Christmas With The Wreckers
A.N. Thought "A Rescue Bots Academy Christmas" would be the only Transformers Christmas story I would be writing? Well, at first, I wanted to keep it that way, but then I decided it would be fun to do another one, as it's that time of year again. Also, this may (or may not) be my last story for 2021, but I know it will probably be my last Transformers fic for this year in general.
A.N.2. You know how I portray Whirl from RBA as the daughter of Whirl from Cyberverse and/or the IDW comics? Well, I recently learned that my buddy BigMoose01 supports a similar theory where Strongarm from RID15 is the daughter of Ultra Magnus, the leader of the Wreckers, whom RBA Whirl's father is a member of. I figured those would be good story material, and this was pretty much the end result. Well, I think I've babbled on long enough, so let our story begin.
On the planet Cybertron lived a group of Autobots known as the Wreckers were in their dwelling. The group's members consisted of Ultra Magnus, the group's leader, Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Springer, a Triple Changer, Moonracer, an expert sniper and the group's sole female member, and Whirl Sr., the father of Whirl Jr., one of the Junior Rescue Bots stationed on Earth. One day, Whirl Sr. was busy working on something in his quarters when he was approached by Bulkhead and Wheeljack.
"Hey there, Whirl." said Bulkhead. "You wanna throw the lobbing ball around with me and Jackie?"
"I'd love to, but I can't right now." Whirl Sr. replied. "I'm busy with something."
Wheeljack then noticed Whirl appeared to be wrapping some sort of package.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's a present for my little Whirly-Bird." Whirl Sr. replied.
"Why?" asked Bulkhead.
But then, Bulkhead remember.
"It's that time again, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yep." Whirl Sr. nodded. "The time the humans on Earth celebrate Christmas, and also the time I go to Earth to visit my little girl and her teammates."
Just then, Wheeljack had an idea.
"Hey, Whirl, what if we tagged along with you this time?" he suggested. "I mean, it has been a while since Bulkhead and I have been to Earth."
Whirl Sr. thought this was a good idea.
"Sure." he nodded. "Hey, maybe Magnus, Springer, and Moonracer might like to come too."
"Good call." agreed Bulkhead. "Let's ask them."
And so they did, and Ultra Magnus, Springer, and Moonracer all agreed to accompany Whirl Sr.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Optimus will be there visiting as well." Magnus pointed out. "It will be nice to see him again. We shall leave at once."
"But shouldn't we let someone know we're coming?" asked Bulkhead.
"He's right." agreed Springer. "It would be kind of rude to barge in without someone knowing about it."
"Oh, yes." nodded Magnus. "It would be a wise strategy to notify someone of our arrival. And I know just who."
Meanwhile, on Earth, it was indeed Christmastime, and at the Rescue Bot Training Academy, Hot Shot and his friends were busy decking the place out for the holidays. Heatwave and Chase had been called to an emergency, so they were currently absent. Outside, Hot Shot, Whirl Jr., Blades, and Bumblebee were doing the outdoor decorations. While Blades and Bumblebee tackled the lights, Hot Shot and Whirl Jr. set up inflatables and other outdoor decorations.
"It's our second Christmas, Whirl." said Hot Shot. "You excited?"
"Yep!" Whirl Jr. grinned. "And I bet it's gonna be just as fun as our first!"
"I don't doubt it." said Hot Shot.
Just then, Bumblebee heard his comm chirp as he was putting up another string of lights.
"Hey, Blades, can you put up this string?" he asked. "I gotta take this call."
"Sure thing, Bee." Blades replied.
With that, Bumblebee then slid down the ladder he was on, and Blades took his place. Bumblebee then stepped aside and answered his comm.
"Bumblebee here." he said.
On the other end was Magnus.
"Hello, Bumblebee." greeted Magnus.
Bumblebee's eyes and mouth widended with surprise.
"Ultra Magnus!" he gasped. "What a surprise! How are you?"
"I'm doing very well, thank you." replied Magnus. "And how are you doing?"
"Great." replied Bumblebee. "We're actually decorating for Christmas here at the Academy."
"Excellent." said Magnus. "In fact, it's funny you should mention that, because me and my fellow Wreckers will be accompanying Whirl Sr. to Earth to visit his daughter and her friends at the Academy."
"That sounds like fun." said Bumblebee.
"It is." agreed Magnus. "But please do not tell anyone, especially Whirl Jr."
"You got it." nodded Bumblebee. "Bumblebee out."
Bumblebee then ended his call and went back to the decorating.
"Who was that, Bee?" asked Hot Shot.
"It was my friend Ultra Magnus." replied Bumblebee.
"Oh, nice." said Hot Shot. "What did he want?"
"I can't tell you." said Bumblebee. "At least, not right now. It's a surprise."
"Oh, okay." said Hot Shot.
"Well, that's the last of the lights done." said Blades as he climbed down the ladder.
"And I just got done putting up the Santa inflatable." added Whirl.
"Good." said Bumblebee. "Let's head back in and see if Quickshadow and the others need help."
Elsewhere, Hoist, Medix, Wedge, and Boulder were in the forest looking for a Christmas tree.
"Now remember, not too tall, not too short, not too wide, and not too thin." said Boulder.
"Right." said the three junior bots in unison.
With that, they began looking for a tree, and it wasn't long before Hoist found one.
"How's this one?" he asked.
When Boulder, Medix, and Wedge came over to Hoist, Boulder measured it, then smiled at Hoist.
"Perfect." he said. "Nice find, Hoist. Come on, help me get this tree back to the Academy."
Boulder then pulled the tree from the ground, and Medix used his cutter claws to cut the roots off, and after placing the resulting stump back into its original place in the ground, the four bots carried the tree all the way back to the Academy. At the Academy, Hot Shot, Whirl, Bumblebee, and Blades were helping Ratchet, Perceptor, Salvo, Brushfire, and the Dinobots put up the indoor decorations. Even Quickshadow was helping out.
"This is so exciting." Quickshadow said to herself as she put up a garland. "Since I've completed my mission, I can now put aside time to celebrate Earth holidays such as this "Christmas" with Heatwave and the other Rescue Bots. This will also be the first Christmas I'll be spending with my new son, Hot Shot."
Just then, Heatwave and Chase returned, and were immediately greeted by the other bots.
"So, what was the emergency?" asked Hot Shot.
"It was actually quite amusing." said Chase.
"Apparently, some idiot had the right idea to try and break into the Rubios' home through the chimney while they were out doing some Christmas shopping." added Heatwave. "And he ended up being stuck in the fireplace."
"I will not lie, but when Chief Burns and I saw the suspect hanging upside down in the fireplace, I could not help but laugh." continued Chase.
"Niether could I." put in Heatwave. "In fact, Mrs. Rubio actually got her camera and took a picture of the guy in the fireplace. They're even going to make it into Christmas cards to send to their friends and relatives, including us."
"Boy, that sounds funny." chuckled Wedge.
"Just wait until you see the picture." said Heatwave.
Heatwave then noticed the decorations.
"Everything looks great." he smiled.
"Thanks, Dad." replied Hot Shot.
Just then, they heard footsteps, followed by a voice.
"Hello!" the voice called. "Anyone home?"
The source of the voice turned out to be none other than Whirl Sr., and when Whirl Jr. saw her father, a huge smile appeared on her face.
"Papa!" she cried joyfully as she ran to her father.
The two Whirls embraced.
"Hey there, Whirly-Bird." Whirl Sr. said to his daughter. "How've you been?"
"I've been great." said Whirl Jr.
"That's good." replied Whirl Sr. "But it's not just me this time."
"It's not?" asked Whirl Jr.
"Nope." said a second voice.
At that moment, Magnus, Springer (who turned out to be the source of the second voice), Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Moonracer entered. Whirl Jr.'s smile grew when she saw them.
"Uncle Magnus! Uncle Springer! Uncle Bulkhead! Uncle Jackie! Auntie Moonracer!" she grinned.
Whirl Jr. then hugged Springer.
"Hey there, kiddo." Springer smiled.
The other Junior Rescue Bots were dumbfounded.
"Are they really your uncles and aunt?" asked Medix.
"In a way, yes." said Magnus. "You see, she refers to us as her "uncles" and "aunt" out of pure affection."
"Yeah." added Whirl Jr. "Ever since I was a sparkling."
"I will admit, it was a little awkward for me at first." Magnus went on. "But as time went on, I got used to it."
Just then, Magnus face-palmed.
"Oh, where are my manners?" he said.
Magnus then looked at the Rescue Bots.
"I am Ultra Magnus." he said. "And these are-."
"We know who you guys are." said Heatwave. "The Wreckers, right?"
Magnus was surprised.
"You've heard of us?" he asked.
"Yes." said Chase. "Whirl has told us about you."
"So I see." said Magnus. "Then I suppose introductions aren't necessary in this situation after all."
It was at that moment Whirl Jr. thought of something, and she looked up at Springer.
"Hey, Uncle Springer, guess what." she said.
"What?" asked Springer.
"I can transform into a car and a helicopter now!" Whirl Jr. grinned. "Just like you!"
"Really?" smiled Springer. "This I must see."
With that, Whirl transformed into her police car mode, then back to robot mode, then into helicopter mode, and back into robot mode again. Springer, needless to say, was very impressed indeed.
"That's amazing, Little Whirl!" he said.
"I can do that too." Medix put in. "Observe."
Medix then demonstrated the same thing Whirl Jr. had demonstrated.
"My word, that is impressive." Magnus noted.
Just then, another voice was heard.
"Happy Holidays!" the voice cried out.
This time, the voice's source was Optimus Prime, who was instantly delighted to see Magnus, and was quick to greet him.
"It's so good to see you again, Magnus." said Optimus.
"You too, Prime." said Magnus.
"And there's someone else who might be happy to see you." put in Bumblebee.
"Who?" asked Magnus.
At that moment, Team Blurr entered, and Strongarm was very surprised when she saw Magnus.
"Father?" she gasped. "Is that you?"
"Yes, Strongarm, it is." smiled Magnus.
Strongarm then went over to Magnus and the two shared an hug.
"I haven't seen you in a long time!" said Strongarm. "Not since the war ended! How are you?"
"I am doing quite well, my dear." replied Magnus.
"And so are we." added Bulkhead, speaking for himself, Whirl Sr., Wheeljack, Springer, and Moonracer.
Just then, Moonracer thought of something.
"Hey, we've got something to show you all." she said. "Especially the young ones."
"What is it?" asked Boulder.
Whirl Sr. then reached into a bag he had been carrying the whole time and took out what appeared to be a book of some sort.
"Whoa." gapsed Wedge. "What is that?"
"It's an album." replied Whirl Sr. "An album of all the good times we had when my little Whirly-Bird was just a teensy-weensy little sparkling."
Whirl Jr. put her hands behind her back and dragged her foot across the floor in embarassment.
"Papa!" she giggled nervously.
"Oh, this I gotta see." said Wedge.
"This could prove to be a fascinating character study." agreed Medix.
"Hey, Hot Shot, you should join in too." said Wedge. "Don't you want to see what your girlfriend looked like as a sparkling?"
Hot Shot was not amused by the way Wedge worded his question.
"Very funny, Wedge..." Hot Shot muttered. "But yeah, I'd like to see."
Hot Shot then turned to Whirl Jr.
"And don't worry, I'll try not to laugh." he winked.
"Thanks, Hot Shot." said Whirl Jr. "But I don't mind at all if you do."
"Whatever you say." shrugged Hot Shot.
"Hey, Magnus, you and the others wanna join us?" asked Whirl Sr.
"Would that we could, but Salvo, Strongarm, and the rest of Team Blurr just volunteered to show us around the Academy." replied Magnus.
"Yeah, maybe some other time." said Springer.
"Alright." said Whirl Sr.
And so, while Salvo and Team Blurr departed with the other Wreckers on the tour, Whirl Jr. took the Junior Rescue Bots to the area in the lounge where the arcade consoles were and took a seat, then opened the book. The first photo that was seen was Whirl Sr. holding Whirl Jr., who was a tiny protoform at the time that particular photo was taken, and was wrapped in a blue blanket.
"Awww!" grinned Hoist. "She looks so cute!"
"She does, doesn't she?" agreed Whirl Sr. "That was the day I first put her together in Wheeljack's workshop. She was as cute as an Antilian bumble-puppy, perhaps even more."
Hot Shot then spotted another photo. This one had a familiar-looking sparkling holding protoform Whirl Jr.
"Is that Strongarm?" he asked as he pointed to the photo.
"It is indeed." replied Whirl Sr. "Strongarm was very excited when Junior was created. She actually thinks of Junior as a little sister figure."
"Yeah, and as I got older, I started viewing Strongarm as a big sister figure." put in Whirl Jr.
"Wow, and I thought Strongarm was always so serious." said Hot Shot. "I never knew she had a soft spot, especially for sparklings."
"Everyone has a soft spot for something, Hot Shot." Medix pointed out. "As far as I know, you have a soft spot for that rubber duck Cody gave you."
"Uh...yeah, I guess so." shrugged Hot Shot.
Wedge then saw a photo of protoform Whirl Jr. sitting in what appeard to be a high chair with what appeared to be some kind of bib around her neck. Next to the chair was Magnus, whose face sported annoyance compared to Whirl Jr.'s huge gleeful grin. A bowl could be seen on Magnus' head, with a glowing pink liquid with some lumps in it streaking from the bowl down his face. Seeing this photo caused Wedge to burst out laughing.
"Look at his face!" he laughed.
"Yep." chuckled Whirl Sr. "That was then Magnus tried spoon-feeding Junior for the first time."
Whirl Sr. then turned the page and revealed another photo. This one was of Whirl Sr., who appeared to be in distress, trying to hold on to Whirl Jr., who was in her helicopter mode at the time, and Springer, who was holding onto Whirl Sr.'s legs.
"Oh, I'll never forget this one." he laughed. "That's when Junior scanned her first vehicle mode. Boy, was that a toss-up."
"Yeah, my excitement kinda ran away with me." Whirl Jr. confessed as she rubbed the back of her head. "Especially since Papa let me scan him."
"Huh, like how Hot Shot got his fire truck mode from scanning Heatwave." guessed Medix.
"Kind of, yeah." said Whirl Sr.
Meanwhile, in Heatwave's office, Heatwave was talking with the other Rescue Bots as well as Optimus about something.
"You know, Christmas won't the only special day that will being celebrated here." he said.
"It's not?" questioned Blades. "What other special day could it be?"
"Obviously not All Spark Day." said Boulder. "Because that was months ago."
"It's something much more special than All Spark Day." said Heatwave. "It was around this time that I adopted Hot Shot as my son."
"Oh, that's right." nodded Chase.
"It is?" asked Quickshadow. "How come I wasn't informed of this until now?"
"Probably because you were absent when it happened." replied Boulder.
"Oh, right." said Quickshadow.
"And so, I think we should try to make this Christmas just as special as the previous one." Heatwave proposed.
The other Rescue Bots and Optimus agreed.
"But...how would we do that?" asked Blades.
"I already know what I'm going to do." said Heatwave.
Heatwave then held up a sheet of paper.
"This is Hot Shot's adoption certificate." he said. "I'm gonna get it framed."
"That sounds nice." said Blades. "But what about the rest of us?"
"Maybe we can all get him one present and have it be from all of us." suggested Boulder.
"My thoughts exactly." nodded Heatwave. "And I know just what."
Meanwhile, the Junior Rescue Bots, Slipstream, Jetstorm, and Fixit were outside playing in the snow, and while the others rolicked around, Brushfire just stood there in amazement. This caught the attention of Medix, and he went over to her.
"What's up, Brushfire?" he asked. "Don't you want to play around in the snow with us?"
"I do." replied Brushfire. "It's just that...well...I've never seen Christmas snow before."
"You haven't?" asked Medix.
"No." said Brushfire. "It's because in Australia, Christmas is celebrated in the summer, since while it's winter here in North America in December, it's summer in Australia."
"Oh, yeah, I remember reading about that in an encyclopedia." said Medix. "It's because of how Australia is in Earth's Southern Hemisphere, right?"
"Yeah." nodded Brushfire.
Just then, Medix felt something hit the back of his head, and when he turned around, he saw Wedge, who was juggling a snowball in one hand while holding a small pile of snowballs in the other, along with sporting a playfully menacing expression on his face. He then through another snowball at Medix, hitting him in the chest.
"That's it!" growled Medix. "It's on!"
Medix then made another snowball and threw it at Wedge, who ducked just in time.
"Come on, is that all you got?" Wedge teased, again in a playful manner.
Soon, an all-out snowball war broke out between Medix and Wedge, and it wasn't long before Hot Shot, Whirl, Hoist, Slash, Brushfire, and the Mini-Cons got in on it.
"Who knew Christmas snow can be so much fun?" asked Brushfire as she threw a snowball.
"All snow is fun to play in." replied Hoist. "Even if it's not Christmas snow."
"Quite right." said Brushfire.
Eventually, the junior bots grew tired of flinging snowballs and decided to go back inside. When they did get back inside, they discovered that neither Heatwave, Chase, Boulder, Blades, Bumblebee, Quickshadow, nor Optimus were anywhere to be seen.
"Where's Dad?" asked Hot Shot.
"He and the others went to run a little errand off-planet." replied Salvo.
"But they'll be back soon." added Ratchet.
"Alright." nodded Medix. "Thanks, Uncle Ratchet."
Meanwhile, Heatwave and the other Senior Rescue Bots, including Optimus, exited the Space Bridge portal and looked around.
"Where are we?" asked Blades.
"This, Blades, is Luna-1." replied Optimus. "This is where High Tide found Servo."
"I figured this would be a good place to look." said Heatwave. "Now, we just need to find what we're looking for."
Boulder spotted what appeared to be a shop. The shop had a sign on its roof that said "Mini-Con Pets" in Cybertronian text.
"That looks like a good place to look." he said. "Let's go in."
With that, the group went into the shop, and looked around at all the Mini-Con animals the shop had to offer.
"Wow, look at all these!" gasped Blades.
"Yeah, this might be a little tricky." said Bumblebee.
Just then, a more humanoid-looking Mini-Con who was obviously the shopkeeper approached.
"May I help you?" asked the shopkeeper.
"Yes, sir." replied Quickshadow. "We're looking for a Mini-Con dog companion for someone we know."
"Ah, yes." nodded the shopkeeper. "We have plenty of those. Right this way."
With that, the shopkeeper led the group away from their current spot in the shop.
"Boy, will Hot Shot be surprised." Heatwave told himself with a grin.
Back on Earth, Hot Shot was driving into Milford to do some Christmas gift shopping.
"I hope I can get some good presents for my friends." he told himself.
Soon, he arrived at the mall, where he transformed into robot mode and went inside through one of the big doors in the receiving area.
"There's bound to be some good presents in here that I can find." he said.
Hot Shot's first stop was the toy shop.
"As far as I know, Whirl likes My Little Pony, and Twilight Sparkle is her favorite pony." he said. "I'm sure there's something here that she'd like."
He didn't need to look very hard, because he soon found a plushie of Twilight.
"Perfect." he said.
Hot Shot took the plushie and took it to the clerk, who placed it in a bag lined with tissue paper after ringing up its price.
"Alright, your total is $54.95." the clerk told Hot Shot. "Would you like to round that off to an even 55?"
"Sure." nodded Hot Shot.
With that, Hot Shot gave the clerk the money (don't ask how and where he got the money, I'll explain that later.) and left the shop.
"Well, that's Whirl's present taken care of." he said. "Now for the others. And while I'm here, I should probably find some good presents for Mom and Dad. And maybe Chase, Boulder, Blades, and Bumblebee, too."
A montage followed of Hot Shot purchasing presents for all his friends and his parents, and even the other Senior bots.
"There." said Hot Shot. "I think they'll love these. And I still have a little bit of money left over."
Hot Shot then spotted a man in the middle of the mall ringing a bell by a big red kettle with the logo for the Salvation Army on it.
"Might as well put it to good use." said Hot Shot.
Hot Shot went over to the kettle and dropped the remainder of the money he had brought with him into the kettle and went on his way.
"Thank you!" the man by the kettle called out as Hot Shot left. "Happy Holidays! And God bless you!"
"Same to you, sir!" Hot Shot replied in a very cordial voice.
Soon, Hot Shot had left the mall and was on his way back to the Academy. Back at the Academy, the rest of the Junior Rescue Bots were decorating the tree with help from the Wreckers, Team Blurr, Ratchet, Perceptor, and the Dinobots.
"This is one of my favorite things about Christmas." Whirl Jr. said. "We always make the tree look so pretty."
"Forget the tree." said Wedge as he put an ornament on the tree. "I just want to know what Hot Shot is up to."
"Yeah, all he said before he left was that he needed to run an errand." said Hoist. "But he didn't say what that errand was."
"I will admit, I'm curious about that as well." said Medix.
"I'm sure your questions will be answered in due time, young ones." Magnus reassured as he put on a garland with Strongarm's help.
"You're right." nodded Medix.
At that moment, Hot Shot returned, and when he noticed how the others were busy decorating the tree, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Good." he said. "They won't suspect a thing."
With that, Hot Shot began carrying the presents he had bought to his quarters, and after grabbing some wrapping paper, he began wrapping them up.
"They are gonna love these." he said.
Meanwhile, Heatwave and the other Senior Rescue Bots, including Optimus, returned from Luna 1 through the Space Bridge. Heatwave had a box with some round holes around its top in his hands.
"You think he'll like it?" asked Blades.
"Nope." said Heatwave. "I think he'll love it. And so will the others."
Soon, all the presents were wrapped and placed under the tree.
"The tree looks great, you guys." said Heatwave.
"Thanks." said Bulkhead.
Just then, Heatwave noticed it was starting to get dark.
"Looks like it's about time we turned in for the night." he said. "Good night, everybody."
Everyone bid good-night to each other and went to their stasis pods to power down and recharge, with the Wreckers recharging in some stasis pods in one of the spare rooms gained from Citadel Secundus. The next day was Christmas Eve, and the bots spent most of the day preparing for a Christmas party they were holding that evening in the Action Matrix.
"Since we already have a lot of bots here, we don't need to worry too much about who to invite." said Heatwave as he and the other bots were decorating the Action Matrix. "At least, other than Chief Burns and his family."
"And how about the Aerialbots?" asked Hot Shot.
"Sure, we can invite them." nodded Heatwave.
"Sweet!" cheered Hot Shot.
At that moment, who should enter the room but the Burns family?
"Well, speak of Unicron." laughed Heatwave. "You guys sure got here early."
"We sure did." said Chief Burns. "Happy Holidays, bots!"
"You too, Chief." replied Chase.
"You guys need help decorating?" asked Cody.
"Oh, yes, please." nodded Boulder.
With that, the Burnses pitched in with the decorating, and during which, they were introduced to Magnus, Springer, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Moonracer, who in turn were introduced to the Burnses.
"This is my first time on Earth, and already I've met some nice humans." said Moonracer to herself.
In no time, the decorating was finished, and everyone looked around.
"It looks great in here." said Heatwave. "In fact, it looks better than how it did last year. Great job, everyone."
"Thanks, Dad." said Hot Shot.
Just then, Chief Burns remembered something.
"Say, I hope this is alright, but we brought a few extra guests over with us." he said.
"Who?" asked Heatwave.
At that moment, a man and two bots entered. The man had dark gray hair with and a stubble on his face. His apparel consisted of a light olive green shirt over a darker olive green undershirt, grayish-brown pants that had the lighter green shirt tucked into them, a brown belt, black boots, and a brown bag over his right shoulder. As for the two bots, one was blue with orange lining, green optics, an anchor symbol on its left shoulder, what appeared to be a light on its head, a black Autobot symbol on its chest, and feet that looked like diving flippers. The other was a greenish yellow color, blue, and dark orange in color with blue optics and the Rescue Bots insignia on its chest in the same dark orange color. The second bot also had a pile of presents on his clutches.
"Well, what do you know." said Chase. "High Tide and Salvage."
"And Uncle Woodrow, too." added Boulder.
"Ahoy there!" High Tide greeted. "Merry Christmas, landlubbers!"
"Merry Christmas to you too, High Tide." said Heatwave.
High Tide then took out a whistle of some sort and blew into it. His chest compartment opened up and an orange, white, red, and dark gray Mini-Con dog with green optics and a silver tag with the Rescue Bots insignia jumped out.
"Hey, Servo!" laughed Boulder.
"Where can I put these?" asked Salvage, referring to the presents he had brought.
"I'll show you." offered Hot Shot.
"Thanks, Hot Shot." smiled Salvage.
With that, Hot Shot left with Salvage. Just as they exited the Action Matrix, the other bots heard a familiar sound.
"Was that the Space Bridge?" asked Blades.
"It sounded like it." said Boulder.
At that moment, two more bots entered. Both were Dinobots like Grimlock, Sludge, Snarl, and Slash, except one was a Pteranodon and the other a Triceratops.
"Hey there, everyone!" said the Pteranodon bot.
"Hey, Swoop!" replied Grimlock. "Glad you could make it! You too, Slug!"
"Good to see you, Grimlock." said Slug, the Triceratops bot. "Happy Holidays!"
"You know these two, Grimlock?" Hoist asked.
"Yep." nodded Grimlock. "Guys, meet Slug and Swoop."
"Hello." greeted Slug.
"Hiya!" added Swoop.
"Nice to meet you all." said Hoist.
At that moment, Hot Shot and Salvage returned, and they too were introduced to Slug and Swoop, and then the Wreckers made themselves known to High Tide, Servo, Salvage, and Woodrow.
"So, Whirl, the other Whirl's your dad, huh?" Woodrow asked as he sipped a mug of cocoa.
"Yep." nodded Whirl Jr. "The others call him "Big Whirl" and me "Little Whirl"."
"Very interesting." said Woodrow with another sip of his drink. "I didn't even know Cybertronians could have families."
"It's more the fact there's nothing that says we can't have families." Whirl Sr. pointed out.
"Or get married." added Ratchet. "Heatwave can attest to that."
"Really?" Woodrow quipped.
Woodrow then looked up at Heatwave.
"So, who's the missus?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking."
"I am." replied Quickshadow, answering for her husband.
"Well, how about that?" Woodrow chuckled. "Didn't you two used to not get along so well back in the day?"
"We did, but we just decided to let bygones be bygones." said Quickshadow.
"Yeah." added Heatwave. "And not only am I a married bot, but a family one as well."
"You too?" asked Woodrow. "Who's your little one?"
"That would be me." Hot Shot put in. "In fact, tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary of my adoption."
"Adoption?" questioned Woodrow.
Heatwave nodded, then whispered into Woodrow's ear what happened to Hot Shot's biological parents.
"Ooh..." Woodrow winced. "That's deep."
"I was shocked myself when I heard it." said Heatwave. "But don't bring it up around Hot Shot. It's still kind of upsetting to him."
"You got it." nodded Woodrow.
Just then, Hot Shot thought of something, and whispered something in Heatwave's audio receptor. Heatwave nodded, then Hot Shot left.
"Where's Hot Shot going?" asked Blurr.
"You'll find out very soon, Blurr." Heatwave.
At that moment, Hot Shot returned with his bible, and took a seat in a chair.
"Sorry to interrupt the fun, but I just wanted to remind everyone what Christmas is really about." said Hot Shot.
Hot Shot then opened his bible and began reading the second chapter from the Book of Luke out loud to everyone, and all listened intently, especially Magnus.
"That is one of the most fascinating stories I have ever heard." Magnus said to himself. "And I doubt I'll ever hear one nearly as fascinating."
Soon, Hot Shot was done with what he was doing and the festivities resumed, and even included a "Christmas Karaoke" session on Whirl Jr.'s karaoke microphone, starting with her singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey and going around to each of the other bots, eventually ending with Optimus singing the classic Andy Williams hit "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year".
"That was great singing, everyone." said Chief Burns. "Especially from you, Optimus. I never knew you were such a good singer. You almost sounded like Andy Williams himself."
"Well, one does try his best." said Optimus. "Although, I don't quite think I could make it as a singer. At least, not as my primary work."
"Maybe it could be a "side job" or something like that." Bumblebee offered.
"I suppose so." shrugged Optimus.
Just then, footsteps were heard, followed by voices.
"Happy Holidays!" the voices cried out.
The voices and footsteps were soon revealed to have come from the Aerialbots. With them was Windblade.
"Hey, guys!" Hot Shot called to them. "Glad you could make it!"
"So are we, Hot Shot." said Air Raid.
Chief Burns then looked at his watch.
"Well, we're sorry to split, but we've gotta get ready for the Christmas Eve service at church." he said.
"But we'll stop by on Christmas Day." said Dani.
"Alright." nodded Heatwave. "Take care, Chief."
"You too, Heatwave." replied Chief Burns. "Goodnight, bots!"
Everyone returned the greeting as the Burnses left, and the Aerialbots and Windblade joined in the revelry. Later on, the Junior Rescue Bots were gathered around the tree, because it was the time where they would be allowed to choose one present to open that very night. Salvage passed out the presents he had brought. Hot Shot was the first to open his. His was what appeared to be a stick in the shape of the letter "U" on a short handle. Attached to the "U" were two elastic bands and a strip of leather.
"Nice!" Hot Shot said. "A slingshot! This will be lots of fun."
"As long as it's used nowhere were it can cause damage, right?" asked Heatwave.
"Right." nodded Hot Shot. "Thanks, Salvage!"
"No problem." said Salvage.
After Hot Shot came Whirl Jr., and when she opened her gift, she found a gold-colored six-pointed star with a blue Autobot symbol on it.
"Wow!" Whirl Jr. gasped. "My own police badge!"
Whirl Jr. then noticed a magnet on the back, and she stuck it on her chest to the left (right in viewer's perspective) of her Mul-T-Cog badge.
"And it fits!" she grinned. "Thank you, Salvage!"
Salvage nodded. The next to open their gift was Hoist, who found a pair of what appeared to be anklets that had small spiked wheels attached to them.
"What are these?" he asked.
"They're spurs." replied Salvage. "Cowboys used them to make their horses go faster."
"Oh, cool." said Hoist. "These will go great with my cowboy hat. Thanks, Salvage."
"It's alright." replied Salvage.
Next was Medix, and when he opened his gift from Salvage, he found a short red tube-like object that was closed at one end.
"A cup?" he asked.
"Ehh...something like that." replied Salvage. "It's actually a pencil holder. I heard you've been taking an interest in poetry, so that's to keep your pencils and whatnot in order."
"Makes sense." said Medix. "Many thanks, Salvage."
"Don't mention it." said Salvage.
Wedge was next, and when he opened his gift, he found a stout heavy object.
"Sweet!" he grinned. "A punching bag! This will be great for when I feel like I wanna punch the scrap out of something."
"Huh, just like my sparring dummy." Hot Shot put in.
"Yeah, pretty much." said Wedge. "Thanks a bunch, Salvage."
"You're welcome." Salvage winked.
It was Brushfire's turn next, and she found a longer and slightly thinner tube-like object that was brightly colored in all sorts of different colors and had an image of a kangaroo on it.
"Ripper!" she cried out. "A didgeridoo! I've always wanted one!"
"That's a funny-sounding word." chuckled Medix. "But what exactly is a didgeridoo?"
"It's a musical instrument that's very popular in Australia." Brushfire explained. "It sounds like this. Have a listen."
Brushfire then played a sample on her new didgeridoo, and everyone listened with great intent.
"Very impressive." nodded Magnus once Brushfire was done.
"Thanks, Salvage." said Brushfire. "I'll be sure to put this to good use."
"No worries." replied Salvage. "I'm glad you all like the presents I made for you."
"Wait. You made these?" asked Hot Shot.
"Yes." nodded Salvage. "I made the slingshot from some metal tubes for the frame, industrial-strength rubber bands for the straps, and a piece from an old belt for the pouch. As for the badge, I cut a six-pointed star out of a piece of sheet metal and painted it with gold spray paint, then welded a disc magnet on the back. The spurs were made from metal tubing like the slingshot with some belts for the straps and cogs for the spiked wheels at the back. The pencil holder was made by taking a piece of pipe, welding a round piece of sheet metal to one end, then painting it with red spray paint. I made the punching bag by taking some tires, sticking them together with cement, attached a round slice of tree trunk to one end with more cement, filling in the hole with sand, and then sealing the other end with another piece of tree trunk. Then, I wrapped it in tarps, secured them with rope, then painted the whole with orange spray paint, then attached chains to it so you can hang it up. The didgeridoo was made by taking another piece of pipe, lining one end with duct tape to make it more comfortable around the mouth, then painting it as you see it."
"Boy, you sure know how to make things from such simple items as these." said Wedge.
"I'll take that as a compliment." smiled Salvage. "It's my way of recycling; Taking something old and making something new out of it."
"Thanks again, Salvage." said Hot Shot.
Salvo just winked. After they had opened those presents, the bots spent the rest of the evening watching some holiday movies, then decided to turn in for the night. The next morning, to nobody's surprise, was Christmas Day, and all the bots were gathered around the tree. Hot Shot was passing out the gifts he had gotten for everyone. Needless to say, they were all surprised at this.
"Oh, so this is what you were up to the other day, huh?" asked Wedge.
"Yep." nodded Hot Shot. "You can go first, Whirl."
With that, Whirl Jr. looked in her gift bag and found the Twilight Sparkle plushie under the tissue paper.
"Aww!" she grinned as she hugged the plush. "It's so cute! Thanks, Hot Shot!"
"No problem, Whirl." Hot Shot winked.
Hoist opened his present next, and he found a Roger Miller CD.
"Ooh, nice." he said. "Now I can listen to Roger Miller without having to go on the internet. Thanks, Hot Shot."
Hot Shot nodded, and Medix had his turn. when he opened his gift from Hot Shot, he found a copy of the classic Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol.
"I've been wanting to read this one for quite some time." he said. "Thank you, Hot Shot."
"Don't mention it." replied Hot Shot.
After Medix was Wedge, and Wedge's gift was a KISS poster.
"Hey, this'll look nice in my quarters." said Wedge. "Thanks a bunch, Hot Shot."
"It's alright." said Hot Shot.
When Brushfire opened her gift from Hot Shot, she found a nylon reproduction of the flag of Australia.
"Now this will look great." she smiled. "Thank you very much, Hot Shot."
"You're welcome." Hot Shot responded.
Now it was the Senior Rescue Bots' turn to open their presents. Heatwave went first. When Heatwave opened his gift, he found a DVD of the 2004 disaster thriller film Ladder 49 starring Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta.
"Whoa." gasped Heatwave. "One of my favorites! Now I can watch it any time I want to. Thanks, buddy."
"No problem, Dad." Hot Shot winked.
Quickshadow went next after Heatwave, and she found a sex-disc DVD set of all the James Bond films starring Sean Connery.
"How nice." she smiled. "I've yet to see the originals with Sean Connery, but I've seen all the other ones. Thank you, Hot Shot."
"Don't mention it, Mom." said Hot Shot.
The rest of the bots opened their gifts, and they all liked them very much. As it turned out, these were the presents Hot Shot bought for the rest of the Senior Rescue Bots: Chase had gotten a boxed set of the entire Brooklyn Nine-Nine series on DVD while Boulder had gotten a set of woodcarving tools, Blades had gotten a new medical kit, and Bumblebee had gotten a lemon-scented air freshener. Even Optimus got a present from Hot Shot, and that was a slab of wood with the initials "O.T.F.P." burned into it.
"These are really solid presents." said Bumblebee. "Thanks, Hot Shot."
"Indeed." said Optimus. "Although, I am curious as to what the "T" and the "F" stand for on this sign."
"The whole thing stands for "Optimus The Fantasic Prime"." Hot Shot replied.
Optimus smiled.
"I think that suits me very well." he said. "Thank you, Hot Shot. Buying gifts for your friends, your parents, and your other fellow bots was a very thoughtful thing to do."
"Oh, it was nothing, really." said Hot Shot. "It was all in the spirit of Christmas."
"Quite right." agreed Optimus.
"And now, Hot Shot, we have some presents for you." said Heatwave.
Heatwave handed Hot Shot a flat rectangular present first.
"This one is from both me and your mother." he said.
When Hot Shot opened the present, he found his framed adoption certificate.
"Aww, it's my adoption certificate!" he grinned. "To remind me of the wonderful Christmas I had last year!"
Hot Shot then hugged Heatwave.
"Thanks, Dad." he said. "You too, Mom."
"Why, you're welcome, dear." Quickshadow smiled.
"And here are our presents to you, Hot Shot." said Wedge.
Wedge handed Hot Shot a cube-like present, and when Hot Shot opened it, he found three CD's for the Christian rock band Newsboys, which were their albums Born Again, God's Not Dead, and Restart.
"Alright, Newsboys!" cheered Hot Shot. "I love these guys! Thanks, Wedge!"
Wedge winked. Whirl gave Hot Shot her present next, which turned out to be a DVD set of the four live-action Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel.
"Oh, sweet!" grinned Hot Shot. "I've always wanted to see these!"
"I knew you would like them." smiled Whirl.
Hoist was next, and his present to Hot Shot was a charging device of some kind.
"What's this?" asked Hot Shot.
"It's a charging station for your Cube." said Hoist. "That way, when you're not playing Cube, your Cube can have a spot in your room to recharge. I made it myself."
"Makes sense." said Hot Shot. "Thanks, Hoist."
"No problem, Hot Shot." said Hoist.
Medix was next to give his present to Hot shot, which was a reprint of Action Comics Issue 1, the very comic book that featured the first appearance of Superman. Hot Shot could not believe his optics.
"The very first Superman comic?!" he gasped. "Where did you find this?!"
"There's a comic book shop in Griffin Rock that sells both newer comics and reprints of older ones." Medix explained. "And it was on sale, too."
"Nice!" smiled Hot Shot. "I'm going to enjoy reading this one a lot! Thanks a bunch, Medix!"
Brushfire and Slash had their turns after Medix, and Brushfire's present turned out to be rock that had Hot Shot's portrait painted on it in the style of Aboriginal Australian dot art. Slash's present was a chunk of a meteorite she had found.
"And this one's from all of us." said Boulder as he placed down the present with the holes in the top from earlier. "This one is mostly for you, Hot Shot, but it's technically for the rest of you as well."
Hot Shot and the other JRB's looked at the present, which suddenly moved. This frightened them a little.
"Did you see that?!" gasped Medix. "It just moved!"
"I saw it, alright." said Wedge.
Just then, a yapping sound was heard from inside the box, which jostled some more. Finally, the lid burst wide open and another Mini-Con dog jumped out of it. This one looked similar to Servo, except its ears pointed downwards, and it was white with black spots all over it and blue optics.
"Well, what have we here?" High Tide laughed.
The other Mini-Con dog then jumped on Hot Shot and started licking his face, which in turn made Hot Shot laugh.
"Okay, okay, okay, I get it!" he laughed. "You found me and like me!"
"His name is Fireplug." said Heatwave. "He is meant to be a Mini-Con partner to you and your whole team. But he could also be your pet, because you have really come a long way since you and the others first started coming here. I've seen you grow into a mature and responsible young bot. Well...most of the time. But anyways, I have decided that you are responsible enough to have your own Mini-Con partner and pet like High Tide."
"Thanks, Dad." said Hot Shot. "Man, this Christmas has been just as great as the last one!"
But then, Hot Shot remembered something.
"Guys, I'll be right back." he said.
Hot Shot then left.
"Where's he going?" asked Wedge.
"Beats me." shrugged Hoist.
"While we're waiting for Hot Shot, may we present our present now?" asked Bulkhead.
"Go ahead." noded Heatwave.
Whirl Sr. then handed Whirl Jr. the present he was seen wrapping earlier on in this story.
"This one's for you, Junior." he said.
Whirl Jr. took the present and opened it. When she finished tearing off the wrapping paper, she found a "plush doll"-type figure of the elder Whirl. Around its neck was a tag that said "For my special girl. Love, Papa.". Seeing this caused oily tears of joy to build up in Whirl Jr.'s optics, which caused concern for her father.
"What's wrong, Junior?" Whirl Sr. asked. "Don't you like it?"
"No..." said Whirl Jr. "I love it!"
Whirl Jr. then hugged her father while shedding her tears.
"It's so sweet, Papa!" she cried.
"I know." said Whirl Sr. as he consoled his daughter. "That doll is supposed to be a reminder about whenever you miss me, I'm always just a Space Bridge or comm call away."
Whirl Jr. just nodded. Soon, she began to feel better just as Hot Shot returned with five presents that were all the same shape and size, and he gave each one to Whirl Jr., Hoist, Medix, Wedge, and Brushfire.
"These ones are very special ones." said Hot Shot. "Open them."
And so they did. When they got off the wrapping paper off, they each saw a book with the words "Holy Bible" on the front cover and spine and the letters "K", "J", and "V", also on the spine, bound in burgundy-colored imitation leather.
"Are these...bibles?" asked Hoist.
"Yep." nodded Hot Shot. "So you guys can learn more from the Word of God on your own."
"Honestly, I've never thought of that." said Medix. "But it does sound interesting."
"This is so nice." added Whirl. "Thanks, Hot Shot!"
"No problem, guys." winked Hot Shot.
Just then, Ratchet entered, carrying an envelope.
"Mail call!" he announced.
Ratchet gave the envelope to Heatwave, and it turned out to be the Christmas card from the Rubios made from the photo of the would-be burglar who got stuck in the fireplace. Everyone had quite a good laugh about it. Later, it was time for Whirl Sr. and the other Wreckers, as well as Windblade, Optimus, and the Aerialbots to take the Space Bridge back to Cybertron, and for Team Blurr to take the Ground Bridge back to Crown City. Strongarm and Whirl Jr. each gave their fathers a goodbye hug.
"Bye, Papa." said Whirl Jr. "Can't wait to see you again."
"You too, Junior." replied Whirl Sr. "And like I said, if you ever want to come visit us, we're just a Space Bridge away."
"That goes for you as well, Strongarm." added Magnus. "Goodbye, my little princess."
"Goodbye, Father." said Strongarm.
With that, the two groups parted ways, and while Windblade, the Aerialbots, and the Wreckers made their way though the Space Bridge, the Rescue Bots noticed Optimus, Slug, and Swoop were still there.
"Aren't you three gonna go back too?" asked Hoist.
"I am, but Slug and Swoop are not." replied Optimus.
"How come?" asked Slash.
"Because, Slash, Optimus was the one who invited us." said Slug. "And he invited us for a reason."
"Yeah, he actually was thinking we could stay here with you guys." added Swoop.
Slug and Swoop then looked up at Heatwave.
"If that's okay with you, that is." said Slug.
"Are you kidding me?" replied Grimlock, answering for Heatwave. "Of course it is! The whole Dinobot team is back together again!"
"Uhh...yeah." said Heatwave with a shrug. "If it's okay with Grimlock, it's pretty much okay with me, too."
"Great." said Grimlock. "Come on, Dinobots, let's go celebrate!"
And with that, the Dinobots left.
"Consider this as my Christmas gift to all of you." said Optimus.
"In that case, thanks, Optimus." said Heatwave. "It's always nice to have new faces around here."
"Indeed." agreed Chase.
"Good." nodded Optimus. "Well, I must be going now. Take care, everyone. And Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Optimus!" the rest of the bots replied as Optimus finally left through the Space Bridge.
And as the day went on, Hot Shot and his friends felt very pleased to have new friends at the Academy and to have had another Very Merry Christmas with not just each other, but with Whirl Sr. and the other Wreckers.
The End
A.N.3. Here's how Hot Shot got the money for all his gifts that he bought: Two months ago, I did a rewrite of my first Transformers story, "The Runaway Rescue Bot", and I wrote it like it was a big theatrical production. How does that tie in with this? Well, the way I see it, I like to imagine that characters from a given franchise, Transformers in this case, get a sizeable cut from the profits that particular franchise makes, which means they are paid for their parts as if they were real actors. I suppose that could also be the case with that rewrite I mentioned. If anyone wants to check it out, it's on DeviantArt, and my name there is "DayDreamBeliever67", and the rewrite itself is called "One Of Our Rescue Bots Is Missing". So...yeah, that is pretty much it. So, with all that out of the way, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless.
A.N.4. Oh, and one last thing I forgot to mention previously: I'll be doing two stories in the future as prequels to this one in the future explaining how Hot Shot and his friends meet High Tide, Servo, and Salvage, so stay tuned for those two.