Part 3
The next day, after an apoplectic Tracks spent most of the night in the wash rack and Hound and Trailbreaker spent about two hours catching the surviving butterflies, Prowl entered the common room with a small and well-practiced smirk of success, a data pad in hand.
"Whatcha got there?" Jazz asked curiously, trying to peer over the Datsun's shoulder.
"I have almost identified the pranksters." Prowl replied, sounding immensely pleased with himself. "Last night's escapade provided me with the last data I required to deduce their identities."
"Reeeallly?" Sideswipe drawled, flicking a mischievous look at his twin. "Care to share?" He asked.
"Not at this moment. I have yet to confirm my suspicions. Afterwards however, anyone may feel free to ask. These pranksters have caused me enough grief to warrant a sufficient example for any other lurking pranksters. This is a military facility, not a day-care centre." Prowl replied, irritation seeping into his tone.
"Well good." Ironhide announced. "Ah've had enough o' wakin' up t' some poor sap howlin' blue murder 'cause some punk's got too much fuel t' burn."
"Here, here!" Smokescreen chimed in. There were several other affirmative noises and not a few dark looks directed at the twins.
The tactician's radio chirped. He touched one hand to his audio and listened for a moment. "It's urgent?… I understand…Yes, I'll be there in a moment." Prowl cut the link and sighed, door wings sagging slightly at the prospect of loosing some of his down time.
"Duty calls, eh?" Jazz grinned.
"Yes. I'll meet you and the others at the end of first shift for the meeting in the strategy room." Prowl replied, grabbing a cup of energon from the dispenser.
"Gotcha." Jazz replied.
0o0o0
"I don't think this is such a good idea. Aren't there rules against breaking into an office?" The owner of the voice glanced up and down the hallway again, understandably nervous.
"The point was not to get caught. If Prowl finishes his work and the twins find out…" Metal plates rattled as the second speaker shuddered. "Even a simpleton could figure that out. Besides, Prowl won't be around to catch us."
The second mech entered the code their third co-consiprator had provided into the keypad beside the door to Prowl's office. "Stay here and keep watch." He instructed, disappearing inside the office. The first mech heard him rummaging around for several minutes before emerging triumphant. "Got it, now we'd better get out of here."
"I couldn't agree more."
0o0o0
Chip, Wheeljack and Prowl watched the whole exchange from the safety of the control room. The internal tracking system was still down, but Perceptor had managed to get the friend or foe identification up and running. Chip grinned as the two blinking green dots moved back the way they came. "Looks like they took the bait." He said, looking up at Prowl. "That was some good acting back there Prowl. Even I believed you."
"I took lessons from Sideswipe." The tactician deadpanned, but the human could see a hint of a smile tugging at the black and white's lips. "So where are they headed?" Prowl queried, changing the subject.
Wheeljack tapped a few keys, and the map on Teletran's screen zoomed out. "Looks like the living quarters." He replied, rotating the view slightly. "I'll keep on 'em."
"Good. If all goes well we shall be able to being PhaseTwo momentarily." Prowl replied, an anticipatory gleam in his optics. This was the part that he liked best about his job- watching a plan all come together.
"PhaseTwo of what?" A deep voice rumbled. The trio whirled around, deer in the headlight expressions evident on all of their faces. Prime had entered the control room unnoticed, and now stood with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at them
"Uh," Wheeljack floundered for a moment. "Well, y'see Prime, we're attempting to flush out the latest set of pranksters, and uh…"
Prime chuckled. "Carry on, by all means." He said, turning on his heel and walking back out.
0o0o0
The two conspirators finally reached their destination and ducked inside. The mastermind of their trio was waiting for them. "Didja get it?" he asked.
"Here." The second mech replied, holding out the pad. The other mech took it and waved his hand over the security panel, activating the device.
"What does it say?" The last member of their group asked, keeping a close watch on the door to their impromptu meeting place.
"Nothin' much." The mastermind replied, scrolling through the data. "Charts, duty lists, lists of names, ah, here we go." He started to read. " 'Conclusion: It is rude to go through someone's things. Gotcha.'"
He looked up at the other two and summed up their collective feelings in two simple words. "Oh slag."
0o0o0
Prowl, Wheeljack and Chip were waiting in the hallway when the three culprits burst out of the empty cabin, coughing on the brightly coloured smoke emitted by the booby-trapped data pad.
There was several moments stunned silence as the two parties eyed each other.
Wheeljack was the first to find his voice. "Jazz? Tracks? Skyfire? You're the pranksters!" He demanded.
Jazz grinned in the mischievous, satisfied way that only Jazz could. "Yup."
"But, why?" Prowl asked, battle computer furiously ticking over in an attempt to discover the logic behind the situation.
The Porcshe shrugged. "Weeelll, we were all goin' stir-crazy, what with the weather goin' t' pot an' the 'cons, an' everythin' else. So we sorta organised t' prank each other. An' the nice thing was that since we all agreed t' it, there's nothin' in the rules that say we couldn't do it."
"You thought this all out, didn't you?" Chip asked curiously.
"Yup." Jazz's grin widened. "What can I say? We were bored."
Prowl groaned and let the back of his head hit the wall with a thunk. Chip wheeled himself over and patted the Autobot's leg comfortingly. "Don't worry Prowl, at least you don't have to deal with the terrible two's." He said. Prowl turned his head slightly so that he was looking at the human. "I already do- the twins." He replied dryly.
"Good point." Chip laughed.