Ah, well, I was hoping to have the next chapter of As We Come Together posted before I posted this chapter, but since the last scene is giving me a little trouble, I think I'm going to go ahead and post this anyways to give everyone something to read while I wrestle with Wheeljack on creative differences. I do hope everyone enjoys!
My greatest thanks to everyone who spared a few moments to review; there are no words available to describe how grateful I am for your kindness. You all inspire me to keep writing! Much love and sincere hugs to Elita One, The Toe of Sauron, Bluebird Soaring, thepheonixqueen, FunkyFish1991, OptimusxElita4ever, Shizuka Taiyou, Chloo, Peechtree, crmdrtek, Lecidre, Silveriss, and Bunnylass.
Just like last chapter, I want to throw in some extra special love to Bunnylass and Lecidre, to whom I owe so very much for their wonderful and heartfelt reviews. I swear, I've spent hours and hours going back through your reviews and reading them over and over, just for the pure elation I get from reading them. You two are the most wonderful creatures on the face of this planet and I hope this humble chapter dedicated to the both of you will be enough to convey how great my thanks is.
As well, Lecidre, who is not only an amazing friend and reviewer, is also a mind-blowing artist who has done a bit of fanart for my WE series fics. Her most recent one is called "Indestructable", featuring Prowl and Jazz from my fic Take Hold of My Spinning World. If there are any PxJ fans out there, or TF fans in general, I suggest you peek into my bio and check out the link to that pic!
Surface of the Sun
Chapter 2
The coliseum was alive, filled to the brim with the many bots from Centaurie Tetrax and beyond, coming from far and wide to cram into the packed bleachers. There were patrons attending the festivities from cities as far as Simfur, Iacon, Kaon, and Polyhex. The shadowed rafters above rang with the excited, loud hum of the thousands gathered, optics glittering, paintjobs flashing, faceplates bright with excitement. Bright lights blazed this way and that, dazzling the onlookers, stirring them up for the show. The atmosphere was wild, excited.
Backstage was no better.
In many ways, it was, perhaps, worse. As with any show, the energy infused into each performer came to a peak, their optics alive, their sparks pulsing nearly double time. The energon in their lines was thrumming to the point of bubbling, evaporating into a gaseous embodiment of their excitemtn. An atmosphere of complete and utter chaos overtook any semblance of order amongst the Centaurie Tetrax performers. Never mind that they were practiced for this, the routines drilled into their processors, and each one had memorized their choreography like they knew their own frames. The reason for the unusually fresh and excited jazz buzzing backstage was that today was undeniably special.
Today was the day the stuntmechs of the Centaurie Tetrax Performance and Exhibition Circuit officially presented their newest additions to the awaiting, curious world.
No one needed to say it, but they all knew it; the world was about to see something they'd never seen before.
"Has anyone seen my lucky polishing cloth?! I need my polishing cloth before I go out!" Flashdance hopped about, squeaking in a panic. In one hand he held a high-end brand of polish he only dragged out for special occasions, while the other hand waved sporadically to catch someone's attention.
"Have you checked with Flicker?" Clouddrift yelled from the scaffolding above.
"What would Flicker be doing with my lucky cloth?!" Flashdance cried, outraged.
"I think he had had too much energon last night and he purged over in the left wing!" Clouddrift replied, sounding far too happy to be delivering such news. "He was looking for something to clean up the mess with!"
"That fragger!" With a roar, Flashdance galloped off.
"Watch your language, Flashdance," Blaze warned as he weaved by, balancing two little creatures on one broad shoulder. Flashdance apparently did not catch the warning, continuing to sprint away, spewing curses. The pyrotechnic director sighed and rolled his optics, flicking a curious glance to his charges. "If you two could delete what you just heard, it would be much appreciated…"
From the blank looks he was receiving, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had failed to pick up a single word from the exchange anyways. They were too overwhelmed with everything else that was going on to focus on one specific thing.
Clouddrift wiggled his sharp little fingers to the twins, smiling broadly. "That's the spirit, little ones," he said cheerfully. "Ignore Flashdance as much as you can; he and his lucky cloth will drive you bonkers otherwise." With that, the mech's thrusters engaged and he zipped off to find Skyfly.
Sideswipe tipped his head, catching a word that interested him. "Lucky?" he enquired.
Blaze chuckled. "Some stuntmechs are superstitious, and a lot of us believe in something called "luck"."
"Luck," the twins parroted together, making sure to record the word in their lingual files.
"Yes, yes, luck," Blaze assured warmly. "It's something you need to believe in when your function is so dependant on chance. But, well- luck is chance, I suppose. There's good luck and bad luck, and when someone thinks they have something lucky, they are generally hoping that brings them good luck, or increases their chances of having something good happening to them. At the very least, a lucky charm, such as Flash's cloth, is believed to keep away misfortunate luck, bad luck."
"Everyone's a lucky charm," Sunstreaker conceded confidently.
Blaze chuckled, humouring his tiny charges. "What makes you say that?"
"You keep all bad things away," the brown sparkling replied, gesturing to the gathering rambunctious crowd beyond the thin walls of backstage. It was obvious he did not like the noise and lights.
Sideswipe took up his brother's awkward hand, the design older and less sleek than his own. "Why Flashdance's cloth lucky?"
"There's a story behind that."
"Tell us?" Sideswipe pressed eagerly.
"Oh, alright," Blaze conceded with an amused sigh. "Flashdance is our youngest, besides you two of course, and when a young one in this troop gets their first adult frame they're scheduled to be presented again, this time as centre showpiece of their own show. As luck would have it, a mech from a Polyhex troop came by to wish him luck, Blurr I think his designation was. Fast mech, I gotta tell you. Anyways, on his way out, he dropped his polishing cloth and never noticed, so Flashdance snatched it up instead. In some twisted way, he thinks it grants him luck if he polishes himself with it."
"Does it?" Sideswipe wondered, interested in the idea of luck and chance.
"Well…" Blaze considered the possibility. "He's never fallen on his faceplate in front of a crowd before, so I'd say so."
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker glanced to each other, cementing a new emotion between them that had just been satisfied. Curiosity. They wanted to know more about this 'luck'. Unfortunately, Blaze received an open-channel message that the show was about to begin. He offered the two sparklings a thoughtful smile, but, for now, their pressing questions would have to wait.
"Tomorrow, if you're not too overwhelmed from today, I might be able to throw in a little extra into your downloads about superstitions and luck. An extra byte or two won't hurt," he acquiesced, moving towards the gathering in the open area backstage. Flip was there, along with Wildride and Blindside, and all the other stuntmechs. Flashdance was notably nursing his lucky cloth while cursing out Flicker, who was laughing at him.
Wildride crowed happily upon seeing Blaze, sweeping his sparklings up and tossing them lightly. "We're going to put on one pit of a show for you two! Biggest presenting show we've ever done!"
Blindside was just as exuberant, trilling happily as he attempted to inform the two sparklings of what was going to happen, but much of the terms he was using were not included in their initial base of vocabulary so they barely understood him. Upon realizing why the little ones were staring at him as if he'd grown another head, Blindside leaned in and bumped his big forehead against their tiny heads, blowing hot air through his vents so they laughed and twisted away.
"Everyone will love you, I promise," he said, his optics light and sparkling. "This'll be the best show anyone has ever seen."
A huge hexiped bot laughed. "It's not every orn we get sparklings, let alone twins. They deserve something special."
Thrillride revved lightly as she leaned by the opening to the arena, peering out at the awaiting crowd. "They're getting anxious out there," she announced. "We should get the show started."
Flip clapped his hands, instantly gathering attention. "I know that all of you are well aware of how important this presenting show is; all of you were presented when you first onlined, and you've all presented for new sparklings that have come after you. This is Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's first official greeting to the world, and the stands are packed with bots wanting to get their first look at our twins. They've garnered enough fame as it is being what they are, and we've got to outdo that; we're stuntmechs for Primus' sake! We're going to put on a spectacular that will put all other presenting shows to shame. I don't want to see one misstep or one fumbled flip out there, and if I so much as catch a glimpse of a flier wavering in the air, so help me Primus-!"
"We know, we know- we'll be polishing the arena blindfolded," Flashback cut in with a roll of his optics.
Flip snorted, mouthplates pursed. "Exactly. And if I see you-," he stared pointed at Flashdance, "wavering out there, you'll be blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back."
Flashdance cringed, backing away, while the others dissolved into warm laughter, familiar with the director's threats. They'd been hearing them since they were sparklings.
Sunstreaker leaned against Wildride's fingers, watching carefully. He understood what was being said now at a bare minimum. "What do we do?" he enquired.
"Absolutely nothing," Wildride assured, smiling grandly. "We'll take care of the show; you two will be the grand finale."
"Okay..." Sunstreaker considered the words, suddenly aware of a foreign feeling twisting within him. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he wanted to go out there with everyone, even though, in his own mind, he didn't want to. Such a strange feeling, like an extra sense. Another awareness. Something that grated against the grain. He glanced to the hand that held his, and then followed it up to the joining shoulder to the faceplate watching him. Sideswipe wanted to be out on stage, not him, but he felt the desire to be out there regardless. It was so confusing. It almost hurt. A shot of pain crossed between them because of the confusion and their hands unlocked as if they'd been burned. The exchange was not lost on those who'd been watching.
"I want to go out there," Sideswipe whined quietly.
Blindside chuckled, running the tip of his finger over the tiny sparkling's head. "You will, at the end."
"I want to go now."
Sunstreaker quivered lightly, shrinking back. He didn't like the idea of all those strange bots staring at him like they had yesterday. They didn't look at him the same way as they did his brother- it had something to do with the word they called him… "ugly." He didn't like the word. They stared at him because he was ugly.
"I don't want to go out," he mumbled miserably.
"You don't want to, little one?" Wildride asked lightly, bringing him up to faceplate level to peer at him worriedly.
"No. Don't want to."
Blindside looked from Sideswipe to Sunstreaker, then glanced up to Wildride. "Maybe this is a little too overwhelming for them," he said at length. Despite Sideswipe's eagerness, he could not set aside Sunstreaker's obvious objections. "They are only an orn old, after all... We should wait until they're older."
Flip took the sparklings in hand. "Nonsense," he announced firmly. "Every sparkling in this troop is presented this way; it's the way we've always done it, and that's how we will continue to do it. No exceptions."
"But, Flip, they're so young-." Blindside pressed.
"So were you, and you turned out just fine," Flip countered reasonably.
"That's debatable," Wildride snorted, only to have to duck as his mate took a swing at him.
"Oh, Flip, please reconsider. Sideswipe is willing, but Sunstreaker doesn't want to- can't we make an exception today and just allow Sideswipe to come out? It's mean of us to enforce this on a sparkling so young when they don't know what's happening and they can't stop it on their own," Blindside insisted, glancing from side to side for backup from his fellow stuntmechs. They were looking to each other unsurely, shifting but refusing to step up; they'd all been presented this way whether they liked it or not. That was simply the way of stuntmechs in show troops.
"I'm truly sorry for this, Blindside, but I'm not about to change my mind on hundreds of vorns worth of tradition for the sake of one sparkling," the director said sincerely, levelling his gaze with the shooting star motif mech. "Most of you had your own objections when you all came, but you got over it as everyone else has. Sunstreaker will just have to do the same. The seats are packed and we have every network on the planet broadcasting from our arena; there is no way we can change the program on such short notice. This show is going on whether you like it or not."
"No!" Sunstreaker crowed.
"Yes!" Sideswiped cried.
Flip hoisted them to his shoulder, eyeing his troop. "I'm going to count to three and if this show doesn't start by the time I'm done counting, there is going to be pit to pay. One-."
Instantly, the gathering scrambled, rushing off to their respective places.
Blaze hesitated for a moment before he left. "I could take them to the tech booth, if you'd like, Flip," he offered, hands out for the sparklings. "Me and Lightshow wouldn't mind keeping an optic on them."
"No, no, you have enough to look after making sure everything detonates when and how it's supposed to. I'll see to the twins," the old mech said dismissively, shuffling away with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "They're going to get the best seats in the house."
"I'm sure they will," Blaze chuckled.
Sideswipe pressed his faceplate to the crystalline window of the observatory box, nearly dislodging the energon feed that was connected directly to his tanks. He ignored the diluted fluid dripping into his tanks, more focused on watching his beloved Creators zip about in the arena, surrounded by screaming, cheering legions of bots. Above and around them, the other stuntmechs carried out their own routines, throwing the crowd into a further fervour.
Skyfly and Clouddrift swung in from opposite ends of the arena, launching themselves from the trapezes that hung from the ceiling. Thrusters engaged to carry them gracefully through the air, spewing out clouds of coloured exhaust to be "Ohh-ed" and "Ahhh-ed" over.
"They going to crash!" Sunstreaker cried, snapping up so quickly that his own feed tube pulled loose and sprayed the window with fluid.
"Just watch," Flip chuckled, wiping up the mess and reconnecting the tube.
The twins watched avidly, fearing the worst as the two microbots flew closer and closer to each other. And then, as their outstretched hands brushed one another, something amazing happened. Their hands melded together, their bodies suddenly collapsing and joining together. For a split second, there was only one mech floating suspended in mid-air, performing a few flips, a twist, and then the combination reversed itself with a bright flash of fireworks going off overhead, and the two mechs went spinning in opposite directions.
"Awesome!" Sideswipe cheered ecstatically. "How'd they do that?!"
"They're combiners," Flip informed them proudly. "It's a new kind frame design. The same mech who designed your frame," he tapped Sideswipe, "has been developing the tech- ah, what did he call it? Gestalt? Yes, gestalt tech... he's been working in it for vorns. Clouddrift and Skyfly volunteered to be test subjects for the initial frames."
"They're one, like us?" Sunstreaker enquired, his optics wide.
"Not quite, but one in a sense," Flip allowed. "Oh, look- there goes Blindside and Wildride-."
Instantly, the twins were glued to the window once more, searching excitedly for their Creators. They cheered as the sparkmates laucnhed themselves from a track below to catch the falling aerial bots at the combiners finished their act.
"They're amazing," the brown sparkling sighed, enchanted by the beauty of the choreography.
Sideswipe was more taken with the trick itself rather than the awe of the beauty. "I want to do that!"
"Maybe someday," Flip laughed.
The act continued, bright fireworks going off around the floor as the ground divided and a great metal cage rose up. With a screech of tires, Thrillride and a small team of lightcycle stuntmechs came careening into sight from offstage. Flashdance's bright alt mode zoomed in, circling around and around a few times with Thrillride's team before throwing himself into the cage and reverting to bipedal mode. Hard, pounding rhythms began to throb out from speakers located around the arena. The pulse vibrated the floors and walls, sending the beat through the crowd's frames. It was an alien beat recorded from Blaster's informational hub- something that made a bot want to move. Flashdance, at the command and mercy of the music, began to step in time to the beat, bending, twisting, and flipping to the pounding pulse. He used the cage for leverage as he flipped, spun, and dived, tumbling here and there like a neon streak of wild lightning. Multi-coloured lights shone brightly over the cage he danced, blinking, flashing, all in sync to his choreographed ecstasy.
Thrillride and her group zoomed around and around, driving in different formations, waiting. They drove like a pack of animals, their engines growling like beasts circling prey. Their movements were quick, timed, choreographed to perfection. Some bots paired up, driving tail-to-nose with each other, the front one transforming in an instant to leap over the one behind, landing in alt mode once more to repeat the performance. Some reared to one wheel. Some spun. Some jumped. Some spewed brightly coloured smoke in their wakes. The pulse of the arena hit a high as the lights exploded in frenzy; their cue to begin the true act. The cage door swung open and the entire troop of lightcycles drove in.
"What they do now?!" Sideswipe asked excitedly, jumping up and down.
"You'll see," Flip insisted, laying a hand to the pair to ensure their feeding tubes were not dislodged again. With a roar that rattled the viewer's box, the lightcycles began to circle wildly around the cage, faster and faster, in pure chaos. Flashdance gave a roar of his own, throwing himself into the mix, twisting and jumping as he pleased through the frenzy.
"They get hurt!" Sunstreaker whined, shuttering his optics.
Sideswipe shivered with excitement. "Watch! Watch!"
"No! Don't want see them squished!"
Sideswipe huffed, excitement leaking through their bond and saturating his brother. His bright optics caught sight of the new mechs that had just appeared in the arena, having swung around from the backstage where they'd thrown the aerials. "Sunstreaker! Sunstreaker! Blindside and Wildride!"
At this, Sunstreaker cracked a single optic open.
Flip kneeled down close behind the little sparklings, peering out the window from their height. "This is where the show gets interesting."
Wildride and Blindside quickly began to pull laps around the outside of the circular cage, faster and faster until they became dark blurs. A sudden scream of forced, rapid transformation wrought the air as the two mechs leapt into their bipedal modes, landing on top of the cage, swinging their weight wildly from side to side. The crowd began to gasp and shriek as the cage started to rock and shift.
"They get hurt!" Sunstreaker squawked indignantly as he watched his Creators swing madly, wrenching the cage from side to side.
"This is supposed to happen," Flip assured them. "They've practised this act long and hard for this moment."
With a metal groan, the cage dislodged completely. Its contents roared even louder as Flashdance's leaping and bounding grew even more daring as he attempted to compensate for the wild rolling. Thrillride and her team kept their rounds fast and furious, seemingly paying no mind to the mech dashing between them. Wildride crowed excitedly, balancing precariously on top as he ran with the cage, Blindside darting this way and that trying to keep the thing on course. They were grinning at each other, completely in their element as they coordinated with one another through their sparkbond. They were perfect for this stunt, so in tune to their bond they could predict each other's movements.
Sideswipe was practically having an excitement-induced meltdown, chirping and trilling for his Creators as they rolled and ran. "I want to do that! I want to do that!"
Sunstreaker shook his head, terror written clearly across his faceplate. "I don't!"
Flip laughed and clapped, pleased that the Death Roll act was carrying out so flawlessly. They'd been practicing the act for a long time now and it was the first time being preformed in front of a crowd. It was also the first time any of them had preformed it without someone getting run over; a good omen for the rest of the show, if he did say so himself.
Glancing over at Flip, Sideswipe grinned even wider as he realized the old mech was immersed in the show. His gaze darted to Sunstreaker, and then his hand darted out and brushed against the mottled metal of his brother's hand. Inexperienced with their bond as they were, it shocked the both of them when the message Sideswipe meant to convey aloud came through in the touch.
Let's go!
Sunstreaker wrenched back, shaking his head vehemently. Don't want to
Sideswipe's faceplates furrowed, trying to gauge his brother as best he could. Awareness of the other burned through them hotly. Please?
Sideswipe~
Pleaseeee~? Sideswipe's pure desperation to have fun like the other mechs was what did Sunstreaker in. The desire was contagious, and with Flip still seemingly distracted, he nodded. They fumbled quietly with the feeding tubes, tugging them messily from fronts and poking their open reservoir valves until they closed automatically. In a matter of breems, they were gone.
Unbeknownst to them, Flip was well aware of their parting. He watched them out of the corner of his optic, smiling softly. Never, in the history of the troop, had a presenting show ever gone off without something going wrong, and today was not going to be the orn they broke that perfect record.
"Have fun, you two."
"Up! Let's go up!" Sideswipe announced as he and his brother scampered down the hall, growing more and more lost as they ran.
"Where Skyfly and Clouddrift are?" Sunstreaker asked warily.
"Yeah! I wanna be in the air! Right over Wildride and Blindside!"
"We get hurt." They took a random turn, hoping the hall would take them backstage.
"It'll be fun!" One of them tripped, bounced off the floor, and was up again with a yelp, trying to utilize his motor functions properly when everything else felt overwhelmed. They couldn't walk properly yet, still struggling to break in their new frames. The initial stiffness from un-used limbs remained in their movements, making it hard to balance and move.
Sunstreaker came to an abrupt halt as he recognized the area they were wandering into- it was a part of the backstage Blaze had shown them earlier. "Everyone see me if we go up."
"So? You heard Thrillride, you handsome!" Sideswipe urged, yanking his brother along when he refused to budge.
"You heard Flashdance. I'm ugly."
Sideswipe tipped his head, accessing both words and their definitions, comparing them carefully. He then snorted. "Can't be ugly and handsome at same time!" he retorted, beginning to haul himself up the fine-rung ladder he'd seen Clouddrift perched on briefly before the show.
"I'm ugly," Sunstreaker concluded miserably.
"No, you handsome!" Sideswipe cried exasperatedly. Even though he could feel his brother's reluctance to climb, his own desire was too great and too infectious. Soon enough, the brown sparkling was scrambling up as well, helpless to resist.
"I'm ugly."
"You handsome!"
"I'm ugly!"
"You handsome!"
"I'm Ugly!"
"You Handsome! Times infinity! Ha!"
Sunstreaker pouted, but said nothing.
Once on the catwalk above the arena, the noise from below was deafening. The lights and heat and fireworks threw the shadowed area of the rafters into a hazing, flashing wild maze.
Sunstreaker took his brother's hand. "Where do we go?"
"Out there!" Sideswipe cried, gesturing grandly to the launching platforms aerial bots would perch on before throwing themselves out into the show. "I want to fly!"
Sunstreaker recoiled in terror. "We can't fly! We not built to!"
"We don't know unless we try!"
Sunstreaker attempted to run, but his foot caught on a length of cabling and he stumbled. Stars erupted before his optics as the side of his head banged into the corner of a control box. The entire catwalk beneath their feet lit up as firework after firework detonated.
"Awesome! How you do that?!" Sideswipe cheered, running for his brother.
Sunstreaker shrugged, backing away from the controls quickly. He might have scrambled something when he hit his head- things were looking a little blurry. "Don't know. Don't want to find out. Let's leave."
"No way!"
"Please!" He took his hand away from the side of his head, seeing brown flakes of paint coming off in his palm.
"Not until we learn to fly!"
Lightshow, who was appropriately the lighting director, leaned over to Blaze curiously, optics narrowed as he watched the fireworks detonate. "Is there a glitch in the timing sequencer?"
Blaze was already flying to find out. "No, everything's coming up clean. Says here someone tripped the manual detonation."
"One of the aerials?"
"They know better," Blaze sighed. Nonetheless, he opened a channel to Skyfly, who was waiting in the wings for his cue. "Someone trip up there?"
There was a curious pause. "Blaze? No, why?"
"Pyrotechnics went off."
"Noticed that- I thought it was just a change in scheduling."
"No, someone tripped them manually. You mind making sure no unwelcomed guests are up there?"
"Sure, no problem."
Lightshow still had his optics fixed on the catwalk, catching a flash of red and then a flash of brown. "Oh no, no, no-"
"What is it?"
"Contact Flip!" Lighthouse ordered.
"What? Why?"
"The twins! The twins are up there!"
Blaze pressed against the window of the tech booth, catching the same flash of red and brown that alerted Lightshow. "The pit-?!" he scrambled to open a channel to the director. "Flip! Flip, where are the twins?!"
The old mech sounded way too calm as he responded. "They must have wandered off somewhere."
"Where?!"
"Perhaps to get a better look at things?"
"Primus, Flip, I think they're on the catwalk!"
As if to confirm his suspicions, Skyfly suddenly opened another channel. "You're never going to believe this! Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are up here!"
"Catch them!" Lighthouse ordered wildly.
"They're on the other side of the arena; I won't make it in time! And they're heading for the platforms!"
"The platforms?!" Lighthouse howled.
"What are we going to do?!" Blaze cried.
"Hope to Primus they don't want to fly," Flip replied, still entirely too calm.
"I have really bad feeling about this," Sunstreaker whispered quietly, shying away from the open platform they were nearing. Sideswipe was intent on his goal, and the tug he was impressing between them was enough to physically yank his twin along.
"I want to fly like aerials."
"I don't."
"Then stop following me."
"I can't." It was impossible for either one of them to walk away now. They were too tangled together to allow much space between them.
Sideswipe chirped stubbornly, shifting from one foot to the other. "I really want to fly. I want to be in show with Wildride and Blindside!"
"We get to be in it at the very end!" Sunstreaker tried to haul his brother away, but found Sideswipe resisting adamantly. "We only an orn old- we don't know anything yet!"
"We know lots!" Sideswipe protested.
"We know nothing!" Sunstreaker shouted back. "If we not careful, we get hurt. You heard what others said yesterday- if we not careful, we get taken away."
That was enough to give Sideswipe pause, his wide optics dimming. "I never thought of that."
"Duh," his twin snorted. "When we older, maybe they teach us some tricks. Just not now."
"I want to learn now."
"Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! Get away from there right now!"
Both sparklings' heads shot up in time to see Skyfly barrelling towards them from the far side of the arena's rafters. The catwalks were designed to allow the aerials to fly about with relative ease, getting from platform to platform as they needed for the show, but the area was still too small for the microbot to fly at full speed.
"Get off the platform! It's too dangerous!"
Taken by surprise, both sparklings stumbled back, teetering dangerously on the edge.
"No- no wait! Don't move! Don't move!" Skyfly shrieked, his pastel arms waving wildly.
Below them, the sounds of the roaring crowd swelled into an immense crescendo, vibrating the coliseum. The stuntmechs down below had no idea what drama was going on right above their heads as the finale quickly drew nearer. Above it all was the exhilarated hooting of Wildride as he zoomed just below the platforms with his jetpack. All the lights suddenly came on as their sequencer activated, blinding the sparklings and their would-be saviour.
"Frag!" Skyfly flinched to the left, skidding into the catwalk.
Flip's voice suddenly came over the speakers: "Mechs and femmes, minibots and microbots, Cybertronians of all shapes and sizes, are you in for a treat today-!"
Blindside froze in his tracks as Flip's voice resonated in his audios. Where were the twins? They were supposed to be out here by now. A quick visual sweep of the arena told him they were nowhere in sight, nowhere near. Immediately, his panic hit Wildride and the other mech wavered in the air where he was performing with his jetpack. A private channel was opened.
"Wildride, where's Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?"
The other mech skidded to the ground immediately, his own gaze darting about the arena. "I don't know!"
"-It has been a very long time coming since any of us have had the pleasure of putting on such a wild show for all you amazing bots-!"
Blindside was practically withering in his armor- not for the possibility that the show could be ruined, but because he had no idea where his sparklings were. With so many spark resonances around, he couldn't pick up their signatures. "Primus, Wildride, we gotta go look for them!"
"No, hold on! We can't leave!" Wildride took his mate's hand and held it tight, holding him back. "We can't let anyone in the audience know something's wrong. That'll make it worse!"
"We can't just do nothing!"
"-and, we hope to see you all many orns after this, allowing us to entertain you with our one true function in life, thrilling you right out of your plating-!"
A sudden, panicked mass-message was sent out on all the private stuntmech frequencies, alerting every performer in the arena to the two Creators' plea. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe aren't here! Where the pit are they?!"
In the flurry of alarmed "I don't know!" "They're missing?!" "Where are they?!" messages flowing back, it was Blaze's reply that made their energon run cold.
"Look above you."
Their heads shot up, optics squinting desperately against the glare of the lights, and then true terror seeped into their frames as they saw the tiny feet of the twins peeking over the very edge of the platform above them. Flip remained oblivious, continuing on with his commentary.
"-may the stuntmechs of the Centaurie Tetrax Performance and Exhibition Circuit happily present the newest members of our troop: Sideswipe and Sunstreaker!"
The arena exploded with noise and light as the crowd erupted for the twins, fireworks detonating above them in a fantastic, fiery display of colourful celebration. It was enough to shake the poor pair of little sparklings from their precarious perch, throwing them to the mercy of gravity. Their screams were drowned out by crowd, but the terror on their faceplates shone like beacons to the bots below
Wildride was quick to act, grabbing his mate. "Quick, Highfly Springboard!" he commanded. Instantly, Blindside reacted, the manoeuvre ingrained on his processor. In a flash, he was in a crouch, hands cupped, as Wildride took a running leap at him. Wide hands caught the airborne feet and hydraulically-assisted arms thrust the stuntmech high in the air. Thinking it was all part of the show, the crowd ripped up into an even louder frenzy, screaming and cheering as the twins made their appearance from above. Wildride's jetpack engaged, thrusting him higher, his arms outstretched. His Creations wailed in terror as their arms reached back to him.
"I'm coming!" the stuntmech howled.
"Wildride!" the twins wailed back, flailing desperately.
"Almost there- almost there-!" Catching them by the very tips of their fingers, Wildride dragged the pair to his chest, clutching them close in a near-crushing embrace. "Don't worry! I got ya, little ones!" he whispered into their audios despite the deafening roar around them. His jetpack gurgled, brought to its limit from the intensity of the show, before quitting all together. "Frag! Frag! Hold on to me!" Wildride ordered as his frame slowed in its upward projection, easing downwards in the beginning of freefall.
"Wing formation!" Clouddrift suddenly transmitted, warning Wildride of what was to happen.
Instantly, Wildride threw the twins to the relative safety of his shoulder, shifting the armour there to curve upwards, holding them like a bowl. With them safe, he flung out his arms as if he had wings. Clouddrift and the other aerials were suddenly there, swarming in like a buzzing multi-coloured cloud, their tiny frames latching on to Wildride's arms, and as room ran out there, they latched on to each other, their thrusters burning white-hot to keep their descent steady. Skyfly somersaulted off the platform and cartwheeled his way down after the trio and his fellow flyers, exhuming plumes of coloured smoke to keep of the appearance that this was all part of the show.
"Almost to the floor," Clouddrift transmitted, straining wildly to keep in formation, his thin arms whining from the stress of trying to keep a mech several times his weight airborne.
"Get us there in one piece," Wildride replied, bracing himself for the moment he would collide with the floor.
Blindside was with them the moment Wildride's feet touched the ground. The aerials dispersed like brightly coloured flecks in the breeze, taking to the air and whirling there in celebration of their save. Blindside's big hands were already scooping the twins up, holding them close to his faceplate as the little creatures mashed themselves into the slates of the plating. He nuzzled them both, whispering words of thanks to his mate and to Primus. He was nearly sobbing as loudly as the sparklings as they clung to him.
Flip appeared at their side, his smile enigmatic and his optics sparkling with strange, knowing mischief as he reached out and pried the sparklings from the Creator. Cupping them in pock-marked hands, he raised them to the crowd, even as they wailed and clung to the other. If it was possible, the roar grew even louder, drowning out all else.
In light of the great catch Wildride had just preformed, the stuntmechs threw themselves into their own applauding frenzy, whooping as wildly at their gathered crowd.
Flip's voice, still connected to the sound system, rang the length and breadth of the entire stadium when he next spoke.
"Centaurie Tetrax, Cybertron, I give to you Sunstreaker and Sideswipe: The Twins!"
For the rest of the orn, and well into the night, Blindside and Wildride had refused to let their Creations touch the floor, let alone have anyone else hold them. They rode on their shoulders, cupped in their hands, snuggled tightly into crevices in plating, but never, ever, were they out of sight.
"I love you. I love you. I love you, little ones," Blindside kept whispering into their little frames as he nuzzled his large faceplate close. "I love you, I love you, I love you."
"We love you, too," they coursed repentantly.
"You damn near scared the sparks right out us," Wildride cursed while dangling them dangerously by their feet, shaking them upside down. "Don't you ever do that to us again or I'll disengage whatever limited motor functions you have for the rest of your lives!" He gave them an extra shake to better get it into their processors.
"We promise we won't do it again," they murmured the moment they were allowed right side up again.
"You damn well better not," the mech groused threateningly, and then smothered them in the most affectionate session of nuzzling they'd suffered through yet. "If anything had of happened to you two I don't know what I would have done!"
Flip had disappeared early after the show and remained aloof for long after that. While there were many amongst the troop currently cursing out the old mech for the danger he let the little sparklings get into, no one was brave enough to seek out the director to raise the issue personally. Greater mechs had tried in the past and met their ends tragically. Flip had not been made director of the troop on a whim, and he was formidable when crossed; it was best to leave his private agendas uncontested.
Flicker and Flashdance regaled the entire stuntmech troop with their newly concocted cheers of "Sideswipe the Sly!" and "Sunstreaker the Slick!"- two of the most slippery, wickedly devious sparklings they'd ever had the pleasure of meeting, which was quite a compliment, seeing as the twins had only been online since yesterday. The songs carried on for joors, left humming under everyone's vocal processors. Flashdance soon had his own dance steps for the cheers, quickly performing for anyone who would pay him mind.
Eventually, as the after-party dispersed, and the after-after-party wound down, and the media drones wandered away from greeting and interviewing the famed twins and their proud Creators, Blindside and Wildride glanced to each other and then to their Creations. The poor things were drop-dead tried, barely staying on the shoulder they swayed on. Poor dearsparks were overwhelmed beyond what their processors could handle. Bidding their fellow stuntmechs goodnight, they made their way passed the group dormitories to the private rooms sparkmates shared. Thrillride and Blaze happily bid them night as they slipped into their own quarters, Wildride and Blindside falling into theirs with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe already far gone. Tonight felt like a night they should all spend together. As soon as they hit the recharge berth, they were all out like lights.
It was only until the weak light of Cybertron's distant sun greeted them through the crystalline window did they remain blissfully in recharge. As glistening motes of grey light peeked over the horizon, tiny, ugly pincers poked Sideswipes back, bright optics glimmering in the half-light. Sideswipe grunted, waving the annoyance away, only to receive an astral wave of annoyance in return. Startled awake by that, the little red bot rolled away from the crevice he'd curled into on Wildride and sat up.
"Sunstreaker?"
His brother sat in the shadows made by their enormous Creators, watching Sideswipe carefully. "You won't do that again, will you?" he asked quietly.
"Do what?"
"Scare me like that."
Sideswipe tipped his head curiously. "Trying to fly?"
Sunstreaker nodded, crawling closer to wrap his arms around his brother and press their sparks close to feel whole and welcome again. "I was so scared." What confused him was what he was so scared of. He had no concept of death yet, had no idea that life as he knew it could easily end. What did he have to fear from the experience? He searched himself and found nothing to put his pincer on, but as he looked to Sideswipe he felt the answer more than he knew it.
"I thought the part of me that's you was going to disappear." That was the best way he could describe it.
Sideswipe nodded solemnly, pressing back into his twin. He understood from the very depths of his spark. "I thought that too, when we were falling."
"Don't ever do it again."
"I won't. I promise. I won't ever try to fly like an aerial again. "
"Good."
Sideswipe moved to press his forehead against Sunstreaker's, a gesture of affection he'd seen used around the stuntmechs. He hoped he was mimicking it right. He smiled a smile that was quickly becoming infused with something he was learning as 'mischief'.
"Instead, I want a jetpack like Wildride."