The Diego Diaries: PLAY BALL! (dd7 64)
=0=Clubbin'
They sat on a couch against the wall with their big old peds parked on the low table before them. All around them in this little snug space were other couches but they were empty. The whirl of the club went on around them as they sipped beer, ate snacks and bullshitted.
"I was thinking," Ratchet said. "I was thinking about the gratitude you'll feel toward me when you see my cheer gear tonight and the one I devised for the finals. You do understand that I do this out of a reverence for the Invaders and the great and glorious city of Iacon."
"You do it because you're an exhibitionist and a clown. As for Iacon … well, what's there to say?" Prowl asked as he slid further down the sober pole toward Blotto Land.
"Well? What do you say?" Ratchet asked.
When Prowl rolled his helm over to look at Ratchet, the big medic gave him a dazzling smile.
"You have a good smile, slagger." Prowl sipped more beer.
"The humans wouldn't say so. They don't get me but then most of my peeps don't get me either," Ratchet said with a tragic fake sigh.
Prowl glanced at him, then frowned. "What do you mean?"
"They don't think I look good. Now some others, they get it. No one gets me that's human, I don't think," Ratchet said with a grin. He didn't care but he'd found out that everyone else did and it was funny.
Prowl frowned. "What do you mean? They don't get you?"
"They don't. They don't see me that way," Ratchet replied.
Prowl who was feeling no pain sat up with only a minimal fuss, then rose unsteadily. "Well, that's slag," he said, then started for the door.
Ratchet watched him, then shimmied up himself. "Where ya goin', Prowler?" he asked to no one in particular. He followed Prowl out of the door and onto the street.
It was instructive that the bracing cold atmosphere didn't sober up either bot. Prowl was marching purposefully down the street toward the airfield, mostly walking in a straight line.
Ratchet weaved along behind.
They made it around the corner toward Cultural Center Road where Prowl had been stampeded by a herd of 'empty' horses and made their way onward.
Ratchet was weaving along behind with a plate of snacks in his servo while Prowl wove ahead breaking trail.
They continued onward as the N.E.S.T. HQ Habitat began to appear in the distance.
=0=Kiddie Park
"ADA! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE DIS HERE!"
Orion was in a safety seat on a swing that was nearly ready to wind around the top of the swing set in a circle, he was flying so high.
Alor who was pushing laughed at his delight. This place was great. There was something for everyone to do in the giant confines of the space from play equipment, a pool, a giant sand box, toys and 'lawn' to run in. There was a snack bar which made 'picnic baskets' for their patrons to take to the picnic area to enjoy.
The little femmes were wading in the pool which didn't go past their waist in the area cordoned off for infants. Other bigger kids could swim and play with pool toys and many were. The toys were heavily utilized and so was the sand box. Some families were picnicking nearby and everyone was very happy. This place had only been open for a decaorn and was already part of a multi-city expansion plan for the colony. Many were the school classes planning to come here for holidays, parties and other outings around the colony.
It was going to be a fun orn, Alor thought, as he watched the rest of the little mechs, Prime's and Ironhide's playing in the sand with Kestrel, Tagg and Ratchet's elder family.
All was well here.
=0=RTR Tools
"When you dunk it, you temper the metal. It makes it even that much harder," Ravel was telling three big boys who were hammering or dunking their ever growing hunks of metal before putting them back into the furnace to heat up again. It was a very exacting process.
Nearby, six titan kids were pounding away under the direction of Tie Down. He was gently showing them technique and hidden knowledge that no one knew outside of the family. Many were the mechs who tried in the past to find it out offering wads of cash or even threats. They had never divulged it due to respect for Solus and the Pantheon from whom they felt the information flowed.
"These mechs have metallurgy in their super structures, Ravie," Tie said with a grin.
"I like this a lot, Appa. How do you become a tool and die maker?" Saber asked as Santee nodded. "Maybe some day I can learn and help you."
Tie smiled brightly. "That would be wonderful. We can show you how to make our tools. Its very secret and sacred, infants. We're merely conduits for the Pantheon and their ancient wisdom."
Everyone paused to glance at Tie, then each other, then their projects.
"Wow," Santee said quietly.
Then they began again to give form to featureless metal. By the time they were done, their blades would be well on their way to sentience.
=0=Barrelin'
Prowl reached the habitat entrance for the big bots, then rapped on the dome. The humans inside gazed upward, then stepped back inside the Ops room to begin the process of letting the two big mechs inside. When that was done, the door opened, they entered, then it closed. By then, Lennox, Epps, Graham and half the inhabitants therein were walking into the Ops Center.
=0=Sittin' and laughin'
They took a break to take a drink of something cold. Their game was on point and their confidence was good. Prime felt over the bond a bit of muzziness from Prowl, then a flash of anger followed by bold determination. He considered it as he listened to the others laugh about what Ratchet might wear tonight, then put it aside.
All was well in his world.
Probably.
=0=N.E.S.T. HQ
Ratchet watched as the doors to Ops Center opened and the humans walked inside the habitat entrance to greet them. Lennox and the others stopped before them. "HI! What brings you here? Is something going on?"
Prowl knelt, then leaned in closer. "Yes," he said.
Lennox glanced at Ratchet who was grinning and appeared to be holding a plate of something. "Uh, okay," he said.
"What's this slag I hear about humans thinking Ratchet is ugly?" Prowl asked as he leaned in even closer.
Jessie who was there off shift glanced at Lennox, then Prowl. "Uh-oh," she said.
=0=At the arena in Retriades
They began to come early, the 100,000+ spectators that would fill the place to the brim. The only other game going on was Kaon versus Vos next door. The other teams were eliminated already and tonight the two semi-finalist teams would be chosen from those with the best record. The bookies had odds on the final game coming down to Kaon and Iacon. Vos and Polyhex were tough but the teamwork of Iacon and Kaon was too overwhelming to beat.
There would be lots of practice during the game's down time until the second season began. There were basketball hoops appearing all over the place and they were used by anyone who wanted to do so.
Many were those who did.
Food trucks filled the area outside as the entertainment portion of the show began early. There were lines for everything including the craft beer trucks which would shut down one joor before the game started. They would reopen about a joor after the game and the entire city center was blocked off for a giant block party afterward. Security hoped to grab the fighters and drunks easier this way than taking calls all over the colony.
It was a strategy.
=0=Bummin' and Bumblin'
"I heard rumors, Lennox. They were about my friend," Prowl said jerking his thumb toward Ratchet.
Mostly.
Jessie Landon grinned. "You're drunk, Prowl. Right?"
Prowl glanced at her, then frowned. "I'm not drunk. Much."
"What were you two doing? What's on the plate, Ratchet?" Jessie asked.
Ratchet who was smiling at what could only be imaginary things glanced down. "JESSIE! Want a snack?" he asked as he bent down to kneel. He held the plate down to the ground. The snacks looked great but were clearly deadly to humans.
"That looks good but I can't eat energon," Jessie said with a laugh. "How come you two got drunk and didn't call me?"
Prowl stood up. "I'm not drunk." He swayed slightly, then glanced around. "How come you're not on duty?"
"I was going to ask you that myself," Lennox said with a grin.
"There's a game tonight. This is our orn off unless something happens. We're essential equipment," Prowl said rather smugly.
"So you went to the club and got drunk?" Epps asked.
Prowl frowned at him as Ratchet laughed. "YES! WE DID! PROWL AND ME! RIGHT, PROWL!?"
"I'm not drunk," Prowl insisted. He glanced at the door. "I have to go back. I'm essential equipment." He walked toward the door, then into it when it didn't open. He glanced around, then frowned again.
"Ratchet, you might give each other the cure," Jessie said with a grin.
Ratchet stared at him, then stood with the plate. Dumping the plate into his mouth, he chewed, then grinned. "I love nachos. KUDOS, HUMANS, FOR GREAT SNACKS!" Then he sent the cure to both of them.
They visibly snapped to, then glanced around, then down. Both frowned.
"What are we doing here, Prowler?" Ratchet asked as he stared at an empty plate. "Where's my nachos?"
"You ate them," Jessie said with a laugh.
"Really," Ratchet asked. He glanced at Prowl. "We better get back to the club. Time is wasting."
Prowl frowned at the humans again, then nodded. "We have to go."
"EXIT STAGE LEFT!" Ratchet said as the fog lifted and he remembered everything. He looked at Jessie. "What did we say and ask?" he asked even though he remembered.
"Nothing," Jessie said with a huge smile and a wink.
He grinned back, then both stepped out heading for the club with Prowl.
The soldiers watched them go, then turned to Jessie. She shrugged. "Some get them and some don't. I do."
"Good," someone in the back said with a laugh. "You can explain them then to the rest of us."
=0=Strolling back to the Club
"I don't want to know how we ended up there," Prowl said as he walked along briskly.
"Then I won't tell you," Ratchet said. He grinned. "What's next on the agenda?"
Prowl thought as they rounded the corner toward Club Cybertron. "What about we pick a fight with Barricade?"
"I'm down, said no one ever." Ratchet laughed. "Count me in. I'll be your cellie."
With that, they entered the Club once more.
=0=Getting toward evening
The family began to gather to go to the game. Those with the kids kept them, big and small. Those who were practicing were there already. A light meal was sent in to the Iacon locker room from a cafe who was pulling for Iacon. The ammas and appas were gathering in the box including shirttail relatives and friends as the excitement rose with each new arrival.
In a box at the arena, Jazz and Blaster bantered with the humans on Earth. It was amusing as the two fielded questions and Rivet organized the control console behind them.
"Its sort of given that Iacon will be in the finals, right?" someone from Earth asked.
"Given their team work, their level of ability with this game and their blazing talents, I would imagine that's a safe call. However, you can't count out how we play this game. Its fisticuffs and power all the way," Blaster replied.
"What do you suppose Ambassador Ratchet will wear for his team?" another asked with a chuckle.
"Knowing Ratchet," Jazz said with a smile, "its going to be something designed to embarrass Prowl. Its one of the best kept secrets in the colony, the cheer gear that Ratchet brings to the game. Iacon is known for this sort of thing. So it could be anything. Hopefully."
As he said that Prowl was seen entering the box to greet those there. Ratchet, himself was no where in sight.
=0=TBC 8-17-19