The Diego Diaries: Game! (dd8 452)
=0=Game
They walked to the court to take their places, Sun, Jack, Prime, Chromia, Jetta, Raptor, Blackjack, Elita, Arcee, Magnus and Ironhide as goalie.
(BWHAHAHA! GOALIE! Sorry …)
=0=Lounge at E2
"Goalie. I can't get over how funny it is to have a goalie in basketball," Louis Richardson said thereby demonstrating a hitherto unknown sense of humor.
"Fuck that. My son is in that game," Clark Walters said grimly.
"He has the best seat in the house," Louis said.
"Fuck that," Willow Clark said.
Everyone stared at her with surprise. She was someone that someone's old granddad would describe as 'someone who wouldn't say shit if she had a mouthful'.
That kind of old granddad.
The best kind.
=0=Game
The ball was tossed and the pile up was epic. It seemed each time a game was played more contact appeared to accrue. Soon the bulldozers would just drive into each other at this pace in full D8 cat mode.
Chromia who climbed up the face of a monster truck stole the ball from him, back flipped off his broad shoulders to land on her brother-in-law's own nice ones, then tossed the ball into the basket as Magnus turned around to look that way.
The laughter of everyone present that wasn't a Templar was long and loud.
Maelstrom who was standing by the bench nearby looked ready to evaporate into component elemental substances.
The big lover boy.
Chromia strutting her stuff like a bad ass walked to him, pulled him down for a long kiss, then walked back to her place as she cricked her neck and pounded her fists together in blood lust. "PLAY SLAGGING BALL!" she said daintily.
For Chromia.
Two Templars exchanged places with a bigger more bad ass monster truck joining the line to oppose her.
The laughter of everyone present that wasn't a Templar was long and loud. If one looked closer one could even see one or two Templars manage a weak grin.
The ball was put into play and the Templars ran it around like ferrets but the brick wall that was Ironhide, Sun and Jack slammed into their nefarious schemes every time they came close. It was so frustrating that the ball handler, a big Templar that was a mosaic artist slid to a stop, contemplated his shot, determined there wasn't one, then threw the ball hard into Ironhide's grinning face.
That windmilling mechanism fell backward to crash to the ground with a ball stuffed into his mouth. It fell out and rolled away. Everyone who was and wasn't a Templar howled with laughter.
That meant only one thing.
"ITS OUR TIME! FOLLOW US, BARRETT! WE HAVE TO DO THE WORK OF PRIMUS!" Echo cried as her group fogged out of the tunnel to head toward Ironhide who was watching the cyber birdies fly around his helm.
Barrett lit after them on foot. He kept up. It was fantastic.
=0=Lounge, E2
"WHAT THE FUCK!?"
"GET HIM ON THE LINE, CLARK! DO IT NOW!"
"BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAA!" -everyone else in the room.
=0=Broadcast booth over head
"Is that a human kid?" Jazz asked with a big smile.
"I think it is," Blaster said. He glanced at Revet. "Can you figure out who, how and why?"
"On it," Revet said as he dived into the database console nearby.
=0=L, E2
"WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING HIM ON THE LINE, CLARK!?"
"He must have turned off the link to us."
"I DON'T CARE! GET HIM ON THE LINE!"
"BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
=0=On the deck(ed)
They ran to the prone figure of a Chaos Bringer and a World Beaterâ„¢. He was staring at the ceiling with a dulled expression. Fifteen kid experts and one soon-to-be on-the-ball noobie leaned in with their fifteen meter/scanners and one pair of human eyeballs. The beams hit the patient all at the same time causing him to jump slightly from the shock of it.
Barrett jumped, too, from the raw excitement of the moment and a burning desire to figure out what everyone was doing. He had no idea that eight billion humans, nearly one and three quarters billion Cybertronians and all the ships at (sea)bay were watching with amazed delight or something slightly less pleasant depending on their tattoos.
The kids stood up, then huddled as Echo tugged Barrett along. He himself was nearly hypnotized staring face-to-face with Ironhide's giant cannons. Leaning in to the group huddle, he listened as they worked out a diagnosis, a prognosis, a psychosis and a hypnosis. Then they looked at Goldwing who was standing with the refs watching them with a proud grin on his handsome face.
"We think he needs to be carted off to the med station, Doctor. He got his bell rung," Sil said as the fourteen other bot kids and one human nodded solemnly.
"Okay," Goldwing said. He called for a stretcher then walked closer to kneel beside Ironhide. He looked at Barrett. "Are you a new recruit for the group?"
Barrett nodded. :I am:
"How do you like it?" Goldie asked.
Barrett glanced around, then looked at Ironhide's guns, then Goldwing. :I LOVE IT!: he said with a smile.
Goldwing smiled back. "Welcome to the team," he said as orderlies piled Ironhide's pieces parts onto the stretcher. With several carrying him and a trail of kids following, they walked to the tunnel with the giant applause of the masses. Disappearing out of sight, the refs took their turn on the cat(call) walk.
Walking to the medallion, one of them glanced around the room which fell silent to listen.
"Free throws to the Comets for unnecessary stuffing," he said to the delight of the crowd. "Choose your shooter."
Everyone glanced at each other, then Prime. "Prime." -everyone on the team.
Optimus took the ball, walked to the free throw line and bagged two scores with sickening ease.
Crater Comets 15, Simfur Templars, Zip.
=0=L, E2
It was silent as they watched Barrett lean in, lean out, huddle, gawk around, glance at a Seeker and a bunch of grounders, stare at giant cannons, chat with the Seeker, then walk off like the King Under The Mountain taking an orderly retreat.
Literally.
They stared at the screen, each other, then the screen.
"That was my kid." -Clark
"Barrett was on teevee in front of billions of people." -Willow
"At least eleventy zillion." -Owen Harris laughing loudly on the inside
Both Walters sat back as they stared at the screen in gathering wonderment. Both glanced at each other at the same time. "Our boy is on teevee."
=0=In the tunnel
They followed the stretcher, Echo, Sil and Barrett. The others were back at the tunnel entrance watching the game for hurts and scores. Barrett had been explained the rules of the road.
"We have four situation managers for each game. We averaged out the injuries to about four per game," Echo was saying as they walked along to the med station nearby. "All of us consult on the team. But for each injury, one takes ultimate charge. This one is mine but it rotates so that everyone gets a chance to do this.
"I'm situation manager #1 for this game. Coros is #2, Sil is #3 and Faun is #4. We go with the victim to get the details, keep the notes, then write up the report. If we do it this way only a couple of us have to leave the game instead of all of us. They're there for the emergencies and we're here getting the victim away and their details for the report."
:You keep records?: Barrett asked.
"We do. It helps us with training. It also lets us track the kind of injuries that come up so we can adjust our training. Its win-win," she said with a big smile.
Barrett stared at her, then the door as they walked into the med station.
Ironhide would be put on the berth, get the once over and find a plug-in diagnostic would resolve his 'clanging' problem. After getting the details, the two walked back to the tunnel where the game was going furiously.
=0=Up there
"We have word that Ironhide is getting treated for what humans would call concussion. The kids took good care of him as usual," Jazz said as he relaxed in his chair.
"I have information and permission about the human kid," Revet said as he handed Blaster the data pad he'd downloaded all of it on.
Blaster looked it over. "His name is Barrett Walters of California, a kid who lives at Earth2 and goes to school at Youngling Day #1 in Centurion. Apparently he joined the group, the Autobot City Watch and Medical Center Youth Auxiliary, I think its called. Its a great group of kids. Well done, Barrett."
Jazz grinned. "Well done."
=0=L E2
"They're talking about my kid, those two," Clark Walters said as he pointed at the screen.
"He's talking, they're all talking about our son," Willow Walter said.
They both grinned broadly. "They're talking about our son." -both of them.
=0=Game
The pace was furious as they galloped around the game floor. Hercy was goalie, a slightly comical sight until someone came in to jump ball a score and got punched in the codpiece. Falling like a rock to the ground from outer space, a brigade of little kids galloped out to go to him from a tunnel nearby. They were led by a very serious looking Pulley.
Chromia watched them huddle and do their thing. "I love those kids."
Elita and Arcee who were waiting with her nodded.
"Did you see the human?" Elita asked.
Chromia nodded. "He was that kid who got in trouble, right?"
Both nodded.
"This might do him good," Chromia said as she glanced at the nearby tunnel where Barrett was huddled with some of the kids who were pointing out what was going on. She grinned faintly. "Those kids are gold."
Everyone on the floor who was listening nodded in agreement. They were.
=0=Up there
"Where is Ratchet?" Alor asked as he held a sleepy Prima in his arms.
"He's got cheer gear to get on, apparently," Tie said with a chuckle.
"Do you know what it is?" Alor asked.
"I have no idea," Tie said with a laugh.
=0=In an empty room nearby
Ratchet pulled out a box that held his latest cheer gear. Opening it, he pulled out his latest creation. Smiling, he then began to don it without help.
It would look easier than it turned out to be.
=0=In a med bay
"I'M GOOD TO GO!"
"Nope." Goldwing grinned at Ironhide. "No."
"I HAVE TO BE FREE!"
"Nope."
=0=Game
They threw the ball in their usual convoluted pattern as Simfur danced around. Then a monster truck got tired of that, tripped Raptor 'accidentally', then watched as he bounced several times before landing upside down against a wall.
Raptor rose, the mechs came together and the first fight of the game commenced immediately.
=0=In the new military habitat
"I don't understand this game but I love it." -everyone there
=0=At Last
He clambered down the steps to stop next to the spot where he always stood in a game, right next to old Granny Pants himself. He waited with his most dazzling smile on his face for reactions from Miss Priss.
Prowl had him on his sensors for some time but stared down at the game without reacting. When he waited long enough, he glanced at Ratchet quashing a big guffaw. "What took you so long?" he asked as their image played on the jumbotron to the giant amusement of everyone in the room.
"It was hard getting into a cab," Ratchet said.
It was. Cabs weren't meant for a taco that big.
=0=TBC 6-8-2022
ESL
Accrue: (uh-crew) pile up, such as interest on a bank account
nefarious: (nuh-fair-eeee-us) sneaky, underhanded
world beater is in honor of our UK readers. HUGS!
(Jackalkat: Great message. I'll get you an answer tomorrow. I think I had a glitch moment but it might just dovetail into a thread that I started a short time back with a Jhiaxus disciple and an idea that was brewing about that character. HUGS!)
