Streaker
Genre: G1
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
"I don't think it's wise to mix these with high grade," Sunstreaker said with a frown, watching as his brother tried yet another concoction. "The last batch wasn't stable and blew up. We had to blame the whole thing on Wheeljack."
"Yeah, but he was playing around with his experiments again and couldn't remember what happened before the explosion." Sideswipe didn't bother looking up from his mad scientist endeavor, his glossa snaking out to compress between his lips.
"Lucky coincidence," Sunstreaker amended, taking a small step back.
His brother's actions didn't go unnoticed.
"Don't trust me?" Sideswipe asked, looking at his twin with the sort of orneriness that was reserved for only the best occasions.
"I trust you when you're having one of your sane moments," Sunstreaker said, not rising to the bait and ignoring the tickled thrum echoing from Sideswipe's side of the bond. "But when you start acting like Wheeljack, I start to worry."
"Trust me," Sideswipe smiled that mischievous look and returned to his mixing.
"You said that last time."
"And everything went fine. The explosion wasn't my fault. I didn't know about the gas leak."
"Hardly grounds for an excuse."
"Now you're sounding like Prowl," Sideswipe cast a disapproving look to his twin.
"He makes a valid point sometimes," Sunstreaker offered a partial shrug.
"You listen to him?"
"Sometimes," Sunstreaker said, noting the color of the high grade had changed to an electric blue and was now humming. "Sideswipe, are you absolutely positive it's supposed to do that?"
"Never tried this combination before, so I don't know," Sideswipe said, sniffing the edge of the cube and earning a stab of fear from his twin. The contents settled after a minute, a dull shimmer to its surface though the electric flare still remained near the bottom.
"Looks stable," Sideswipe commented, admiring the color scheme.
"If it blows up again, you know we'll get the blame," Sunstreaker warned, still not trusting his brother's judgment or the seemingly placid energon that observed from its cube.
"We can blame Wheeljack like always," Sideswipe said dismissively, taking a small syringe and extracting some of the new brew to put into a sampling cube.
"Wheeljack was prohibited from his lab for a week. It was a precaution because the ambassadors are coming today." Sunstreaker informed his twin, not liking the giddy feeling starting to trickle through their bond. He was starting to feel the urge to giggle, and that was one thing Sunstreaker refused to do. He wasn't the 'giggling' type.
"That's today?" Sideswipe asked with a huge grin that could only be described by the human term, 'shit eating'.
"Primus," Sunstreaker muttered, knowing his brother was formulating another plan for a prank. He knew he had to get out now or he'd be blamed later by a very torqued off Prowl and Prime. "I'm out. If you want to have a normal conversation or want to join the rest of the sane world, leave your experiments until later and come with me."
"No can do, Bro," Sideswipe said with a little jerk of his head. "I have at least two more things I want to try and I have to do them now while Prowl and the others are distracted."
"Fine. I'll see you when you get out of the brig," Sunstreaker snapped as he headed to the door of the small storage closet. "But if you blow yourself to the Pit, I hope you know I'm not coming after your worthless chassis."
"Yes you would," Sideswipe grinned at his brother's retreating back. "You can't live without me."
"I have a life sized cardboard cut out of you. I'd make due," Sunstreaker snapped and exited the room, much to the grand amusement of his twin.
Sideswipe deposited a few sample drops into an empty cube, swirled the contents for a moment, then downed the liquid in two gulps. He smacked his lips, classifying the aftertaste and the original tang, calculating the new additives for the next batch and filing away the formulas for later use.
00 00 00 HALF AN HOUR LATER 00 00 00
"You have an impressive establishment here, Mr. Prime," an ambassador was saying, sweeping his arm to encompass the Ark.
Several of the other ambassadors agreed, voicing their own opinions and high regard for the beings that agreed to play host to their conference. The Ark was perfect for a diplomatic meeting. The more aggressive and distrustful nations had requested a secluded, neutral territory, and a few had suggested the Autobot base, seeing how they had no political agenda and no allegiance to any single nation. The President had made the request and was surprised when it was answered almost immediately. There was suspicion that the only reason the Autobots were invited was to get a glimpse of their ship, which was usually under high surveillance from their overly protective Security Director. His methods made the Pentagon security look like daycare.
When the President had confirmed the international summit, Prime had ordered the ship cleaned from top to bottom and all security measures put in place to ensure no one could hack their systems in case of espionage. A local hostelry was hosting the delegates and was the back up location in case of a Decepticon attack.
Sunstreaker sauntered in the door of the monitoring room, not bothering to acknowledge the high security guests, and plopped himself at a monitor. Two empty cubes of energon were pushed to the side as Sunstreaker placed his third on the consol. Some of the Autobots gave disapproving huffs from their vents and sent a few choice words via secured comm., but Sunstreaker paid them no mind. He stared distantly at the monitor, not seeing what was on the screen.
Prime redirected the crowd's attention back to himself before answering the ambassador.
"The Ark was the last ship built and was designed to house survivors."
"How sad," a female delegate said, looking around to the assemblage that had been following the dignitaries.
The Autobots had followed behind the international group, their paint pristine and bodies buffed to a high shine. Even Huffer was polished, though as Tracks had pointed out, you couldn't buff up slag and pass it off as quality metal. That had earned the Corvette a quick trip to the infirmary for a relocation of a foot.
Wheeljack was being monitored by Jazz and Ratchet, who had been assigned to watch the inventor in case he decided to sneak off and visit his lab while a hair-circuited idea was still fresh in his processor. So far the two bodyguards had to intervene twice, and both times it was easier to get the crazy scientist to focus his attention on something else. The chances were high he'd forget his original thought. Ratchet kept a wrench in hand as a back up, and Jazz kept a magna-lock on Wheeljack's back as a precaution.
As the ambassadors started to return to the conference room, Prime sent out a message dismissing the Autobot entourage and thanking them for a splendid display of military etiquette and Cybertronian hospitality. Sunstreaker ignored the comm. and continued to watch the monitors, wondering if Prowl would remember his gracious offer of monitor duty while the dignitaries were visiting and give him a respite the next time his brother pulled him into one of his schemes.
The ambassadors had barely made it into the hall, when there came a resounding scream, followed by an assortment of shouts. A high pitched caterwauling echoed down the hall, mixed with insane laughter.
Sunstreaker jumped from his chair and ran out of the room, expecting a Decepticon attack. He nearly ran into the few remaining Autobots escorting the delegates to the conference room and skidded to a halt to avoid knocking anyone over. The ambassadors were screaming in shock and fear, pressing themselves either against the wall or against an Autobot protector. Optics searching, Sunstreaker found the reason for the chaos.
Sideswipe was dancing through the hall, singing and laughing. His optics were pale and wide, his expression slack but jubilant, obviously quite intoxicated. And he wasn't wearing a single plate of armor.
He was what the humans would say, 'naked as a jaybird'.
Ratchet pointed to a nearby annex used for storage and ordered the delegates to take shelter. They obliged, Jazz and Wheeljack taking up position as protectors in case the Sideswipe wrangling got out of hand.
Sideswipe spotted the Prime and his face broke out into a maniacal look. He spread his arms wide and started to sing a Cybertronian ballad about honor and duty and love for Primus. Just as he reached the part about sacrifice, there was a metallic pounding of feet. Sideswipe stood singing like the old Earth movie legends until he went flying backwards, shimmering in a fine haze before disappearing. The sound of crashing and banging metal could be heard, along with high pitched chirps of pain and giggles. A few dents appeared in the walls, along with scuffs of light blue paint.
Ratchet flipped his wrench in his hand, his expression dark. With practiced ease he tossed the projectile. A resounding clang made him smile, until he heard an insane giggle, and Sideswipe reappeared, skittering down the hall. Mirage shimmered into existence, slumped against the wall, a dazed expression on his face and a slight dent near his temple.
"Oops," Ratchet muttered, retrieving his favorite tool and following Sideswipe.
The naked frontliner was heading toward the entrance to the Ark, laughing and bumping into everything as his stabilization servos were no doubt as whacked out as his processor.
Sunstreaker joined Prowl as he raced down the hall, the tactician's face was abnormally emotional. Prowl looked ready to kill.
"I didn't have anything to do with this," Sunstreaker felt it necessary to say, taking the tight turns of the hall with ease.
Prowl had a more difficult time maneuvering the hallway, but still kept a decent pace. "I believe you, but your brother is going to have a rather extensive stay in the brig."
"Can I beat the slag out of him first?" Sunstreaker joked darkly.
"That would be fine by me," Prowl said in all seriousness, earning a startled look from Sunstreaker.
Prime and Ratchet were behind the duo chasing after the errant twin and though Sunstreaker didn't know it, both had agreed with Prowl. Sideswipe was in for a long lasting punishment that hopefully would remind him not to repeat the episode.
Everyone ran outside after Sideswipe, not noticing the surrounding terrain was dotted with Decepticons. Starscream and his trine circled overhead, waiting for the order to engage their enemy.
Megatron noticed some of the Autobots exiting the Ark and yelled, "Decepticons… Att…."
The word died in his throat as he noticed who the Autobots were chasing. The protoform danced out of reach and giggled, parts exposed and equipment on full display.
Starscream landed next to his leader, his trine joining him, all three looking bewildered and stunned. Starscream glanced to Megatron and completely straight-faced, pointed to the continuing commotion and said, "You get the naked one."
Megatron gathered his senses, and gave his Second a loathsome look before snapping, "Decepticons, retreat."
Several of the Decepticons grumbled about wasting time and energy, but they all took to the air and started back toward their base. Little did they know several of their number were already loosening the connections to their own plating and would be running around the Nemesis tonight, having just as much fun.
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I torture them so, but I do it out of love. Not to mention they're just TOO much fun to pick on and their personalities make them perfect subjects to get into all kinds of things.
As always, reviews are appreciated, and I must say, with over a couple hundred hits per chapter and so few reviews, makes me wonder what's going on. HUGE THANK YOU to those who have reviewed thus far and/or sent me messages. The insanity will continue, thanks to your thoughts and kind words. Lamborghinis for everyone who reviewed!
