The Diego Diaries: BASKETBALL! (dd8 358)

=0=At the arena

The siren blew signaling the restarting of the game. The crowd went wild as the teams came out, took their sides and had a few moments to shoot baskets and run about on the floor before the game restarted. The Comets won the jump ball as Prime shot up faster and batted the ball to Jetta. It was then that the hard practiced teamwork advantage that Prime's players held over nearly everyone else could be seen. It was a blur, the passing between Jetta, Arcee, Elita and Magnus who as a center parked himself in front of the hoop at the mid court line and set up plays. By the time Elita dunked it Kaon had been run ragged.

Kaon regrouped at their bench as the scoreboard nearby showed Comets, 15 and their team at 5.

Sunstreaker who was feeling the burn waited at they gathered. They leaned in together. "I want this to be kick ass. I want aggression and defense. We have to score at least three more shots and the way this is going without Sideswipe we're spinning our wheels," he said as they nodded.

If he wanted offens(iv)e(ness), he would get it.

They broke formation and walked to the center to jump ball. Swag and Prime were facing each other again.

The ball was tossed, Swag hip blocked Prime away and took it. He handed it to Sunstreaker who ran for the goal and Chromia who was set to send him on a personalized tour of the solar system. The clang when they came together was enormous causing both to spiral out of the court and into a wall. It was silent for a moment, then Chromia stood, shook herself, then walked back to the goal. She stared at Sunstreaker who was staring at the ceiling a moment, then rose himself.

Glaring at her as she grinned at him, Sunny walked to the sideline for the ins. It was given and the game was on. It would be entertaining in a major way for the rest of the half because of the number, kinds and quality of the fights that broke out from end to end.

=0=During a grand melee of madness with about five minutes left on the clock

Prime stood mid court holding the ball with Sunstreaker as they both watched Raptor, Sun and Jack duke it out with Swag, Baro and Jury, all of which were huge. It was a spectacle that pleased the crowd half of which tried to climb over to join in the mayhem, such was the level of inebriation in the room. As it went on the conversation was calm between the two intense competitors.

:I think Jack and Sun are going to win but Appa appears to be on the losing end of things: Sunny said to Prime as they watched Swag grip Raptor by the arm, spin him around and toss him upward into the stands.

Apparently if there was no ill intent or open palms applied to your opponent this wasn't illegal. Yes, Cybertronian Basketball was crazier than Australian Rules Football.

Raptor flew spreadeagled upward into the stands, then down into the front few rows of the seating. A mass of mini-con young people from Stanix and Bern were the beneficiaries of that move. Raptor was the beneficiary of their own when they tossed him over the side. He fell 70 feet to the ground, landed on his peds, then rebounded into the court. He mowed down Sun who had the upper hand at the moment, thereby helping him to lose it as he continued to roll out the other side toward Kaon's bench. He would stagger out of that with the help of a few fists and peds up the aft from the Kavaliers thereby sealing Cybertronian good sportsmanship to no one on several planets.

Like that.

Staggering toward Prime and Sunstreaker, he paused before them with a grin. "I think I broke both my legs."

All three stared downward, then blanched. Both of his main struts were shattered.

Sunstreaker who nearly hurled turned toward a tunnel and yelled, "MEDIC!"

A passel of infants galloped out followed by a grinning medic ambling along behind.

Raptor was flat on his back in no time.

:Ratchet:

:What?:

:My old mech broke both his legs:

:What the frag, Turbine. I leave for three beers and this happens? I'll be there if I can find the door knob:

:Thanks, Ratchet: Turbine said with a chuckle. :I'm still coming tonight:

:I hope so. I think I'm halfway to slag faced already: Ratchet signed off then walked toward the arena. He entered, then walked in a relative straight line to the security officer standing by the official doors leading into the official workings of the huge place. "Hi. I'm a doctor. Someone broke their slagging legs in the game."

He was allowed through and managed to find the medic station just as Raptor on a stretcher and five kids holding the sides entered. The big medics who were holding the stretcher as the kids 'helped' grinned at him.

"This old fragger weighs a ton," one of them said.

"I'll have you know I weight five tons," Raptor said with a chuckle.

The kids had been thorough so he'd been scanned, prodded, gently poked, snaps were taken, deeply serious conversations and consultations were had and in the end he was carted off with 'two broken legs, Doctor'. The 'doctor' was a medic who was finishing up certification and would be handling the education of kids in the colony into looking at careers in medicine. As such he was one of the several medics who helped with the mentor kids.

Sliding the stretcher onto a med berth, Ratchet ambled over. "Hey, Raptor. I'm slag faced. Let me help you," Ratchet said as he unsubbed his big spinning buzz saw.

Huge laughter erupted from everyone but the kids until the 'doctor' let them in on the joke.0

Ratchet subbed his blade then spent the treatment time regaling the kids on what he was doing and how Raptor was on the future bonds list. It would be very, very amusing.

=0=On the court

"Raptor of Praxus who is on the Comet team is out with two broken legs," the ref said to the delight of the crowd.

A brewing herd of mini-cons and other youngsters were celebrating their 'coup', that is, the mashing of Raptor with songs, rude gestures to those down below and beer secreted in past security. It was scandalous how their nanas and papas glared at them while their adas and atars sneaked sips. It would be a hot time in the Magistrate's Court in the morning from all signs, portents and auguries.

"What do you think? Should we go up there?" Drift asked.

Springer who was considering just that nodded. "Let's go up. I want Lon, Bez, Kup and Hercy to come with. If we can defuse this now maybe we can get through a game without an impromptu side show."

Drift glanced at him, then grinned. "You like to dream don't you."

"Always," Springer said as they began to gather their troops to head for the section where about 250 youths were having a high old time.

=0=Last quarter starting

They gathered at the mid line to begin the last period. It was going badly for Kaon given that Sideswipe was out and Sunny wasn't up to his usual self after colliding with Chromia. The play was fierce and raged up and down the court with pauses of play and the timer when behemoths decided to test their mettle with each other. It turned out that not only did Swag like to play 'brick wall' for Kaon, he liked to fight as well. That he was good at it was 'troublesome but doable' according to Sun and Jack.

The Kavaliers at last managed to score when a cloud of mini-cons began to fall out of the stands about mid court. The scoreboard turned to Comets, 30 and Kaon, 10 with fifty-five seconds to go when the first of the little slaggers hit the floor. They bounced with various conditions of brokenness when those among them who were geared to flight took off in wobbly trajectories every direction possible.

The game paused to watch mini-cons fly over the court while a flew headed for the ceiling. Their resultant slam into the beams overhead and straight drop to the floor necessitated the players running around to catch them before they landed to kill themselves.

Sun grinned as he caught one, then tossed it over to a guardsman doing duty. It was a mad rush to catch them as in the stands where they were lurching about they were swarming like locusts over Springer, Drift, Hercy, Kup, Lon and Bezel.

It was lovingly caught on numerous cameras to be broadcast everywhere and added to every sporting highlight reel everywhere.

=0=Earth 1

"I would love to go to a game like that," Susie Clark said as she sat in the living room of their apartment watching the game with friends on their big screen. "I never watched sports until I came here."

"I did but it was never this entertaining. It looked like a swarm of fire ants devouring Springer and Drift for a moment there," a friend said with a chuckle.

"Hercy has a prod and when he uses it the waters part," Brandon said with a snicker. "I love this place."

It would be unanimous.

=0=Med station in the arena

They began to come in, mini-cons and young normal sized mechs who had fallen to the floor in their drunken states. Fortunately, The One favors the drunk, stupid and young. Since this group had hit the trifecta, there would be no deaths today. Bent and broken, sure, but no funerals.

Ratchet hammered and worked his magic through a lightening fog of drunkenness that had no bearing on his ability to do the job. Medical vehicles were capable of screwing their own heads back on if it came to that and tonight was no exception. It was merry time in the med bay for at least one mech there.

=0=Springer

They arrived at the rising tide and as they walked into the section and started down the stairs a mini-con femme looked up at all of them. "THE COPS! THE WATCH ARE HERE! THE ENEMY HAS ARRIVED!" With that, she made a fist, punched Drift on the leg, then sat down to cry as she held her broken servo against her chassis.

"MARLIS! HE HURT MARLIS!" someone yelled.

The entire group stopped throwing their own over the side to turn around and glare at the officers. It was a very intimidating sight for some of them.

The officers who were on duty here for the game were standing in the doorway apparently too dainty to step on the hornets nest brewing before their optics. Even though it was their section they were willing to 'watch' and 'learn things' from the idiots professionals.

"Oh frag," Springer said as he noted Drift trying to help the drunk little femme.

"HE HURT ME!" she wailed. "I THINK MY SERVO IS BROKEN!"

"HE BROKE MARLIS'S SERVO! GET HIM! THROW HIM OVER THE SIDE!"

That's when the entire group and a few others from adjoining sections who might or not have had rough handling from security in their (probably criminal) pasts rushed them. It was on.

Prime glanced upward as he held the ball. Both teams on the court were gathered around him watching mechs fall, taking bets, some of them, when they would hit the ground and how many times they'd bounce. The less gently raised among them would also bet on what and how much of their body parts would become unscrewed, break off and fly around the room. It was a sporting group watching the mayhem with Prime.

The cameras would lovingly zoom in to get every morsel of the shit sandwich erupting on this, just the FIRST game of the season.

=0=2-2-22 (the spiritual significance of four 2's in a row alludes to harmony, serenity and balance. I hope you had it all day long. HUGS, my wonderful and beautiful legends.

ESL:

Inebriation: (ih-nee-bree-ashun) drunkenness.

In the past and maybe still, if you bet on things you were a sporting man.