Continuing the Tradition
This is a fan-fiction written for two purposes. First it e answers the question a reviewer asked me about my story "The Commander's Meeting." I expect Sunflare2k5's question to be answered by this story. Secondly I got inspired by Frog1's story Web of the Spider and so I wrote this one. It is a great tale and I highly recommend checking it out. This is a sequel to "The Commander's Meeting" so you might want to read it first. It will help you understand what Grimlock and Hot Spot are doing in this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.
Rodimus Prime walked down the hallway in an agitated state. He had just gotten out of a meeting with his staff and the amount of complaining he was receiving you would have thought the Decepticons and the Quintessons had gained control of the Matrix of Leadership and were taking turns running the Autobots. On top of that the way some spoke to him you would have thought that he had sold the Matrix to the Decepticons and the Quintessons for quick night with a cheap femme. Then there were the idiots who wanted to control his personal life too. He knew that he was Prime but he doubted that Optimus ever had to put up with the slag that he did. Then there was this new meeting that Hot Spot and Silverbolt wanted him to attend tonight. They wouldn't explain what this meeting was about, just stating that Optimus Prime use to have this meeting with them. That phrase 'Optimus Prime use to' was really starting to grate on his nerves.
As Rodimus rounded the corner he saw the Technobots' unit commander Scattershot walking down the corridor looking at the different doors as if he was looking for a particular room. Rodimus watched the young commander for a couple of seconds before deciding that Scattershot looked rather nervous. Rodimus decided to go and talk to Scattershot as a way of delaying the meeting with Hot Spot and Silverbolt. Rodimus raised his arm and called, "Hey Scattershot, is everything okay? You look a little lost."
"Oh hello sir," stammered Scattershot, "I am afraid I am. Grimlock summoned me to a meeting but I have never been to this location before."
'Interesting coincidence,' thought Rodimus. "Where are you meeting with Grimlock?"
"We are suppose to meet in room 37-J in sector R."
"What, really?" asked a surprised Rodimus.
"Yes I know it is strange sir, but that is where he told me to meet him. I know that it is a secure storage area so I have no idea what this meeting could be about."
"Did Grimlock tell you anything else?" asked a curious Rodimus.
"Well other than to keep it a secret, no. Ahh frag!"
"Um, don't worry about it; I won't mention it to Grimlock. Wait a minute, you said room 37-J sector R, right?"
"Yes sir I did," replied Scattershot while fidgeting.
"This is weird," said Rodimus, "I have a meeting with Hot Spot and Silverbolt in the same place. Did Grimlock mention either of them?"
Scattershot stops and looks at his leader, "No sir he didn't. He just told me to go to the room for a meeting. He never mentioned you or the others."
Rodimus stops and scratches his chin and states, "Hot Spot and Silverbolt never mentioned you or Grimlock either. I wonder what they are planning."
Scattershot points to a sing on a nearby door, "Well I guess we will find out sir, we're here."
"Great," sighed Rodimus, "Let's get this over with."
The two mechs walked towards the door and Rodimus punched the command code to unlock the door. As the door slid open a sight neither Rodimus Prime nor Scattershot were expecting greeted them. Sitting around a table were Hot Shot, Silverbolt, and Grimlock, but it was what the three commanders were doing that was so bizarre.
The other two were sitting and laughing but Grimlock had his fists to the side of his head with his index fingers pointed in the air like two long antenna, and he was saying in a long plodding voice, "You Rodimus need to be more like him Optimus. You need to give long boring speeches like him Optimus. You Rodimus need to stack data pads four high like him Optimus. You Rodimus need to scratch your aft with three strokes like him Optimus. You Rodimus need to be great leader like him Optimus, me Magnus know how to be great leader because when me Magnus leader me ran away from Decepticons, then when me Magnus could run no more me give Matrix to him Galvatron."
"Yeah Magnus is like that Grimlock," Said Hot Spot, "but my energon is on Kup."
In a gravelly grumpy voice Hot Spot declares, "You youngsters need to respect your elders. We, I mean I, have gained the knowledge only experience can grant. Why it reminds me of the time when…" as Hot Spot stopped talking he dropped his head forward and started to snore, loudly.
Scattershot and Rodimus watch in stunned silence while the other two commanders howled with laughter at Hot Spot's antics. Rodimus, stating to wonder what kind of meeting he was in for with this crowd, cleared his vocals to gain the attention of the sitting mechs. The three commanders stop laughing and turn to see Rodimus and Scattershot standing just inside the room.
"Ahh good," exclaims Silverbolt, "you two are here, well, have a seat and we'll get started."
Rodimus and Scattershot sat in the two vacant seats at the table and Rodimus decided that he was not in the mood for another long drawn out meeting. Looking at his commanders in the optics he says, "Guys I hope that we can keep this brief. I have had enough mechs and humans complaining to me in meetings today I really don't think I can handle much more. I respect you guys and will listen to you but I am not going to put up with any more slag today."
There was a moment of silence. Scattershot looked to Grimlock to see what to do next. Rodimus started to worry that he had offended the other commanders and the three original occupants sat quietly for a second than looked to each other.
Silverbolt was the first to speak, "Sorry Rodimus, Hot Spot and I didn't quite believe Grimlock when he told us about the slag you have been going through. We thought you were handling it pretty well."
"Yeah," continues a slightly embarrassed Hot Spot, "if we had known it was this bad we would have taught you about these meetings sooner."
"Why did you air quote around the world meeting?" asked Scattershot.
"Well Scattershot," continued Hot Spot, "we use to do this with Optimus Prime after his general staff meetings on the Ark. What we would do is get together and play Box Head."
"So this isn't a responsibility no one told me about?" asked Rodimus.
"No it more a tradition," explained Grimlock.
"Optimus would do this with us to relieve stress and let all four of us vent our frustrations in a fun atmosphere," explained Silverbolt.
"How come I have never heard of this before?" questioned Rodimus.
Grimlock leans forward and while pointing a finger in Rodimus' and Scattershot's faces states, "First rule of Box Head; no talk about Box Head."
"Second rule of Box Head; what happens in Box Head stays in Box Head," continued Silverbolt with authority equal to Grimlock's.
"Okay," says a nervous Scattershot, "so what is Box Head?"
"It greatest game ever, of all time." exclaimed an excited Grimlock.
"So how do we play this game?" asked Rodimus.
"I'll explain," stated Hot Spot. "First we will need a box." This was produced from subspace by Silverbolt.
"Then we will need a deck of cards," said Hot Spot as Grimlock took a stack of mini data pads from subspace and placed them in the center of the table.
"Each card has a different event assigned to it," continued Hot Spot, "The black aces, twos, and threes mean that you give one, two or three drinks to someone of your choice, depending on the number on the card. Red aces, twos and threes you have to take that many drinks."
"Fours mean drink to your left; in my case that would be Grimlock who drinks. Fives mean drink to your right: in my case that would be Silverbolt."
"Six is the rule card. You cannot change what t a card does but you add rules to the game. For example you can say; no using anyone's name or you drink, or no swearing or you drink. Number seven is the pee card you can hang on to this card as long as you want but you have to have on to cash in if you want to go pee."
"Wait a moment Hot Spot," interrupted Rodimus, "a pee card? Is this a human game?"
"Yeah we have adopted a lot of human customs while on Earth this game is just one of them," said Silverbolt.
"But we're Cybrotronians, we don't need to pee," argued Scattershot.
"Hmmm, me Grimlock see your point, but we haven't figured out a new rule for card so it stuck," explained Grimlock.
"Ah okay," said Scattershot accepting Grimlock's explanation.
"Okay," continues Hot Spot, "the eight is the box head card and it's very important. This is box head. If you get this card you have to wear the box on your head and take a drink when anyone in the room takes a drink. If they break a rule and drink you drink, if someone gave them three drinks you take three drinks. If someone got a red two, you take two drinks too. If someone was thirsty, you drink too."
"That sounds like quite the challenge," commented Rodimus.
"Yeah it can mess you up pretty good," admitted Silverbolt.
"Like the time Grimlock got it nearly every time and but the end of the night he was so overcharged he was using subject pronouns," laughed Hot Spot.
"Hey second rule!" yelled Grimlock.
"But Grimlock this is Box Head," countered Hot Spot.
"Herrr," muttered Grimlock.
"My favorite time was when we started doing karaoke," recalled Silverbolt. "That was a really fun night, although Optimus did kind of murder his rendition of 'Material Girl.'"
"Of all the stories I have heard about Optimus Prime I never would have thought that he would sing pop songs," said Scattershot.
"I knew Optimus," added Rodimus looking at Scattershot, "and I never would have thought it either."
"What can I say, we knew Optimus Prime in a special way," said Hot Spot. "Now to continue the nine is story time. The bot pulling this card has to start a story with one word. The next bot then has to repeat the word and add another. Each bot has to repeat all the words correctly then adds another word to the story. The first bot to mess up the story takes a drink."
"The ten is the rainbow card. The bot pulling this card starts drinking and then the bot to his left will start then the next bot and the next bot unit everyone is drinking. Now no one can stop drinking until the first bot stops, then the second bot can stop and then next bot can stop then the next."
"So, Hot Spot," interrupts Scattershot, "If you get Rainbow we go around in the circle and I don't start until Grimlock starts, right?"
"Right."
"So," continues Scattershot, "I can't stop until Grimlock stops, correct?"
"Yep."
"So," smiles Scattershot pointing to his left, "I can keep Rodimus and Silverbolt drinking as long as I want, right?"
"You got it Scattershot," said Hot Spot.
"Oh Primus that sounds bad," muttered Rodimus.
"If he does that to us we will just keep giving him the drinks when we get the black aces, twos and threes," whispered Silverbolt to Rodimus.
"Deal," whispered Rodimus.
"Okay if there are no more questions I'll continue," declared Hot Spot. "The jack is the categories card. The bot pulling this card has to come up with a category, for example, movies, and each bot in turn has to name something that fits into that category. In movies a name of a movie, actor or director will do."
"The queen is 'I never ever.' Here you have to say something you have never done and if a bot has done it, that bot has to drink. Just a fun historical note this card let Silverbolt and I discover that Grimlock once beat up Optimus Prime."
"What?" exclaimed Scattershot.
"Why did you do that?" asked a shocked Rodimus.
"Him Optimus was being a bossy jerk towards me Grimlock, him Slag and him Sludge. Him Megatron had suggested it though," admitted Grimlock.
"Wow, Ultra Magnus never mentioned that when he talks about how much better Optimus was than I am," said Rodimus. In a nasally voice Rodimus continues, "Optimus use to get beaten up by Grimlock, why haven't you gotten beaten up by Grimlock yet?"
"Remember," chuckled Silverbolt, "what happens in Box Head stays in Box Head."
"Hey wait a minute," interjects Scattershot, "that's what you guys were doing when Rodimus and I came in; you were making fun of Ultra Magnus and Kup."
"Yeah," admitted Silverbolt, "we always end up making fun of the general staff at one point in the night. It is just part of the tradition."
"Did Optimus make fun of his general staff?" asked Rodimus quietly.
"Him Optimus didn't make fun of general staff like we did," said Grimlock indicating to Silverbolt and Hot Spot, "but him did complain about them in a funny way."
"Yeah," added Silverbolt, "I remember this one time, just after Wheeljack had blown up his lab again Optimus Prime said, 'How did he do it? He was studying a rock, which had no explosive properties at all what so ever, and he blew it up! How does that happen? He breaks the laws of the universe just to make his lab explode. I swear sometimes I think Wheeljack just likes blowing himself up.'"
"Oh I see," said Rodimus.
"No worry, if you Rodimus want to make fun of him aft-head Magnus, you go right ahead," said Grimlock, "Him deserve it."
As Rodimus gives Grimlock a small smile Hot Shot decided to continue; "Now the king is a little different from the other cards. It is the sociable card. When a bot gets this card he is to raise his drink in the air and yell, 'Sociable!' then everyone present raises their drinks and yells, 'Sociable!' too then everyone drinks together. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah I have one," says Scattershot while raising his hand, "what are we suppose to be drinking?"
"Why high-grade over-charged energon, of course," answers Hot Shot in a tart voice.
"Yeah well where is it in Hot Spot?" asked Rodimus in a slightly sarcastic voice.
"Oh that's right I forgot," says Hot Spot, "Access code: Zulu nine alpha tango seven."
"Code accepted," states a detached computer voice and then the walls of the room slide into their recesses revealing an immense stockpile of high-grade energon, its iridescent glow filling the room.
Grimlock, Hot Spot and Silverbolt chuckle as Scattershot and Rodimus stare at the stock pile with bright optics and open mouths.
"Do you think you guys got enough energon for the five of us?" asked Rodimus in disbelief.
"If either of you two drinks like him Optimus," says Grimlock as he places a cube in front of Rodimus and Scattershot, "then, maybe."
"Grimlock are you serious?" asked Rodimus.
"Yes me am."
"Shall we begin?" asked Silverbolt.
"Who goes first?" asked Scattershot.
"Well I think Rodimus should start," proclaimed Hot Spot.
"Okay," said Rodimus reaching for a mini data pad. Rodimus looked at the data pad, smiled raised his cube and yelled, "Sociable!"
Later that night Blaster and Jazz ran through the hallways in response to an emergency call placed by Metroplex. As the two mechs approached Ultra Magnus' quarters they heard the distinctive chuckle of Grimlock's distinctive chuckle and the voice of Rodimus prime saying, "Come on damn you, light."
This was then followed by Hot Spot yelling, "Shhhh! Shomeone will hear!"
As the two found the corner they found Grimlock and Scattershot giggling, Hot Spot leaning against the wall while holding Silverbolt's leg, who was passed out on the floor. Rodimus Prime was in the process of trying, unsuccessfully, to light a welding torch.
Jazz was the first to react to the scene.
"Hey fellas, what's going down here?"
"We're welding Aft Magnus' door shut," declared Scattershot, to which the four conscious commanders started chuckling.
"And why are you cats doing that?" asked Blaster.
"He deserves … er… him Magnus deserves it!" declared Grimlock shaking his head clear.
"Yeah but does Metroplex deserve to have his parts welded together?" asked Jazz.
This caused the four commanders to pause and think, slowly, for a moment. After several minutes of silence Silverbolt lifts his helm from the ground and says, "Why don't we order Metroplex to not open Magnus' doors? That would be really funny." After making the suggestion Silverbolt's head went back to the floor with a clang.
"You're about three megacycles behind the rest of us, lightweight!" shouted Hot Spot.
"Yeah we'll do that!" declared Rodimus, "Metroplex, I order you to keep Ultra Magnus confined to quarters."
"For how long?" came Metroplex's voice.
"Uh…" replied Rodimus.
"How about twelve Earth hours?" suggested Jazz.
"Yeah for twelve hour Metroplex."
"Order confirmed," stated Metroplex.
"Cool, now what should we do?" asked Scattershot.
"Ka.." started Grimlock, but Jazz interrupted with, "Why don't you boys go dancing to burn off the extra charge?"
"Okay," replied Grimlock and Scattershot who both started dancing, poorly, to music no one could hear.
"I was thinking somewhere else, you know, with music," stated Jazz.
"Oh," replied Scattershot. Then he Rodimus and Hot Spot, who was dragging Silverbolt along by the leg, went off to find a place to dance, you know, with music.
Jazz and Blaster realized that Grimlock wasn't leaving and turned to face the Dinobot.
"What's up my man?" asked Blaster.
"I just wanted to say that you, Jazz, and you, Blaster, are good mechs. You two treated me and the other Dinobots with respect. You guys understood what it means to be different. Thank you."
"Not a problem Grimlock," stated Jazz.
"Yeah man, we knew you guys were cool," added Blaster.
"Grimlock! Hurry up!" shouted Rodimus.
"Me Grimlock coming!" shouted Grimlock as he lumbered down the hallway.
"Man, that was one drunk dino," commented Jazz.
"Yeah, good save by the way to suggest dancing," added Blaster. "I don't think I could handle another round of karaoke."
"I have no idea how they thought that after using Teletran 1 as a karaoke machine their drinking game would still be a secret. Primus they were awful," said Jazz shaking his head.
"I almost wish I could hear Optimus sing 'Material Girl' one last time, you know, for old times' sake," sighed Blaster.
"You got any plans man?" asked Jazz.
"Nah, why?"
"I was thinking, maybe we should grab some high grade and show the commanders how real bots dance," smiled Jazz.
"Brother," smiled Blaster as he put his arm around Jazz's shoulders, "you are one deep thinking bot. Wait won't we catch flack from Magnus?"
"How, that bird is locking in his cage for another eleven hours and forty minutes."
"You're brilliant, my man, brilliant. Let's get going."