The Diego Diaries: Game (dd6 331)
Sorry. Tired as can be last night. ON WITH THE SHOW!
-0-There
"Who's left?" someone whispered behind Ratchet. He was standing next to Ironhide who was losing his shit with his elders.
"I think Wheeljack and maybe a titan or two. There's no one really left," Willa said as she smirked at Ironhide.
"HE KILLED CLIFFIE!"
Everyone turned toward Buzzie who was still steaming. Ironhide paused long enough loading bunker busters to the sled of his helicopter to turn to him. "They're just models, Buzz."
"MODELS OF MY CLIFFIE!" Buzzie said.
Ratchet grinned, then glanced down at Cliffjumper. :Strive to be worthy, Cliff:
:Every orn, Ratchet: Cliffjumper replied.
Then there was lift off.
Across the way, a miffed Hammer of Primus and a highly amused but slightly scandalized Consolation were discussing the options. They glanced up as Ironhide flew to the two cities to drop more napalm. Grabbing their consoles, Metroplex began to transform Hammer. Everyone watched as the little city began to rise up. Then they watched as it began to ooze back downward. It only fanned the flames as the poor little robot habitation began to move its parts.
"WHAT ABOUT YOU, CON!?" Ratchet called out over the uproarious laughter.
"I don't know," Consolation said as Max took his console.
"Let's see, Con," Max said as he triggered the transformation. Consolation stood upward about halfway before the inferno engulfing him caused the botlet to collapse in a pile of runny slag. "Good thing no one was in there," he said, then grinned. "Oh, wait. Wheeljack."
'Jack was frantically working his console next to a very amused and slightly smug Perceptor. "Well, 'Jack," Percy said. "That will teach you. Paybacks for the other games."
Wheeljack glanced at Perceptor. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT ME TO THE BITTER END!"
"My end came earlier, though I will confess, it was bitter," Percy said.
He got a standing ovation. Wheeljack got buckets of mockery.
"Ironhide."
Everyone turned toward Larc and her warriors, all six of them. "Meet us on the field of combat," Larc said with a grin. "Warrior to warrior. If you have the stomach for it."
"WHoooOOOOOooo!" went through the crowd as the throw down was flung.
Ironhide grinned at Larc who he loved and admired. "I reserve the right to fly this thing up your aft if one against six is a bust."
"Are you afraid?" Larc asked with a grin.
"Probably," Ironhide said as he set his helicopter down by the burning carcass of Consolation. He hopped out with a sword in one hand and a gun in the other.
The Hu-An walked out of their fort and arrayed themselves around him. "Gotcha, Ironhide," Larc said with a smirk.
"Maybe," Tempest said with a grin.
"BRING IT!" Ironhide said as he ran forward shooting and waving his tiny sword.
A big Hu-An warrior ran forward and bowed their neck. He hit Ironhide in the chassis even as both arms fell off due to sword and shot. HUGE laughter greeted that as Ironhide flew past the warriors. He clambered up and began to run as the six began to chase him.
"Look at that. Pamplona comes to Mars," Ratchet said. After a swift internet search, everyone howled with laughter.
Ironhide ran behind his vehicle even as two of them jumped on board and tackled him. The three rolled around as Ironhide shot blindly. A Hu-An helm rolled away even as the other pummeled him. The others began to bend the rotors of the helicopter even as more ran to join the one on top of Ironhide.
"You better choose discretion. I heard its the better part of valor," Ratchet said with a chuckle.
Shooting upward, the Hu-An on top of him came apart at the seams. Hopping up, Ironhide's little bot ran to the ship and it began to take off. Once inside with two Hu-Ans, it lifted off. Its rotors were bent but it managed to make it upward. The fighting inside was fierce, or so it seemed. It was hard to tell. It was only clarified when a Hu-An fell out and was diced in the Razor Wire Maze and the other exploded halfway down to the ground after being shoved out. The helicopter limped along at ground level to the sidelines. Two Hu-Ans, one without arms, chased him.
"They did better than the Supremes, the titans and most of the others. Well played, Hu-Ans," Optimus said with a chuckle.
Larc grinned. "We try," she said as the group howled.
Fort Max grinned, then stepped his playah onto the board. With only half a face, he decided to commit suicide by helicopter. Marching toward the sidelines where Ironhide was standing with two fists of ammo and a tech straightening rotors, he loaded up and rose to fly toward the big titan glitching his way to his doom.
"This is going to be good," Paribolus said with a chuckle.
"For Max?" Ty asked.
"No," Paribolus said to great laughter and agreement.
He flew at Max shooting him up. Max swatted at him like some kind of giant gorilla. Back and forth, Ironhide flew stitching the towering behemoth as the instructors on the sidelines explained strategy to the soldier trainees in the crowd.
Ever the teacher.
Ever the teachable moment.
Zooming in, firing all his guns and launching two missiles, they all found their target. Quivering under the onslaught, Fort Max came apart at the seams. Parts of him flew everywhere prompting some bots along the sidelines to throw themselves in front of the shrapnel. It bounced off them harmlessly but would have left a mark on the children. Titans everywhere laughed loudly, especially Xantium. Even Omega laughed.
Ironhide, this game's Wheeljack was ahead in points to say the least.
"That leaves these little weeblies," Ironhide said with huge glee as he turned to fly after two Hu-An who were standing in their fort. Between them, a huge gun was facing out. The one with arms loaded it, the one who didn't smirked and the device fired. It flew forward.
Ironhide prepared to dodge it when it switched directions and plowed into him. It was a massive fireball in the sky, then the entire burning mass fell straight downward. Unfortunately, momentum carried it directly to the Fort Hu-An and it plowed into it with a savage speed. It was then that all the ammo on the ship exploded at once. It was quite a burn radius left behind.
The two burning melted cities were tossed across the board ending up in a pile on top of the Razor Wire Maze. Beachcomber's fort disintegrated. The Seeker Mesa, scene of the mass immolation of what was left of Starscream's Pride blew away in the wind. Blue Lake and Pretty Ocean collected a lot of pieces parts which sank right away. Then it was silent.
It was the kind of silent that astonishes someone who goes to the woods alone after growing up in the city. It was dead silent, like most of the players. Then Vinn glanced at Joon who was staring with wonderment along with everyone else. "Well," he said, then became quiet again.
"Who won?" someone asked in the back.
Springer grinned, then his little half a bot walked out of the maze on his servos. "I did."
The mayhem and laughter, mockery, indignant screaming, hoo-haw, and gnashing of denta was unprecedented.
Then Miler turned to Vinn. "What about Warlord and me? We found a medallion."
Vinn grinned. "You did. There were four others all hidden around. One was in Blue Lake, one was in the Razor Wire Maze, another in the Oil Pit and the other two were at the Troll Bridge and Swirly Hole Lake."
It was quiet a moment. "Slag." -Everyone
Vinn and the judges and referees huddled a moment. Then Vinn made a decision. "The winner of the game is Springer. The winner of the entire event is Warlord and Miler."
"WHAT THE FRAG!? HOW IS *THAT* SUPPOSED TO WORK!?" Springer asked as Drift guffawed.
"They found the disc. You didn't," Vinn said through a convoluted logic that was purely Cybertronian and thereby unknowable. He grinned. "TIME FOR THE KIDS!" He looked at Wheeljack and Ironhide who were frowning MIGHTILY. "It's safe, right?"
They both nodded as they glowered. A couple of dozen human and bot botlets along with the wondrous Mr. Boo ran onto the board and began to look. It was almost macabre to see them run past pieces parts and past blast holes but it was also instructive to watch them find all three of their game pieces in jig time and bring them off the board. They gathered to look at them. One was in the Canyon of Doom, another in the Mountains, oddly enough next to the obliterated carcass of Cliffie and the last was in the Maze where Springer hid. Oddly enough as well, no one used the ships or sub base to make it to Beachcomber's fort. He was still crabbing about that to his worshipful little bond who stood on the sidelines holding their son in a Seeker bag while he nodded in sympathetic agreement.
Vinn grinned. "The children found them all. Which team has the most?"
The kids looked at him, huddled again, then turned as one. "WE ALL DID!"
Momentous applause.
"Well then … I guess Team Cybertron and Earth win together."
APPLAUSE! LUX!
"As for the adults … Springer wins the game for being last to survive. Miler and Warlord win the overall game for most game pieces. You can have an advantage in the next game or choose to embrace the winning prize." Vinn stared at that, then Ratchet. "Did I say that right?"
Ratchet dazzled him with a smile. "You did."
"We take the advantage." -Miler and Warlord
HUGE LAUGHTER.
"What about you, Springer? Advantage or embrace?" Vinn said.
It was tense as Springer worked through the process of grief. He grinned. "I suppose the advantage is smarter but the other sounds interesting. Just for the sake of argument, I'll take the embrace." He looked at Ratchet with a smirk. Ratchet smirked back.
Ratchet also removed a small but very fat little Ratchet doll from his chassis and put it on the ground. It was him but rotund. It also bore the Emblem of the Primes on a tiny flagpole on his helm. He began to run toward Springer's little bot. Everyone watched including Springer as Ratchet reached the half a botlet, then picked him up. He hugged the little mech tightly.
Everyone went 'aw', then everyone went FRAG!
It was then that Ratchet detonated his little botlet and it exploded with an actual mushroom cloud that shook the board but didn't throw out any blast wave. If flashed, blew them both up, then settled. Nothing on the table was moved. Everyone looked at Ratchet. He smiled brilliantly. "Neutron bomb."
Mayhem at this point broke out everywhere.
-0-A joor later at the Tower in the Sky Restaurant in Iacon
They sat around the table filling the room. All of the players were here and so were families and friends. It had taken a while to get here due to interviews and commentary with the human broadcasters and local newsies. But now they were. Food and drinks were being brought out in mass quantities and all was well. Laughter, commentary and jokes were told as Ratchet looked at his giant hamburger with pleasure. Then he turned in his seat and grinned. "You okay over there, Only One?"
Ironhide who was relegated to a table by himself in a corner nearby glowered at him. "I'M FINE!"
HUGE laughter commenced.
-0-Later that night when everyone was in bed but the old folks
They sat in their chairs relaxing. Ratchet grinned. "The kids are loyal to save you like that, Ironhide."
"They are."
"You aren't," Ratchet said.
Ironhide grinned. "Nope. I decided to win. When Prime went down it changed things. A mech has to do what a mech has to do."
"I noticed that," Ratchet said with a chuckle. "I heard its going to be a while before the games come back. The entire area has to be reworked. Probably a good thing. It might allow Prowl to instill a killer instinct in Optimus."
They watched the screen showing highlights of the game, then glanced at each other. "Nah," they both said.
-0-In another apartment, laying on a berth in the dark
"If it helps, you can hide something here and I'll help you find it."
Springer laughed a long, long time.
-0-TBC 4-18-18 edited 4-22-18
Notes
Neutron Bomb: a dirty bomb that kills every living thing with copious amounts of radiation but the blast is so small that it doesn't destroy anything around it. Yes, we are a savage people.
Every year, Pamplona in Spain lets out their fighting bulls to run through the streets to the arena and people run along with them. You can get killed and gored doing it.