other on a virtual plane."
"Some people think it's worth the risk." Cody admitted, then moved his eyes from the screen to the shape sitting in the corner. "Hey Blades, you wanna come watch?"
Blades didn't even look his direction. "Nah..." He mumbled with a sigh.
Blurr crossed his arms with a groan. "Blades, you can't just sit there and pout."
"Watch me."
Chief Burns shook his head. "He just can't get over Dani..." He mumbled.
"Well she hasn't exactly shown her face much lately." Kade replied. "She's been all twitterpated with Taylor since they got married."
"You're not helping, Kade." Graham informed. "And twitterpated isn't a word."
"Well Bambi says it is! So there!"
"Blades has been kind of depressed..." Chase murmured. "...Perhaps we can find a way to cheer him up?"
"The only real way for Blades to cheer up is for Dani to come back from her honeymoon..." Graham remarked.
Blades stood up from his seat. "She hasn't even called! What if she's hurt? What if she needs my help!?"
"Taylor's a trained EMT, if she's hurt, he can help her." Heatwave informed.
"And even if they were in trouble, it's cold like death outside! Your rotors would freeze before you even got a mile off the island." Blurr added.
The helicopter pouted, dropping back down and looking away from the others. "Oh come on Blades, don't be like that!"
"Cody can be his new partner!" Salvage replied. "He's not assigned to anyone."
"Blades doesn't want a new partner." Cody informed. "He wants Dani..."
They looked at the pouting bot, before Chief's phone rang and he answered it. "Griffin Rock PD... Whoa, slow down Huxley. What's on fire?... Alright, we're on our way." He hung up the phone. "There's a power line down at 5th and Grove. Its sparks started a fire on the corner."
"Aww!" Kade complained. "I was about to beat him!"
"You can finish your game when we get back." Heatwave informed. "Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!"
Cody watched the team get up and the rest of his family head towards the elevator, then turned to Blades, who was still sitting there. "Uh..."
Chief sighed. "Blades, even if you don't do anything to help, you should get out of the firehouse for a little while."
"Can't. You heard Blurr, it's cold like death outside..."
Heatwave rolled his optics. "Blades."
Blades sighed, getting up to his feet. "Fine..."
"Careful on the streets, guys!"
Cody watched them all leave, and then went to the Command Center. He reached his usual spot, only to find the chair already occupied. "...Frankie?"
"Hey Cody." Frankie greeted.
"Hi... How long have you been here?"
"A few minutes. You don't answer your phone, which I see is up here while you were down there."
"Sorry, I got busy. What's up?"
"I just wanted to talk to you. We don't see each other as much, now that I'm studying to be a scientist like my dad."
"Right... How are you?"
"Tired. Staying up all night to learn from my dad on Biochemistry isn't the most fun thing to do... What about you? How're you and the bots?"
"Me? I'm fine. We've all been trying to relax a little after Dani's wedding, and Kade's will be in a few months." Cody's face fell a little. "...But Dani's never home anymore. She's hardly been here since she got married, and Blades is missing her really badly."
"Why doesn't he just go see her?"
"He doesn't want to bother her, I guess..."
Cody took a seat at the console and flipped on the monitors. "Heatwave told him to get out and help with the rescue, just to stretch his rotors out a little."
"What about you being his temporary?"
"We tried that. I rode with him for the first week, but he just wants Dani back..." Cody leaned back in the chair. "...I wish I could find a way to cheer him up. I tried calling Dani several times and she hasn't answered. I wish she'd come by."
Frankie sighed as she leaned back too. "There are days I wish Cece would disappear for a little while...But then again, she'd probably be getting into some serious trouble if she wasn't with us."
"Good point."
Hey Cody, you got the visual on the fire?
Cody leaned forward as he skimmed through the images until he found the building. "Got it! Looks like the fire's mostly sticking to the north side of the building, where there are no windows."
Good work.
Cody watched as the bots came onto the scene and immediately his family went to work. Kade pulled out the hose and sprayed the building while Chase and Boulder moved to stabilize the downed electrical line as it squiggled across the road. He saw Blades land and transform into robot mode, but stood back, just watching.
"...Wow." Frankie mumbled. "He does seem upset."
Cody threw his hands up. "I'm supposed to be helping them learn about earth and to be their liason, but I have abolutely no idea how to make him feel better!...Not except somehow trick Dani into coming over and seeing him."
"You're not seriously considering that, are you?"
"No, I'm not that kind of person...But we have to think of something!"
The two teens were quiet for a moment, trying to think of a solution, but as they watched the fire fizzle out and the power line cease its sparking, something else caught their attention. "Blades?"
The robots were all turning to their teammate as his body tried to transform, seemingly against his will. He stumbled back a few steps before collapsing onto the pavement as his legs fell out from under him, and Chase and Boulder ran over to him. "Guys? Guys, what happened?"
That's what we're going to figure out. Heatwave informed. Boulder and Chase are bringing him home, Chief's staying here and will ride back with me.
"Ten-Four." Cody replied, his eyes moving over to Frankie.
"Are you sure you'll need to make something up for Dani to visit...?" Frankie mumbled.
"...I don't know anymore."
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I just finished composing one of my English libretto pieces, The Rose of Castile. It's similar to The Bohemian Girl in composition and flow but more is expected in the vocal range.
The Rose is about Princess Elvira, who's father has arranged for her to marry his brother, Don Sebastian. She hears that he is about to enter the kingdom disguised as a muleteer. She wants to check him out first, before having to marry him, so she also travels in disguise, as a peasant girl, to meet him. Her uncle, Don Pedro, plans to intercept her and ship her off to a convent, so that she won't marry Don Sebastian, and he can take over the kingdom. What ensues is a comedy of errors. I can't tell you anymore. I don't want to ruin the ending for you.
It's scheduled to premiere in a few weeks at the Lyceum Theatre, London, on Oct. 29th. You must come see it. It's destined to be another hit.
In this bravura aria (a fast-tempo piece which shows off the singer's agility and skill) piece, Princess Elvira is celebrating. She thinks she's avoided her arranged marriage and can now be with the man she's fallen in love with.
(Source: McKee, J. (2010, October 31). Comic Opera Guild presenting Balfe's 'The Rose of Castile' and Sousa's 'Chris and the Wonderful Lamp'. The Ann Arbor News. Retrieved from http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/comic-opera-guild-two-shows)
(Source: Upton, G. P. (1897). Balfe: The rose of castile. In the standard operas: Their plots, their music, and their composers (12th ed., pp. 32-35). Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company.)
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