The Diego Diaries: PLAY BALL! (dd7 68)
=0=At the game
The game spun forward anyway, legally, as Chromia clawed out another score. Then it settled to watch two gigantic mechs slag it out because them was the rules. Fight equals game stops.
One had a grin on their face and the other was Ultra Magnus.
Oh, and the score was Iacon, 65 and Polyhex, 15.
There was half a joor left in the game to decide one of the two participants in the first ever Championship Game for the Basketball Dominance of the World(s).
Hence, brawls.
The crowd rose to its peds to scream its helm off as the legendary Tyrest Enforcer and all around massive figure of security and truth, Ultra Magnus lived up to his name. Many were the big mechs on world that fantasized about fighting toe-to-toe with him, such was his aura, reputation and all around
massiveness.
Ultra Magnus was a natural born bad ass.
"We can do this my way … or the hard way."
It was legendary among The People, his menacing aura and tireless concern for the welfare of everyone.
Ty-R was a huge mech who knew how to fight and this was just what he wanted. If he was given nothing else for Christmas Surprise, this would be enough.
The sound of their blows rang in the hall in spite of 100,000+ voices screaming all at once. Back and fourth, up and down the arena floor, the two of them traded blows. Standing nearby with Raptor and Hardie, Prime watched with a grin on his face as he bounced the ball in his hand. He looked like the world(s) class athlete that he was.
"Prime looks good," Ratchet said with a slight grin.
Prowl nodded as he stared at Optimus. "He always looks good."
"Sorta sweet on him, are ya?" Ratchet asked.
Prowl smirked slightly, then nodded. "Sorta."
"I have to hand it to the son-in-law … he has a nice combination," Ratchet said as a right, then a left followed by a right drove Ty-R backward toward the line.
"He does. He packs a punch," Prowl agreed. "Though, pound for pound, he's not up to the par of Optimus."
"I don't know. They grew up together and both of them have a primal frame anyway. They grew them big on his block," Ratchet said. "Now on MY block, we were more famed for how fast we could run and jump than slagging it out with raw power."
"Jump?" Prowl asked with a grin. "I've seen you jump."
"That was a few vorns back, slagger. Did you ever make it to our neighborhood when you'd go out and ramble around?" Ratchet asked. "I may or not have asked you before. I may also or not have been slag faced at the time."
Prowl pondered the question. "It feels familiar," he said. "When we were in Iacon I'd go to the Jumble. I never made it to your end. Mostly, it was a bit on the scary side for even me at the time."
Ratchet snickered. "Try living there."
It was then that Ty-R was punched out of the game and into the wall. He hit it, then staggered back to his peds. With a laugh, he walked to Magnus, slapped palms, then walked to his bench and team.
=0=Broadcasting booth
"I have a couple of emails from Earth who want us to explain how a game will stop for a brawl and no one gets banned or arrested. They still don't get it," Blaster said with a chuckle. "Go, maestro."
Jazz snickered. "Well, remember it was a slum game and there were less of the niceties then than there is now. Because it was so popular as it was, most of the good stuff was left in like fighting. You can do this and if ball is out of bounds or otherwise not in motion, the fight has to be waited out. If the fight happens during the play, you could get a penalty … maybe … depends on the refs or you might not. Its part of the game, the crowd likes it and so do I. No harm, no foul. Mostly."
"I love to see Magnus fight. His punch can drop a train," Blaster said.
"It dropped Astrotrain a few times if memory still serves me," Jazz said as they laughed loudly.
=0=In a hangar nearby with the significant other
"Slaggers," Astrotrain said as he sat on a bench with Sky Dive to watch the game. "Magnus and I go way back. Unfortunately."
"So it would appear," Sky Dive said with a chuckle. "There, there. At least you got a mention on air."
=0=Out there
"At least we know where Astrotrain is. Maybe," Ominous said.
Some nodded.
"I wish I'd seen Magnus slag him," someone said in the group.
Everyone nodded.
=0=Game
Magnus walked back to his team and Prime who smirked at him. "Nice combination."
"I've had a bit of practice," Magnus said in his usual self deprecating manner.
Huge laughter was had as the team walked to the court to face off against Polyhex who would try to get the ball in with the clock ticking swiftly away.
The game was back on.
=0=Earth2
"Tell me again how we're supposed to manage that," Rick Harris asked Cameron as the game picked up again. "Tell me again how you expect to defeat that."
Cameron glanced at his best friend, the grinned slightly. "You sound like a home boy."
"I might just be," Rick said. "By the way … I'm going to elevation two in the Valles tomorrow with two clients from China. Come with?"
Cam nodded. "Sure," he said as they clicked their beer bottles together.
He would.
=0=Game
They beat each other from one end to the other but for Polyhex it was no good. Hardie scored several more baskets with assists from the rest of the team while Optimus helped tie up their opponents. When the siren blew at last it was Polyhex, 22 and Iacon, 115.
There would be mad dancing in the old colony tonight.
The crowds began to spill over the edge, fall 70 feet and land with thuds as the Fanboys of Iacon gave full rein to their inner madness. The floor began to become littered with gallivanting mechs and the odd femme, maddened by a win for Iacon at last.
Prime and the team were swallowed up by the crowd.
Iacon's Invaders were in the finals for the championship of the Empire.
=0=Above it all
Prowl jumped up and down with everyone else, then caught himself. So did the jumbotron. Ratchet who'd noticed earlier grinned at the cameras, waved and posed a moment before getting slapped by his ada. With a bit of effort, the two joined the rest as they began to inch their way out of the box. It would take a while to get there but they'd make it to the exit to wait for the team to leave.
The team would make it to the locker room, then find themselves enveloped by the media. It would be a loud and happy session with the humans on Earth and the mechs in the booth. Blaster and Jazz would do the honors, then they'd be allowed to leave.
It would take a while for everyone to get out of the place given the mania of the fans and the sheer numbers in the district.
=0=Around
The parties were already going full blast in bars, restaurants, street corners, apartments, open spaces and jail cells everywhere. There'd be a big haul of drunks, sore losers, whiners, naggers, high strutting idiots just begging for a beating, mama's boys and no one named Cliffjumper. They'd be stuffed into police vans, then carted off to both of the jails, the old one and the new one in the Crater District where the new courthouse was.
Drift and Springer would be busy all night long.
That didn't even count Kaon v Vos.
The game that would have 100,000 Seekers seeking to cram every corner with support.
They would, too.
=0=After the intro stuff at Kaon v Vos
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker glanced upward with the rest of Kaon to note that there were nearly ZERO, NAUGHT, ZED grounders in the room. The place was filled with the winged wonder bunnies known as Seekers.
Starscream and the leadership could be seen in a prominent place sitting with great contentment and expectation on their faces. Their plan for Game Domination™ was working.
Sideswipe glanced at Sunstreaker and the others on their team who were feeling it, too. "We cram this game up their afts," he said with a chuckle.
Sunstreaker nodded. "You better believe it."
They would. It would be Kaon, 30 and Vos 15.
Starscream would require both bonds to pry his digits off the railing before him as he tried to step up on it to transform and strafe Kaon.
=0=Family Tower
"Starscream makes me laugh," Fulton said as he watched Thundercracker and Sky Warp pull him back from the edge. "That guy makes me laugh."
"Yeah," Andrew Settles said. "Now. Not then. My, how the mighty have changed."
"Good thing," Will said. "He's a ferocious opponent. Speaking of opponents from movies, I wonder what happened to Blackout?"
"Don't you remember?" Epps asked as Will glanced at him. "You rode a motorcycle, slid on your back off of it and shot him in the codpiece. I personally hope if he ever shows up here that he never sees that movie. You're done, son, if he does."
"I think I mentioned something to that affect when he did show up," Lennox said.
Then everyone took a shot because someone had brought up Michael Bey. It helped quell the sound of mockery faster.
=0=On the way home
They stepped off the train at Metro 1 and slowly made their way upward through the adoring crowds and congratulations. When they reached the street, they walked to their tower to disappear inside. Everyone came with them but for Bos and Company who went home. It was a loud and happy ride upward to The Residence for a post game bite and drink.
Entering the apartment, children were placed on the ground or taken to a berth room to continue their nap. Food was waiting and so was good cold beer. It wouldn't take long to load up, find a seat and dig in. Contentment ruled for a moment.
"Nice slag out with Ty-R. He's a big 'un," Ratchet said to Magnus who sat with Arcee on a couch with a heaping plate.
"He's got a good right cross," Magnus said. "I have vorns on him though."
"And reach," Venture ventured. "I think your arms are longer, Magnus."
Magnus nodded. "I think so as well. Any advantage counts."
"So does the trophy when it goes on my mantle," Ratchet said with a dazzling smile.
HUGE uproar arose over that, then Prime rapped his knuckles. Everyone glanced his way. "I talked to the board and everyone agreed. All of the major trophies would be housed in the Temple Concourse. That way, everyone can see them and there are no hard feelings."
"I think you're too late on that part, Optimus," Ratchet said as he watched Prowl glance sharply at Prime.
"Well, frag that," Prowl said as he frowned at Prime. "I, that is, we had the place picked out for it already. Remember?"
"What's this 'we' stuff, Granny? When did you become an Invader?" Ratchet asked.
"I'm team strategist and planner. That makes me a coach," Prowl said smugly. He glanced at Prime, then frowned.
Prime grinned back.
"ADA!"
"What?"
"WHY SHE MAD!?" Orion asked Ratchet as he pointed his fat baby digit at Uncle 'Owl'.
"Because She is a sore loser," Ratchet said with a smile.
Orion stared at him, then Prowl, then smiled enormously. "Loser," he said as he stared at Prowl.
Bedlam.
=0=Moments later
Orion sat on his great grandpa's lap as everyone around him laughed, gathered up what they'd spilled as they watched Prowl's ruffled feathers.
Prowl for his part glared at Ratchet. "You're ruining that infant by association. Since the state has an abiding interest in his welfare, I'm confiscating him and ordering you to an asylum."
Ratchet laughed loudly. "Not on a bet, sister."
Prowl sat back. "They're mine. All of them."
"Does anyone have Jarro's number by chance?" Ratchet asked with a big smile.
"If you do, tell them to come pick up both of you," Ravel said with a grin.
That idea would receive universal acclaim.
=0=TBC 8-22-19