Chapter Seven: Avalanche
Sunstreaker wanted- no, he needed- revenge. Nobody called him "mustard yellow" and got away with it. The only problem was how to get them back.
He needed a prank so simple, so overused, that they'd never see it coming.
That's when he stumbled across a prank site. His optics brightened mischievously. After skimming through a few pranks that didn't meet his (overly) high standards, Sunstreaker found one.
A Cheshire Cat Grin spread across his face. This would teach Barricade to call him "mustard yellow". Now, all he needed to do was get his team mates on board.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker slipped into the supply room. They knew for a fact that Prowl and Optimus went in here for a datapad(or six, in Prowl's case) a day. Seeing as it was before their shifts, they hadn't been in here yet.
Besides, Ironhide would distract Optimus and Prowl if they were headed over anyway. Who says being trigger-happy is a bad thing?
The twins looked around the supply room. It had cabinets lining the walls. The cabinets resembled a closet, in a way. Each one had two doors that you pulled in opposite directions to open it. There were four shelves in each cabinet, but they only needed to use the top one for this prank.
Sideswipe pushed the datapads on said top shelf all the way to the side. That left a rather nice spot to place the items. Sideswipe turned to his twin. "Got the stuff?"
Sunstreaker smirked. "Of course."
"Give them here."
Sunstreaker handed one of the boxes he was holding to his waiting twin. Sideswipe grabbed one item from the box, holding it up for the room to see.
A shiny, white ping pong ball.
"Let's do this," Sunstreaker said with a smirk.
The countdown commenced over their twin bond. ::Three...two...one!::
As the "one" was uttered, both sprang into action. They shoved the ping pong balls from the boxes they each held into the cabinets holding datapads with rapid procession. Once they emptied the box, they slammed the doors closed, effectively containing the white balls.
It didn't take long at all for them to finish with their prank set-up. Sunstreaker looked at his twin. "We need to get out of here."
Sideswipe nodded in agreement. They slipped out of the now thoroughly booby trapped supply room, heading on their way. As they walked, they held back snickers.
This was going to be hilarious.
Prowl reached for a blank datapad, only to find his desk empty of them. He let out an irritated sigh. He was too busy to go and get one. The reports the human government demanded had to be made, after all. Even if Prowl didn't understand why the humans wanted to know how much 'gasoline' they used that month.
Heck, he doubted any of the Autobots used more than one refill of the atrocious liquid.
But still, a report was a report. Prowl wasn't one to shirk his duties, inane or not. So, the lack of datapads problem resurfaced. Maybe Prowl could get someone else to do it.
/Prowl to Barricade./
There was a lengthy pause. /What do you want?/
Prowl decided to ignore the harsh tone. Instead, he continued, /I need some datapads from the supply room. Would you get them for me? I am in the midst of an assignment./
Barricade snarled on the other end. /Fragger!/ he declared, cutting the link.
Prowl let a smirk dance across his face. He knew Barricade would get the datapads anyway. Or Prowl could simply make it a direct order.
Barricade was thoroughly annoyed. He was just about to spend some time with his bondmates when Prowl had contacted him. And it wasn't even important!
'I am not a slaggin' lackey!' Barricade inwardly grouched.
But Barricade knew there was no saying "No" to Prowl. The SIC would probably just make it a direct order. So why waste the time and go through the trouble?
Thus Barricade was here, walking down the hall to the supply room to retrieve Prowl's datapads. Maybe he should give Prowl broken blank ones. Yeah, that'll teach the glitch to send him on errands!
Barricade was too caught up in plotting his revenge on his current teammate to notice Optimus' approach.
"Barricade."
Barricade spun around, in a defensive stance. He saw it was Optimus and relaxed. Ok, so maybe his Decepticon programming was still active...
Optimus, for his part, looked amused. "Where are you headed?" Optimus inquired, trying to soothe the Decepticon.
"Prowl sent me-" Barricade scowled, "-on an errand."
Optimus didn't laugh. He looked like he wanted to, but didn't. "I'll, ah, have to talk to him about that."
"See to it that you do."
Barricade continued on his way, only to notice Optimus following him. The trooper chose to ignore the other. However, that proved impossibly when Optimus turned the same corner Barricade did.
Barricade stopped walking. "Are you following me, Prime?"
Optimus chuckled. "No, Barricade. I myself am in need of a datapad."
Barricade harrumphed, before he started walking again. He didn't care to spend lengthy amounts of time with anyone but his bonded. So he simply chose to ignore the Autobot leader. Optimus didn't push conversation, thankfully.
Finally they stopped outside the supply room. Optimus opened the door, allowing Barricade to go inside first. 'Who says chivalry is for organics only?'
Barricade and Optimus each opened a cabinet...
….And a sea of white ping pong balls fell out of each and onto them.
Barricade cursed, crashing to the ground. Optimus fell not long after, narrowly missing crushing Barricade. To say they were both annoyed would be an understatement. Barricade attempted to stand up, but slipped and fell right back down. He and Optimus proceeded to try and get up, failing to do so each time.
Bumblebee and Bolt, sensing Barricade's growing annoyance and distress, walked into the room. "Wait!" Barricade called out.
He was too late. His bondmates slipped, crashing to the ground. Bolt was sprawled out on top of Bumblebee's chassis, both of them dazed.
"You couldn't have listened to me?" Barricade snapped.
The others ignored him, either unaffected by or simply used to his temper. They had more important things to deal with than Barricade's temper, anyway. Like how to stand up and get out of this accursed room.
"I have an idea!" Bolt called out suddenly. All attention was immediately on him, causing Bolt to twitch. "If you would stop staring..."
Optimus looked away, while Barricade did not. "Explain," the police car demanded.
Bolt nodded once. "What we need to do is use something solid to pull ourselves up. We can also use said solid object as a railing of sorts. Keep us from falling again."
It was a workable plan. "I bet all the other cabinets are booby trapped as well," Bumblebee warned.
Optimus nodded. "I agree. Do your best not to open them," he cautioned.
With that being said, all four mechs slowly hauled themselves up. They looked positively hilarious. Their feet simply wouldn't stay still, and only their respective "railings" kept them from falling. The floor itself was barely visibly, lost beneath a sea of white.
Everyone froze as they heard footsteps stop outside the room. "Barricade, it's been long enough! Where are my..."
Prowl's tirade trailed off when he saw the scene before him. He looked from the open cabinets, to the ping pong balls, to the four mechs keeping themselves upright. Prowl's expression hardened, and Optimus and Bumblebee winced. They knew that Prowl was about to-
Prowl crashed to the ground, twitching every now and again.
-Crash.
The two teams glared at each other. Ratchet had been royally pissed at having to fix Prowl's glitch. Prowl himself wasn't too thrilled either. His bondmates went a tad too far for his liking.
"That'll teach you to call me 'mustard yellow'!" Sunstreaker crowed.
"Plus, we got it all on video!" Ironhide grinned. He wasn't usually one to partake in this sort of thing, but it was just too good.
"You blasted twits!" Barricade snarled, lunging.
Sunstreaker lunged as well. But each were grabbed. Sideswipe grabbed his twin, while Bumblebee grabbed Barricade. Bolt looked so... numb to Barricade's reaction that it was hilarious in it of itself.
"Guys?" a feminine voice asked curiously.
All movement froze as all the Autobots looked down at the human female. Her posture suggested confusion and humor.
Bolt felt his spark twist painfully. He uttered one word, low enough that even the other Autobots didn't hear:
"Mikaela."
