Hey everyone! Long time no see, right? Well, four months or so since the last update… Sadly, Serendipity's Kiss isn't over yet, so the hiatus on this hasn't exactly lifted. This is like a last ditch summer fling thing for me. University starts tomorrow, and then it's back to the old bump and grind for me. -_- It is my sincerest hope that you, as my readers, will still like this story, even after so long away.
Special mentions to FunkyFish1991, who has certainly kept the faith for this story no matter how long I've stretched out this hiatus. She is one of my number one readers/reviewers and a great friend on devART with artistic talent to shadow even the sun. This chapter is dedicated to you! :)
Shizuka Taiyou- Well, here's a new chapter for you, my dear. Hopefully this will tide you over. :)
Shimmershadow30- I'd never separate the twins from their family, hun! That would be too cruel! It's a happy ending for them, this time. :)
Elita One- Yeah, they get to stay. It's a happy ending for them, this time.^^
Figs- lol~ That image of Optimus doing a disco dance is still making me laugh. xD This story is still on the back burner, but hopefully this one chapter will be enough to keep you reading. ^^
Taisha- Goodness, your praise has really touched my heart. The little details and nuances that I add to the story are what really endear to the writing, and I'm glad that you appreciate the effort just as much. You're too kind.
That Crazy Halo Girl- I hope I haven't tested your patience too greatly. Here's another chapter for you to enjoy, though who knows how long it will be until the next one comes… ^^;
FunkyFish1991- D'awwww, Fishy- you know I'm a cruel, cruel woman, but I'm not that cruel! XD The true tragedy has yet to come…
Balrog Rioke- *shrug* It's a completely different planet with a completely different way of raising their young. A Youth Sector exists to raise and prepare a youngling with every available resource any young one could ever possibly need. It's unreasonable to think a single home, especially one like the coliseum, would be as well-equipped. But, of course, to each their own. In regards to your question about Tungsten- Wheeljack actually began building it when he was still a youngling himself, but stopped when he became an apprentice to Wrenchwire. Tungsten was completed as Wheeljack's drone when he completed his apprenticeship. :)
Bluebird Soaring- Yep, yep, happy endings all around, until the next time. There's no way I would just drop this story, no matter how many I have on the go. Somehow, someway, I'm going to finish this, because the twins' story is too important not to finish.
DitzyMusicLover- Thanks for all the advice. I've just been trucking away at this story behind the scenes as I've been writing furiously with everything else. One of these days, I'll be able to focus solely on this story. :)
Starbee- I'm so happy that you have enjoyed my version of the Twins! They have been so much fun to write for, and I'm thrilled that I have been able to entertain others with the story. :)
Chloo- lol~ Thanks for the props, hun. I'm still not over the phobia, but at least fictional not-really-babies babies don't scare the ever-lovin' tar out of me anymore.
Rebell- Hey, no worries about RL. I can relate with how much it has a habit of pulling people away from fiction. I'm so glad you've enjoyed the story thus far and plan to stick with it. There are a lot more joys and sorrows planned ahead for dear Sunny and Sides. It'll be a while yet before they become the gladiators of Kaon, but rest assured the fall from grace will happen.
Destiny Quill- My dear, your review certainly made my day when I received it, and even now as I read it again, it has a way of lifting my mood. My whole goal of writing this story was to delve deeper into the Twins' backstories and illustrate their transformation into the characters we know now. I know no higher praise than for a reader to say that I have defined their views of a certain character. I'm beyond humbled.
Lecidre- Awwwww, hun, your review just about put me right over the moon, you know that? Everything about it made me grin and laugh- I almost cried from the joy of seeing it! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter. It was a joy to write, from Ironhide and Megatron picking on Optimus, to the Twins having their We-Hate-You moment, to Elita doing the paintjobs and everything else. There's so much in your review that I want to comment on, and yet there's only so much time and space here to leave a reply. I just want to say that you have been one of the best friends I've made on this site, and your reviews have really kept me going. You're amazing with your insight and praise, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter!
Cynthia- Oh goodness, that's such high praise! I'm happy to have made the Twins your favourite Autobots through my writing! :D
Niveas- I'm happy that you've been able to enjoy my story so much! I'm flattered! :D
Eeilair- Goodness, making the Twins' family be the TF equivalent of a circus troupe simply felt right, y'know? I'm glad you like the touch, though. It's so much fun writing for them. :)
Cosmic love, everyone~
Surface of the Sun
Chapter 7
"You're leaving us here for the orn?" Sunstreaker whined, staring up at the high, brightly painted walls of the Sector looming in front of him. As far as he was concerned, his Creators were leaving him at the gates of the pit.
"Yes, for the orn," Blindside informed, crouching to urge the stubborn sparkling along. "That's part of the agreement, remember? You get to stay with us in the circuit, but only if you're properly socialized with other beings within the same developmental range. That means regular trips to Centaurie Tetrax Youth Sector, or else."
"Can we say we came but we really didn't?" Sunstreaker whined.
"No."
"Then can we just spend a joor here and go home?" the mottle-brown sparkling groaned, digging his heels in.
"Nice try, but still no. You must spend the entire orn," Blindside insisted.
A little brown foot stomped, faceplate crumpled. "But that's too long!"
The star-spangled mech looked caught between humour and pity. As a home-cared sparkling himself, he knew what it was like to be left at the Sector for an orn to play. The first time doing anything was always a little scary for anyone. "It's not as bad as you think, little one. Wildride and I went through the same thing, and so did everyone else in the troop. You just play for the orn and then come home. Sideswipe will be there with you. Just give it a chance, please?"
Sunstreaker made a face so twisted it looked like he was going to pop a bolt.
Blindside placed a gentle finger over the tiny faceplate. "If you keep your faceplate like that, it'll stay that way." From behind the finger, Sunstreaker squeaked, remembering the orn Flicker had pulled a nasty face at another stuntmech, only to discover the joints in his faceplate seized that way. That was a fiasco no one was forgetting any time soon. When Blindside removed his finger, Sunstreaker had fixed his faceplate, though his pout remained.
Wildride crouched down next to his sparkmate, Sideswipe perched happily atop his head. "You want to stay with us at the coliseum, don't you?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, if we don't do as the Council says, you get taken away-."
"I know that!" Sunstreaker snapped. "I don't want to leave the circuit, but that doesn't mean I want to go in there!" He waved to the Sector's gates to clearly indicate where he didn't want to go. "I just don't want to go! Is that so hard to understand?"
Wildride cast a cursory glance to the tall gates set back from the pedestrian walkways; they were unchanged from when he had been a youngling spending orns at a time in the Sector with his friends. There was nothing particularly scary about them, other than the approximation of an organic alien monster a youngling had painted. The fireworks-motif mech turned his gaze back to his mottled brown sparkling. "You're stuck in the coliseum all orn with all us boring old stuntmechs who hardly have any time to do anything but train. You don't have many friends in your own size or developmental range. You don't really get to talk to or meet anyone new. You two are sheltered more than any other being on this planet. You should be jumping out of your plating for a chance like this. I was practically climbing the walls to get in there when I was your age!"
"Well that was you, and you're nuts!" Sunstreaker shouted, stomping both his feet for good measure.
Wildride jerked back, chin jutting out. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh yeah?!"
"Yeah!!"
"Well, oh- dammit!"
"I win!" Sunstreaker shrieked in triumph.
Blindside sighed, patting his mate's foot. "Congratulations, love. You were just outmanoeuvred by a sparkling."
Wildride huffed, turning away.
"Hey! Hey! I'm still here! I want to go in there!" Sideswipe shouted, kicking Wildride in the head to remind him he was still hiding up there. "I want to climb the walls and make friends." He looked to his brother with stubbornly pursed mouthplates. "Sunstreaker's just scared."
Horrified his own brother would betray him like that, Sunstreaker screeched. "I'm not scared! You're a liar!"
"Nuh-uh! You're scared! You're the liar!" Sideswipe yelled back, unable to shield himself from his brother's fear. "You're being a dumb glitch about it all! It's just a stupid Youth Sector!"
"I'm not a dumb glitch! You're a smelly rust bucket!"
Bystanders were starting to stare, though the twins gave no indication of caring. Wildride scrubbed his face, ducking when Blindside waved for Sideswipe to be brought to his level. Large hands took up the twins, folding them in a warm metal cocoon and forcing them to cease their squabble.
"Hush, you two, there's no need for silly fights." Sunstreaker was uncovered first, bringing him faceplate-to-faceplate with Blindside. "We know you're scared, little one, but that's no reason to take it out on your brother." Sideswipe was then uncovered. "And we know you're only reacting to what you feel from your brother, but you're not making it any better."
The twins looked to each other reluctantly, and then looked up to their Creator. "We're sorry," they mumbled reluctantly.
Blindside blew a jet of warm air over them to cheer them up. "That's alright, dear ones."
Sunstreaker rocked back and forth a little. "They're going to make fun of me if I go in there, though" he said miserably. "They're going to say how ugly my paint is and how old my frame is. Just you wait- they're all going to say mean things! They're all going to be glitches! And when you come back for me, I'm going to tell you I told you so, and you're going to feel so bad you'll never leave me here again!"
Wildride pinched the sharp ridge between his optics, trying to contain his building impatience. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?" he asked.
"No, you're under-reacting," the sparkling grumbled rottenly. "You don't get what it's like being in this frame. You and Blindside are so handsome! You were built to have handsome frames with beautiful paintjobs; everyone loves you and wants to see you perform! Even Sideswipe is pretty for a sparkling! But what about me, huh? I get left in the dust because our stupid sparks split and you didn't have a frame for me."
Blindside quickly traded Sideswipe off to Wildride in order to bring Sunstreaker close to his spark. "It's not the frame that matters, it's the spark. When you were created, you had one of the brightest sparks I have ever seen. You were called Sunstreaker because of how bright your spark was."
Sunstreaker leaned into the resonance of his Creator, lulled by the familiar warmth and pulse of his life energy. "Nobody can see my spark, though. They see my frame, that's it," he sighed.
"They see your spark through what you do," Blindside shushed. "You're special just the way you are."
"It's not fair that I have to show them at all. If I was as pretty on the outside as I am on the inside, everything would be easier." Little pincers dug into the slates between Blindside's plating, hugging himself to the spark he felt hiding beyond. "I want to stay with you 'cause you know I'm pretty inside out."
"Awwwww..." Blindside withered pathetically, cupping Sunstreaker as close as he dared. He was so small and quiet and vulnerable; he was way too young to be left at a Youth Sector. If he could just talk to the Council about reconsidering their decision...
Wildride felt his sparkmate wavering, likewise affected through their bond. Sideswipe might not have had such a connection to his star-spangled Creator, but he knew well enough what it looked like when Blindside was about to give in.
"I knew he was going to crack," Sideswipe mumbled.
"None of that outta you. I'll see to your brother," Wildride admonished good-humouredly, giving the little imp a light flick in the head. Without even having to say a word to his mate, he exchanged Sideswipe for Sunstreaker, rubbing his head fondly to Blindside's with the silent promise of taking care of things.
Sunstreaker moped obstinately as he was taken a few paces away. "It doesn't matter what you say, I'm not going to change my mind about the Sector. I'm going to hate it,"
Being far enough away from his mate, standing with his back to him so that Blindside would not even be privy to facial expressions, Wildride let his faceplate fall into a dark frown that revealed how far gone his patience was. "I'm not going to try to change your mind."
Sunstreaker's optics narrowed. "You're not?"
"No. I know a lost cause when I see one," the older mech informed. "In fact, I'm going to tell you something very different, so you better listen up." He leaned in close, whispering sharply.
Bored because he could not hear what Wildride was telling Sunstreaker, Sideswipe sighed and rubbed at his chest. "You know, they probably will make fun of him," he said offhandedly, looking up a Blindside.
Blindside nodded slowly, aware of the sad truth. They could sweet talk Sunstreaker all they wanted, but it wouldn't take back that one word said to him the orn he was brought home. Ugly. Bots weren't stupid, and they weren't blind either; Sunstreaker's model was centuries old, and while older bots had the sense to say nothing, it was unlikely all younglings within the Sector would. "You'll be there for him, right?"
"'Course I will, he's my brother." In Sideswipe's mind, that was simply a fact of life. He was there for his brother in the same sense that he knew his spark was going to pulse to the beat of his brother's. It was entirely instinctual and impossible to ignore.
"Then I have nothing to worry about."
Sideswipe considered the words carefully. "Well, you have lots to worry about, but you don't have to worry about Sunstreaker or me. We take care of each other."
"That you do, dearspark." He looked up when he felt a pleasant tug in his chest, only to find his mate approaching with an only slightly-scowling Sunstreaker. When Sideswipe hopped over to Wildride's frame to be with his brother, Sunstreaker merely huffed at him and crossed his arms tighter over his chassis.
"I think it'll be fun," Sideswipe insisted futilely.
"Fun for you, maybe," Sunstreaker grumbled.
"Give it a chance, for me?" Big blue optics turned pouty and adorable.
"Don't look at me like that, it looks like your optics are going to pop out of your head," Sunstreaker said flatly, but then relented when Sideswipe persisted. "I'll give it a chance. Just one. Only because you asked." Just for that, he was rewarded with a tight hug, which he returned after a moment of groaning.
"Now is everything settled?" Blindside enquired happily.
"Yes!" Sideswipe chimed, followed by a very reluctant, "Do I have a choice?" from Sunstreaker.
Wildride chuckled and patted them both on the head. "Let's drop you off and get this over with."
Barricade hailed them at the gates, dour as usual. He ushered them in with a sparse greeting, and then ducked to capture an errant youngling as it attempted to make a break for the open gate.
"Run off, Ram, before I stick you on a shelf too high for you to climb off," the Guardian threatened as he shooed the orange bot off. The youngling scrunched his faceplate and made a rude noise, running off to rejoin his friends. They all looked back at Barricade with glittering optics, making it clear that this was not their first attempt at escape, nor would it be the last. It was too good a game to stop playing it with the Guardians.
"Quick little bratling," Barricade lamented to no one in particular. "If he wasn't so orange, he could probably slip passed me."
Sunstreaker immediately took pity on the youngling. Orange paint was nearly as ugly as brown. His attention, though, was quickly diverted as he caught sight of a large gathering in the center of the courtyard comprising of nearly 30 younglings are sparklings. Fascinated by so many little ones gathered in one place, the twins watched as several Caretakers, ranging from short minibots to tall femmes, raised their hands into the air, stretching as high as their servos would allow. The younglings around them mirrored their actions. When the Caretakers leaned to the left, the younglings leaned to the left. When the Caretakers leaned to the right, the younglings leaned to the right. When the Caretakers announced for them to 'shake it off!", the whole crowd dissolved into twittering laughter as they shook themselves so hard they fell over. The actions were repeated a few times, and then a new movement was introduced.
"What are they all doing?" Sideswipe asked, instantly wanting to join in.
"Coordination exercises to improve their motor skills; they do them every morning," Barricade informed, making his way to the main building on the other side of the yard, letting the group of four follow.
"It looks like a game," Sideswipe surmised.
Barricade shrugged. "It has to look fun or otherwise no one would want to do it, and then we'd have a herd of bots scooting around on their skid plates because they couldn't walk in a straight line. Not exactly the things a Youth Sector wants to be known for."
Sunstreaker looked affronted. "We never did coordination exercises and we can walk just fine."
"That's because you had something a little better," Wildride intoned proudly. "We taught you our stunts to better your motor skills, which is loads more fun. You're vorns ahead of the rest here in your motor development. You could probably somersault circles around them."
"I like the tricks more, but I'd still like to play with them," Sideswipe mediated honestly.
"You have to be processed in first, then you can play," Barricade intoned, allowing them to enter the office first. Inside was just as colourful outside, with two softly painted microbots sitting next to each other at a small desk perched on top of a minibot-sized desk. Both of them were merrily zipping through data pads, keeping up a lightning-paced conversation with a youngling sitting in a miniature chair in front of them. They looked up at the same time when they heard someone enter, twittered their greetings, and then went back to their rapid-fire work. The youngling with them fell silent to ogle the twins, little optics wide as he recognized them. A mauve minibot ay another desk was a little more gracious. He stood, touched hands with everyone, and then ushered the twins to be dropped on his desk. They were processed in rather quickly- all it took was a scan to register their frame models and paint colours, list who their Creators were, time of drop off and estimated pickup, and then a tracking collar was snapped on them so they wouldn't be misplaced during their stay.
Sunstreaker pulled at his collar, not liking how the orange hue made the brown of his frame look. "Do we have to wear these?"
"Do you want to go out and play with the others?" Barricade countered.
"Not really," the sparkling replied honestly.
"Well, too bad. We all have to do things we don't like," the Guardian replied. "You have to wear those so Caretakers know where you are in here, and if you somehow get loose, Guardians like me will be able to track you down."
A hacking noise came from somewhere to left, announcing that Sideswipe had somehow managed to get the tip of his foot stuck in his collar and was slowly strangling himself. As soon as he was freed, he pouted accusingly in Barricade's direction. "How come the others here don't have to wear these things?"
A peal of laughter floated from the curious youngling watching them. "Everyone here knows our spark resonances off by spark, sillies! It's too easy to track us."
Barricade rolled his optics, wandering over to pluck the youngling up between two pinched fingers. "Who needs a spark resonance when you never mute it, you little chatterbox?" he grumped, receiving a rude noise in reply. To Blindside and Wildride, he confided in a not-so-quiet voice, "his Creator thought it'd be funny to give him full lingual programming before he was onlined."
"And how is that working out?" Blindside enquired lightly.
The dirty look Barricade shot the mech was answer enough. He nudged the youngling toward the twins. "You are going to look after them for the orn. Take them around the Sector, introduce them to the others, and make sure they stay out of trouble. Can you do that?"
With the weight of such a great task placed on his skinny shoulders, the youngling snapped up with all the self-importance in the world. "Yeah, I can do it!" Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were unprepared when the strange bot leapt forward, captured their wrists, and began dragging them towards the tiny staircase that ran down the side of the desk. "We're going to have so much fun! I'll show my alcove that I like to download in, and my berth- I even wrote my designation on the bottom, and all the play equipment, and all the best hiding spots! I'll even take you to the holodeck and the observation room! I bet you've never seen anything like them! But, you know, being from a stunt troop, I bet you've seen plenty of other interesting places, huh?"
"Um...yes?" Sideswipe chirped, a little dazed.
They were halfway down the stairs by the time they realized Blindside was kneeling by them with an odd little half-smile in place. "No goodbyes?"
Sideswipe shook his wrist free of his new friend's grip, flinging his arms out. "Bye, Blindside!" he crowed. "Bye, Wildride!" He giggled when he was stroked fondly.
"Bye, little one," Blindside supplied.
"You'll be back to get us soon, right?" Sunstreaker asked.
"We'll be here on time, not a breem later," the star-spangled mech assured.
Wildride leaned over his mate, touching the top of Sunstreaker's head. "Remember what I told you, young one. Keep it in mind and you'll do fine."
"I will. Bye."
The two sparkmates left with fond waves, escorted to the gates by Barricade.
The youngling now in charge of the twins watched the proceedings with a certain degree of interest, partially due to the fact that both the Creators and sparklings were famous, and partially because he'd never seen home-cared sparklings before. They acted totally different with their Creators than bots in Youth Sectors did. They were more attached to their Creators. It was probably from living with them instead of seeing them every few orns like a normal young bot would. Coming to that conclusion, the youngling was a lot slower to proceed with his new friends.
"You two ready?" he asked.
Sideswipe made sure to take his brother's pincer and hold it tight. "Yeah, we're ready. Where to first?"
"I don't know yet. We'll find out when we get there." The youngling hopped his way down the stairs, letting the twins follow.
"Don't overwhelm them," one Caretaker warned.
"I'll try not to," called the youngling.
They exited the administration building and started to wander. Within the first few disorientating moments of being out in the very large courtyard, the twins were quick to pick up on several key things. Firstly, this was the first time they had ever been anywhere new without one of their stuntmech-brethren being around (other than that time they fell down the lift shaft, but they tended to block that memory out). Secondly, the Youth Sector looked a lot bigger now that they didn't have their Creator's around to shield them and keep them off the ground. Not only did it look bigger, but it was a lot more crowded from their new perspective, too. So many sparklings and younglings! More than they had ever seen before! It was only now that they were starting to realize how under-developed their social skills were; despite all the experience they had with the performances their troop put on, they had no idea what to do with so many potential friends!
The last thing they were coming to discover was that their new youngling friend liked to talk. A lot.
"-I have your holopics pasted on my berth, you know? I remember exactly what I was doing the orn you came online. I was sitting in my alcove downloading files on the history of Crystal City when all the Caretakers suddenly got in this huge hissy fit. No one knew what was going on until Barricade and the other Guardians came in and got real loud to calm everyone down. We thought Wheeljack blew himself up again! And then someone turned up the comms on Soundwave's channel, 'cause he's the best for news, even though I like Blaster more- and wouldn't you believe it! He was reporting that a spark had split in two at Iacon! Slaggin' twins, y'know? No one could believe it! It was the most awesome orn ever! Everyone started running around all crazy and yelling; Barricade practically ran out the gates to meet your Creators at the terminal! He wouldn't let no one else go 'cause he didn't trust any of the other Guardians with such an important thing. He's a really good mech like that- super tough, but he kinda loves everyone in his own way. And then Wheeljack really did blow himself up at the end of the orn!" A peal of laughter sparkled from him as he clapped. "And your designations are the coolest ever! Sideswipe and Sunstreaker; designations like that are usually chosen for adults, y'know! Usually we just get loan designations, something short like a beep or a whistle until we reformat. But you two got awesome designations right off the bat! You're really lucky like that! And then you got to go live with the stuntmechs... How much more awesome can you get, right? I was kind of disappointed that your Creators decided to home-care you, though. It would have been so neat if you came here to be raised! I bet we would have been friends! Oh- not that I mean we can't be friends now. I'd love to be friends now! If that's alright with you, I mean..." He spun around to see what the Twins' responses would be, only to find that they looked pretty lost. Suddenly, the youngling smacked himself in the head. "Oh no! I can't believe I'm doing it again! The Caretakers are always telling me I'm doing it but I never know when to stop! Stupid me! Stupid, stupid, stupid me!"
The twins skidded to a halt as soon as the youngling began to assault himself. They glanced to each other in stark incredulity. Were all Sector-raised bots crazy?
"What are you doing that's so bad?" Sunstreaker asked cautiously.
"I'm making a bad impression!" the youngling wailed passionately. "I'm supposed to tell you my designation, touch hands, and not talk so much, but I can't help it when I'm excited!" He danced from foot to foot anxiously. "It's not every orn you get to meet two of the most famous bots on the planet!"
The mottled-brown sparkling blinked dumbly. "We're not that famous..."
The youngling waved a hand. "No way, you're super-famous! Everyone knows you and thinks you're awesome!"
"Super famous!" the red sparkling sang delightedly.
They squealed when the youngling weaseled his way between them, hooking an arm around each of their necks. "Oh yes, you're super-super-super-famous! I've thought you guys were awesome from the day you were created!"
"Thanks- uh…" It was then that Sunstreaker realized he still didn't have a designation for the youngling.
"Oh, I did it again! Why can't I get introducing myself right?!" he wailed. "I'm Blue!"
Sunstreaker paused oddly, looking the youngling up and down. "Yes, you are." Actually, he was more of a greenish-blue colour, but who wanted to be picky over something like that?
The youngling stopped dead, blinked, and then shook his head. "No, silly, that's my designation! I'm Blue!" He slapped himself in the chest to make his point.
"Oh, now I get it!" Sideswipe laughed. "Nice to meet you, Blue!"
"Nice to meet you, too!" Blue suddenly grinned so wide it looked as if his faceplate would split. "So, what do you want to do first? Do you want to go play with the others? My friends are over there, if you wanna go meet them." He pointed to a small gathering of younglings of various shapes and sizes hanging off a play structure. They waved when they saw Blue pointing. "I know they want to meet you."
Sunstreaker stared warily, clicking his pincers. There looked to be about a dozen different bots in that direction, which was far too many to meet at one time. One or two would be okay, but any more than that was scary. Sideswipe, now without the protection of his Creators and left to the wide world of the Sector with only his brother and new friend to lean on, found himself a whole lot more nervous about meeting strangers. He might not have been as nervous as his brother, whose discomfort was painfully obvious, but Sideswipe was still pretty darn nervous.
"Can you give us a tour first?" the red twin asked, his brother quickly nodding his agreement.
"'Course I can!"
The twins cheered delightedly, thankful for a short reprieve to orient themselves before they faced the droves of curious bots here.
"Is Ratchet here right now?" Sideswipe wondered.
Blue tipped his head curiously. "Sure, Ratchet's here. He's probably in the med bay where he always is. Either that or he's in the labs with Wheeljack." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Rumour has it that they're actually exclusives keeping it on the down low. Any orn now, they're going to go off and sparkbond or something like that."
Sideswipe crinkled his faceplate. "Ratchet sparkbond with Wheeljack?"
Blue nodded sagely. "Oh yeah, I heard they've been together since they were sparklings at their own Sector. They even share their quarters, I think... never been back in the administrative quarters before to know, but it's what I've heard." And one lesson young bots learned quickly in the Youth Sector was that rumours were basically the truth that no one had bothered to confirm yet.
"Poor Wheeljack," the red twin sighed emphatically. Getting stuck with grumpy old Ratchet for the rest of forever wasn't exactly something a bot looked forward to.
"Why did you want to know if Ratchet was in?" Blue wondered.
An impish grin lit the corners of Sideswipes mouthplates. "Just wondering. Maybe we could go see him, if there's time? Ratchet and Wheeljack are always so much fun when they come to the coliseum- it's only fair we get to see them where they function."
Sunstreaker suddenly tensed as he sensed the undercurrent of his brother's voice, optics narrowing suspiciously. "What are you planning?"
"Nothing," his brother sang happily.
"It's not nothing," Sunstreaker grumped. Sideswipe was definitely up to something. He might deny it out loud, but he wasn't skilled enough to lie through their bond. In fact, he sucked at trying. Sunstreaker turned to Blue. "Don't take us to the med bay. It'll be bad for everyone."
Blue looked utterly taken with the both of them, despite the warning. "Wow, did you two just communicate through your sparkbond? That is so cool! What's it like? How do you do it?"
The twins exchanged surprised looks, leaning away as Blue leaned into them.
"It's just something we can do. It's no big deal..." Sunstreaker moderated with a shrug.
"No big deal? Yeah, right!" Blue started tugging them excitedly towards a new building, this one jutting high into the skyline, no doubt the main hub of the entire Sector. "It'd be so cool to be able to transmit messages to other bots, but we can't do that until we reformat. Closest thing we have is interfacing when you get upgraded to a youngling, but even that is really restricted. I'm just getting a hang of interfacing- it's harder than it looks! But you two are like connected." He tapped two fingers from opposite hands together to illustrate how connected they were. "Like magic, right? Or like sparkmates. You can talk through your sparks or something like that."
"Kinda," Sideswipe chirped, allowing himself to be dragged into the new building.
"Neat!" They passed into the towering building, scampering beneath minibot feet to the far end of the airy lobby. "The med bay and engineering lab is on this floor, so we can go see Ratchet first before we go anywhere else." Blue pointed up to the soft-yellow ceiling above them. "Everything goes up from here, so I can show all the neatest floors. Since I have youngling status, I can get us in to all the sparkling-restricted areas, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone, 'kay? I don't want my access codes revoked."
"Promise!" the twins coursed as they scampered through the maze of brightly lit halls. Huge crystalline windows served as divides for some rooms, shattering the light so that it made rainbows over everything. Even if the paint along the walls reminded them of the colours of the coliseum, the crystalline windows and walls they passed by gave them a vague sense of déjà vu, like being back in the crystal spires of the Council Pantheon in Iacon. It was weird, but in a strangely pleasant, calming sort of way. At the very back of the complex, the med bay doors glinted merrily in a mote of light shining down from the faux-skylight. It was the least-scariest med bay door there ever was. If only there wasn't a monster on the other side.
"Okay, here we are: the med bay!" Blue announced, skipping through the door as it opened. "Ratchet! Hey! I have some bots here who want to see you!"
Sideswipe smacked his faceplate with his palm. Apparently Blue wasn't programmed to be subtle. To make the best of the situation, he and his brother trotted in, fully expecting to have the medic looming over them with his grumpy-medic-scowl firmly in place. There were only so many times you could purge on a mech before he started holding a grudge. Luckily, there was no Ratchet in the med bay.
"Huh, funny, he's usually here," Blue commented absently, turning in a curious circle.
"Must of heard we were coming," Sideswipe snickered. He started taking in his immediate surroundings, the mischief-cogs in his head starting to churn. What to do first? What would cause the most damage?
Darting movement to the left caught Sunstreaker's optic. He froze, glaring at whatever had disappeared around the support column of a berth. "Wait, someone might be here," he warned, trotting over to investigate. A series of squeaking chirps met his audios, and then the blank faceplate of Tungsten the drone appeared, a cleaning implement in its hands as it went about sanitizing the floor. "False alarm," he called, watching as the drone went about its appointed task.
Sideswipe watched Wheeljack's speciality drone for a few long astroseconds before a long, slow grin stretched his faceplate. "Hey, Blue, you have paint in this place, right?"
The green-blue youngling shrugged, still standing awkwardly near the entrance. "Yeah, sure. There's plenty in the painting room."
"How much do you think we can get in here?"
"Don't know... Why?"
" 'Cause I got an idea for this place." He turned a quick circle, arms thrown into the air. "This is the only room so far that doesn't have any colour in it. It's so boring and empty. We're going to fix it up for Ratchet, 'cause we love him so much."
Satisfied with the answer, Blue was more than happy to take them to the paint room to gather up as much paint as they could carry, trooping it back the med bay for Sideswipe's planned makeover. By some extreme stroke of luck, Ratchet had not returned, though the drone was still hard at work.
"Okay, this is going to be the tricky part..." Sideswipe said, sneaking up on Tungsten from behind. They were nearly the same height, but the drone, being Wheeljack's drone, was heavily armoured, meaning it wasn't going to go down easy. Jumping on its back, he covered the drone's optics, causing it to squeal and flail in attempt to remove the obstruction. "Quick, switch the washer!"
Instantly, Sunstreaker and Blue dove in with the miniature blow dryer they'd snatched from a layaway in the next corridor. There was a brief fight for the washer, seeing as the drone was several times stronger than they were and very reluctant to let go of its tool. Sideswipe employed a trick he'd once seen Flashdance use on one of the coliseum's drones, shaking Tungsten's head so it would lose all sense of orientation. Finally disorientated to the point where it no longer heeded its initial command, the washer was finally stripped away from the drone and replaced with the blow dryer. The industrial-strength dryer was generally meant to be used for drying super wet floors after a cleaning, or for drying out the wash racks before the room rusted, but it would work nicely for what Sideswipe had planned. With the dryer in place, the three troublemakers backed away, watching warily as the drone straightened itself. As it discovered its washer gone, it paused to figure out what it was supposed to do next, and then came to the conclusion that it was supposed to start drying. With a cheerful squeak, it went about the task.
"Yes! It worked!" Sideswipe cheered.
Blue didn't seem to understand the point. "Why are we messing with Tungsten? I thought you said we were going to paint this place for Ratchet."
Sunstreaker rolled his optics, holding up a large cube of honeysuckle-yellow paint. "That's what the drone is for. We leave the paint, it'll do the painting." He tossed his cube in front of Tungsten and watched as yellow spattered everywhere. Detecting the sudden splash of wetness, the drone turned and immediately began blow drying the paint. The strength of the blow drier ensured that the paint sprayed everywhere, coating all surfaces in the near vicinity.
Sideswipe laughed and started throwing paint cubes everywhere, watching as Tungsten twisted rapidly in order to dry the wet spots it was detecting. "Come on, Blue. It's fun! Toss a few!"
A little less confidently, Blue lobbed a few cubes. After the first three, he got confident enough to pick up a big neon-blue cube and heave it hard, watching with supreme satisfaction as a tidal wave of paint spilled everywhere. "Do you think that's enough?"
"Sunstreaker's the expert at painting," Sideswipe said, looking to his brother. "What do you think?"
A careful optic cast about the med bay, which now boasted the most hideous paintjob ever. "I think our job's done here."
They ran for it, quick and nibble out the door and into the nearest lift.
"I can't believe we did that!" Blue gasped, optics bright.
"Ratchet's gonna love his present!" Sideswipe crowed, slipping down the wall to roll on the floor laughing.
They took the lift passed several floors, including the holodecks, the downloading stations, play rooms, interview rooms, and other floors of various purposes until they made it to the top of the tower. Piling out, they were rushed by a gaggle of young bots.
"Hey everyone!" Blue greeted. "These are my new friends, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."
Instantly, the twins were seized in the clutches of way too many strange bots. Unlike adults, the youngling had yet to understand maintaining polite boundaries and asking for permission before approaching unknown young ones. Designations and invitations to play were thrown in the twins' audios until they could hear nothing but wild chattering squeaks and squeals. Sideswipe laughed and clapped a couple younglings on the forehead, but his brother wasn't faring so well, practically withering out of his plating. A microbot Caretaker came running in and shooed everyone away, freeing the twins from the mass and letting them into the dormitories without further fuss.
"Blue, you were told not to overwhelm them," the Caretaker chastised sharply.
"I know, I know- I didn't mean to." Blue looked apologetic as he took Sunstreaker's pincer, rubbing it between his hands. "I'm sorry- I didn't think that was going to bother you so much... I wasn't really thinking about it at all. It was just that our next stop was up here, and I come up here every orn, I didn't think about all the others that would be up here... Do you want to sit down or something, Sunstreaker? You really don't look so well right now..."
The poor mottled-brown sparkling frowned, wobbling a little as he got his bearings back. "I'm fine," he growled before Blue could start talking again. The crowd had just taken him by surprise, that was all.
"Don't worry about it, Blue," Sideswipe assured with a shinning grin. "We're from a stunt troop, remember? We're used to that kind of thing. It's just the fact that everyone's our age and size here that's kind of freaky."
Blue looked marginally cheered. "If you say so. Do you want to see my berth now? It's in dormitory 4." He trotted down the corridor passed a few open entrances and ducked into the room labelled "Four". The twins followed at a slower pace, met by a few lingering stares by the remaining bots on the floor. Were they really that interesting? Sunstreaker scowled while Sideswipe starting chirping about being superstars.
"Mute it, Sides. We're famous for being freaks, that's it," he shushed, stepping on his brother's foot.
Before a squabble could break out, Blue flagged them down to his berth, which was chest-high off the ground and set onto a thick block bolted to the floor. It was inset with a series of subspace drawers for all the little knickknacks a youngling could ever want to store. It was exactly like the berth next to him, and the berth next to that. The only thing different from the fifteen other berths in the room was the fact that someone had taken a paintbrush and scribbled the word "Bloo" at one end of the small slab.
"This is where I recharge," Blue announced. He pointed proudly to the word 'Bloo'. "See, there's my designation!" He failed to mention that he wrote it before he could spell. Thankfully, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had yet to download sessions on Cybertronian script to recognize the error.
"This is almost like the dorms at the coliseum," Sunstreaker commented. If the berths were a little bigger, it would have been exactly like the coliseum's dorms- minus the berths hanging from the ceiling for the aerials.
"What'd you expect? For us to all have separate rooms? That's such a waste of space!" Blue laughed. He dug into one of his drawers and pulled out an armful of holopics, shoving them into the twins' arms. "This is my family," he announced. "Periwinkle is my Creator, and these are my brothers Azure, Lapis Lazuli, Indigo, Ultramarine, and Teal. Oh, and this one's my sister, Aquamarine!"
Glancing at the pics, the twins didn't know whether to laugh or not: all the bots featured were painted different shades of blue.
"They all live in Crystal City, and all of them function in Security Response. My Creator is really lucky to have such a high ranking function; he oversees all the precincts in the city and gets to decide whether or not they need new recruits. He even gets to decide whether they'll be pre-programs or sparklings." Blue leaned in conspiratorially. "Everyone says that pre-programs are better for Security Response because they're ready right away for service, but Periwinkle told me that he prefers bots who've had a chance to be a sparkling first and enjoy that part of their lives. He says that a bot who makes the choice to be in a certain function is always stronger at it than a bot who never had the choice at all. I agree with him, I think. There are some things that are better learned than just getting programmed into your processor, y'know? My Creator's a real smart mech for knowing that. " The pictures were plucked away and shoved back into their drawer.
Sideswipe rubbed an audio, trying to tune it to keep up with Blue's high-speed chatter. "I thought it was against the rules to pressure sparklings into certain functions..."
"Oh, it is. I don't have to join Security Response if I don't want to. Nobody will be mad if I decide to be something else, but I like the sound of it. I even chose to upgrade to youngling status a couple of vorns ago so I could begin downloading and training for my apprenticeship. It's the least I could do after they went through all the trouble of applying for my spark and letting me use this frame." He spun around and bent over to show an engraved emblem on his skid plate. "See? Crystal City owns my frame. As soon as I reformat, this frame goes back to be used by the next spark. They were nice enough to let me use it, so why not give back a little? Plus, if I join Security Response, I'll be in another city-owned frame. I won't have to pay for repairs or maintenance or anything!"
"Yeah, but you'll probably be stuck in some yucky frame that seizes and looks gross," Sunstreaker harrumphed. He'd seen the Security Response bots for Centaurie Tetrax, and, sufficed to say, they definitely weren't functioning there for the aesthetic endowments.
Blue laughed, deciding to drag them to a lift at the end of the room, this one in encased in a clear crystalline shaft so they could watch themselves rise. "Crystal City isn't anything like Centaurie Tetrax. It gets a lot more revenue from tourists and stuff like that. All the city-owned frames are really well taken care of," he explained happily. "I mean, look at this frame; it's older than your model, but it's refitted with new plating after every use so that it doesn't wear down. From what I can tell, all city-owned frames get their plating replaced and their innards overhauled after every use. Even if the endoskeleton is the same, they at least make the exoplating look good."
"I guess that's not too bad, if you get updated and all," the brown sparkling sighed. He looked Blue over carefully, regarding him with a whole new level of respect knowing that the youngling's frame was older than his, and worse yet, had had dozens of sparks parked in it.
Before anymore could be said, the lift door opened and deposited them on the very top floor, which revealed itself to be the observation deck. It was substantially less crowded than previous places explored, with only one or two sparse groups quietly enjoying the view. A larger group toured the wraparound balcony on the outside as a volunteered Seeker instructed them on the finer points of airway safety in preparation for their reformatting into flight capable frames. Lounging on the balcony farthest from the lift, both Ratchet and Wheeljack could be seen enjoying some down time. They could have been recharging, by the looks of it. Notably, Wheeljack's arm was slung comfortably across the medic's shoulders.
Blue waved to the wall-to-ceiling windows. "The balcony isn't accessible to sparklings, since you might fall off, but I can go out there. If you don't tell anyone, I can sneak you out, too. Maybe we'll even be able to tell Ratchet that we redecorated his med bay for him, too."
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker exchanged glances. Clearly Blue did not understand the finer points of pulling off a prank.
"I think we'll avoid Ratchet for now," Sideswipe said carefully, patting the green-blue bot on the shoulder. "If we never ever tell him who painted his med bay, we'll all be better for it." As discreetly as he could, he led his brother and Blue as far away from Ratchet as possible.
To the twins' great and utter surprise, they enjoyed themselves immensely for the rest of the orn. Having caught on that the twins didn't really want to go out into the open courtyard with so many new faceplates there, Blue had decided to keep them in the relative isolation of the top floor, successfully distracting them with the cityscape. The green-blue youngling might not have been an expert at what buildings were which, but with the help of a few friends, the twins quickly learned which way was north, south, east, and west, the different districts in the city they could see from their lookout. Best of all, they were pointed in the right direction of the troop's coliseum. While Blue did offer to take the twins out on to the balcony for a better look at everything, they declined. The risk of stumbling across Ratchet and inciting something was too great.
By late mid-orn, enough curious Sector youths had gathered to invite a game of chase. They weren't pushy about it, though. Some of them were downright as shy as Sunstreaker was, so it actually took them a good joor of wandering around before they could pluck up the courage to ask if the twins wanted to play. Thankfully, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were comfortable enough by now to accept the invitation. What the Sector bots quickly discovered as the game got underway was that they were outmatched greatly by the skill and speed of their home-cared friends. It didn't even matter that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were only sparklings with a fraction of downloading experience, they could run circles around everyone. They even had a secret weapon; they could help each other cheat by warning the other without saying anything when a bot was getting close to catching them.
"They're so awesome," one youngling breathed as he paused near Blue.
Blue grinned proudly. "I know! They're so cool!"
Sideswipe came streaking passed them, nothing but a blur of red as he squealed. "They're gonna get me! They're gonna get me!" Three younglings were on his heels, running as fast as they could to catch him. When it looked like the lead one had him cornered, Sideswipe crouched low, grinned brightly, and then launched into a perfect backflip over his pursuers. He landed with a "Whoop! Whoop! Can't catch me!"- and was off running again.
Blue cheered, clapping excitedly. "Go Sideswipe! You're gonna win the game!"
Sunstreaker clattered by, mere steps ahead of his own pursuers. His frame prevented him from picking up the speeds his brother could achieve, but his experience with his troop kept him out of reach. Imagining himself being chased by the aerials, he zigzagged right, left, and the skidded around a pillar. He didn't want to lose, but he was too clunky to keep running much longer without blowing something.
"Gonna get you!" someone laughed from behind.
"No you're not!" Sunstreaker cried, throwing a teasing look over his shoulder.
The bots behind him skidded to a halt, optics going wide. "Stop! Stop!"
"Why-?" He turned too late, running headlong into one of the younglings who'd been out on the balcony with the Seeker. There was a rather loud bang as they collided, the big black youngling flying one way and Sunstreaker tumbling the other. A sudden tension-filled silence instantly hushed over the observation deck. A few newly-onlined sparklings mewled nervously.
"Watch where you're going, slag heap!" barked the black youngling as he shoved himself to his feet. He had a large frame that wreaked of wealth- fine, streamlined features, immaculate paint, and probably built with expensive metals.
"S-sorry!" Sunstreaker croaked, scooting away from the other bot. "It was an accident." Sideswipe was at his side instantly, helping him to his feet.
"Yeah right. Get your optics checked before you go running around like you own the place," the youngling growled, glaring stubbornly. "This is our home, not yours."
"We're not looking to take over. We were just playing," Sideswipe huffed, frowning. He gripped his brother's arm close. "Come one, bro, let's go now. We can play somewhere else."
Sunstreaker's optics fell to the floor, allowing for Sideswipe to guide him away.
Seeing as the two outsiders were too cowardly to stick around, the black youngling snorted at them. He grabbed his own friends and marched for the lift. One staunch little bot with an upturned olfactory sensor leaned in and sneered.
"...he's even uglier in person than in his holopics-."
Sunstreaker went rigid.
The black youngling laughed sharply, not even bothering to lower his voice. "You're right. It's the ugliest frame I've ever seen."
Sideswipe bristled, his little fingers tightening in his brother's arm.
Blue both heard the words and saw the effect it had on his friends. He was quick to slide to their sides, hoping to urge them away. "Just ignore them. They're half-bits who think they're better than everyone else 'cause their Creators are in the Council. What they say don't mean nothing. Come on, let's just leave. We can play chase elsewhere." Blue's attempts did nothing to deafen what was said next by the nasty black-painted youngling-
"I bet the stuntmechs are really embarrassed to have such an ugly frame with them. They probably wish their spark never split in the first place-."
Something in Sunstreaker cracked. One breem, he was standing next to his brother, and the next he was on top of the other youngling. The blinding flash of fury that erupted through him was enough to throw Sideswipe to the floor, clutching his chest as his spark burned. A piercing screech screamed from the little brown sparkling as he started swinging his pincers wildly into the older bot's head.
"Mute it! Mute it! Mute it! Don't you ever say that about my family again!" Sunstreaker swung so hard that sparks flew.
"You crazy glitch!" Black hands reached around and threw him off. Sunstreaker landed in a crouch, heaving from the instant rage boiling in him.
"Don't you ever talk about my family again!" he screamed, pincers up, ready to dive back into the fight.
"I'll talk about whoever I want whenever I want," his adversary sneered, charging headlong. It was a stupid move, really. Sunstreaker knew exactly what to do, dodging to the side and sticking out his foot to trip the other bot. He went sprawling, only to have the brown twin on him an astrosecond later. The youngling might have been bigger than Sunstreaker, but he didn't know how to fight. He'd probably never even raised his fists to anyone. Sector-raised bots were never exposed to violence of any sort. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe held a great advantage over them; not only did they have their stuntmech training, but they also had had the opportunity to watch their family wrestle and play fight with each other. If there was one thing a sparkling did well, it was pick up things quick.
"Someone get a Caretaker!" a younger sparkling cried, clinging to the leg of an elder youngling.
"Get a Guardian!" another yelled, but made no move to leave. No one did. They were all mesmerized by the fight.
A few of the black youngling's friends made a move to pry Sunstreaker off, only to find a blur of red suddenly in front of them. In the astrosecond they made a move to threaten his twin, Sideswipe forgot the shock of his brother's rage and was on his feet to protect him.
"You ain't gonna touch him!" he snarled, fists cocked.
All the raucous was enough to carry through the crystal windows, waking the dozing mechs out there. They were up, stretched, and then realized that all was not right in the world. Spinning around to see what the matter was, they took in the sight of a large gathering of little bots surrounding a single pair- a black one they recognized as Bang and a brown one wailing on him who could only be Sunstreaker. At the edges of the circle, Sideswipe ran back and forth, snapping at any bot who dared come anywhere near his brother. Horrified to find such a thing happening in their Sector, Ratchet and Wheeljack were running for the door immediately.
"What is going on here?!" Ratchet roared, instantly freezing two dozen youths in their tracks. The most interesting pose was Sunstreaker with his pincers raises, ready to knock the optics right out of Bang's head.
Wheeljack, now reformatted into a minibot frame, parted the crowd with his foot. "This ain't the way ya treat anyone," he admonished, capturing the combatants and holding them apart. "Who started this?"
"He did!" cried both bots, pointing to each other.
Ratchet growled, causing everyone to shrink back. He reached for the bots in Wheeljack's grasp, only to find Sideswipe racing to his feet and scaling his leg like a skidsquirrel.
"Don't hurt him!" the sparkling screamed.
Ratchet snorted impatiently, grabbing the red twin and swinging him to his shoulder. "I'm not going to hurt anyone." With that said, he took Sunstreaker and Bang from Wheeljack, holding them in an unyielding grip. "You two are going to tell me exactly what happened to incite such outrageous behaviour right this instant or I'll dismantle the both of you!"
Bang seethed heatedly. "That crazy glitch just jumped on my back for no reason! He's insane!"
Sunstreaker screeched, optics flashing. "That fragger called me ugly! He said my Creators and troop didn't want me! He's slagging glitch!" He tried to launch himself at Bang again, but thankfully the medic's hand was tight enough to prevent the attack.
"That sparkling should be reprogrammed! You don't just jump on someone's back and start hitting them!" one of Bang's friends shouted.
Sideswipe glared balefully. "You're the ones who should be reprogrammed! You didn't see us saying anything about your Creators or what you look like!" He flung his arm in Bang's direction. "He got what he deserved!"
Everyone decided to start shouting at once, giving their own heated opinion on the matter.
"Alright! Alright! I've heard enough!" Ratchet barked. "All of you, mute it!" They fell silent simultaneously. "I'm taking you three with me- the rest of you, get on with your orn. Any of you get the bright idea to try repeating what happened here and I'll have Barricade deal with you." The threat was enough to scatter everyone to the far corners of the Sector. With them gone, Ratchet glared down testily at Bang, and then at the twins. "Here for only an orn and already you're causing trouble. One would think you would try to pace yourselves."
They snorted stubbornly in reply.
Wheeljack pursed his mouthplates as he received a brief message. "Their Creators are here to get them. I'll take 'em down."
"Good riddance!" Bang snapped.
"Shush, little one. That's not kind at all," the engineer hummed. He plucked the twins from Ratchet and soothed their bristling plating.
"I'm going to have to report this," the medic sighed. "It's not going to look good on their records…"
"Nah, Ratchet, cut them some slack. It was their first orn here. They probably were just overwhelmed," Wheeljack reasoned. "Let this one go- I'm sure it won't happen again." He was already making his way to the lift, confident that Ratchet would do the right thing.
"You better be right," the medic sighed, preparing to drag Bang to the med bay for a good stern talking to.
All the tension in Sunstreaker's frame leaked out the farther away from the observation deck he got. By the time they hit ground floor, he all but sagged in Wheeljack's grip.
"Fighting is hard work," he sighed.
"Then don't do it again," Wheeljack replied lightly. Sideswipe nodded emphatically. He may have leapt to his brother's defence, but that didn't mean he liked it. Everything about the fight left him feeling weird inside- not just his own lingering fear, but the disturbing sense that some part of his brother had actually enjoyed what he did.
"Can't imagine where the two of you would get the idea to do somethin' so stupid," the engineer admonished as he trotted out of the lift.
"Wildride told me to," Sunstreaker mumbled.
Both Wheeljack and Sideswipe paused.
"Wildride wouldn't tell you to fight," Sideswipe countered cautiously.
The mottled-brown sparkling shook his head miserably. "Yes he would- he told me before he dropped us off. Said that if anyone tried to start anything with me, I should make sure I finish it- that way they don't bug me again. I was only doing what he said..."
Wheeljack frowned deeply. "Now, see, that just ain't right to tell a little sparkling that. Ya think he might'a meant that you should end it before a fight broke out?"
"Maybe..." Sunstreaker sighed, although he knew what his Creator truly had meant. Whether or not he started the fight, he should make sure he ended it.
"In any case, just try not ta get into anymore skirmishes next time yer here."
"I won't." Sadly, those words weren't going to take away the taste he'd gotten. Someone had made fun of him and he'd made them stop. Power like that wasn't easily forgotten. His brother rocked himself awkwardly, unsure of what to say or feel anymore. They were saved any more uneasiness by a flash of stars and fireworks, finding themselves swept up into the embrace of their Creators.
"We're right on time, like we promised," Blindside announced warmly.
Sideswipe smiled weakly. "Thanks."
Blindside's smile faded. "Is everything alright?"
"They got in a minor brush with another youngling. Nothing big," Wheeljack assured.
Wildride's gaze flashed bright for an astrosecond, optics falling to his brown sparkling. Sunstreaker stared back, his faceplate strangely blank. Nonetheless, he nodded, letting his Creator know everything he needed to.
Blindside touched hands with the engineer gratefully. "Thanks for looking after them."
"It was our pleasure," the engineer murmured. In one smooth move, he removed their tracking collars and helped strap them in to their harnesses as their Creators transformed.
"I just want to get home now," Sunstreaker mumbled tiredly.
As they made it out the gates, a roar from the bowels of the Youth Sector shook the foundations of the buildings nearby. It was the sound of Ratchet discovering his new med bay.
Sideswipe squirmed, patting Blindside's insides. "Drive really fast."