AN: More Flash Fics :D
Charisma
Prompt: Homophones (him/hymn, idle/idol, and knight/night)
Characters: Soundwave, Megatron
Universe: Prime
Word Count: 653
They treated him like an idol.
That was Soundwave's first observation as he watched and listened to the other gladiators. They spoke of the mech's enthusiasm, his intelligence, his strength. All of those who had suffered a defeat from him were more thrilled than displeased.
Soundwave didn't understand. How could a gladiator be pleased about losing? It tarnished his reputation—made him look weak. Cost him more fights. There was no glory in losing.
Yet, every gladiator he defeated sang nothing but praises. He was treated more like a knight from the early Golden Age who would lead the lowly gladiators to a better life than the scruffy fighter he was—that they all were. Soundwave observed most of the gladiators grow weak as a result of their juvenile hopes, losing more to inexperienced mechs hoping to make something of themselves.
Soundwave would not be so easily swayed.
He saw nothing but a scuffed and weary gladiator standing across the arena from him. One that was pitted night after night against others in a life or death fight for the amusement of the cheering crowd. He ducked and dodged like every other gladiator; his strikes were surer than the average mech, but nothing special. Soundwave retaliated with the same zest—nothing special to be found in this one.
Suddenly, Soundwave's arm was caught as he went in for the death blow. His frame buckled; his mask of glass shorted with surprise. A sharp, toothy grin caused him to stutter. "You fight with more strategy than the others do! Why should such a skill waste away in this pit when it could be used for something more?"
Soundwave wrenched his arm away and stumbled back a few steps. His body moved on its own as the other gladiator came at him again without pause. He felt himself pushed to his limits, both physically and mentally as he attempted to figure out the mech's sudden change in strategy. Gone were the idle swings of a gladiator who had performed the same deadly dance time and again; in their place were more precise swipes—ones that actually nicked the edges of his armor.
The cheering crowd became background noise, and Soundwave's focus narrowed to just the mech in front of him. The longer the fight went on, the more enthusiastic the other mech became. Fatigue began to creep up on him, but Soundwave continued to push himself, refusing to allow exhaustion to make him clumsy.
There was no indication of how long the fight went. Soundwave knew that it was long enough to make even the most enthusiastic in the crowd grow silent, and the clash of metal was the only sound that echoed through the arena—the age-old hymn for gladiators. Soundwave feinted left; the mech deflected his blow from the right while swinging a blade to nick the armor covering his side.
It was Soundwave who finally messed up. He went on the offense when he should have focused on defense, and he found himself suddenly staring at the open ceiling of the arena. His spark stopped for a short second as a blade tickled the underside of his chin; he went limp with acceptance.
The death blow never came. Instead, amidst the sudden plethora of noise from the crowd, the blade retracted, and a hand took its place. Soundwave hesitated and accepted the hand, tensing as he was pulled up with a surprising amount of strength.
The mech grinned at him, red optics glowing brighter than before. "You're a strong warrior! One who fights with more than just brute strength alone. You deserve more than what is keeping you in these pits."
The mech turned, and Soundwave watched him leave the arena to loud whoops of approval. He tilted his head before turning to leave the arena as well. The other gladiators had treated him like a savior…and Soundwave could see why now.
Who's Afraid of…Strongarm?
Prompt: Prank
Characters: Sideswipe, Grimlock, Strongarm
Universe: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Word Count: 606
Sideswipe smirked and took a step back. It was perfect! Now all he needed to do was get Russell and…
"Yo, Sideswipe!"
Sideswipe jumped at the sudden shout and cursed when he bumped into the pulley system he had just finished rigging. He sighed in relief when he managed to catch the chain before it completely activated the trap. He frowned at the mech stomping towards him, goofy smile in place. "What d'ya want, Grimlock?"
The goofy smile fell a little, and Sideswipe sighed again. "Bumblebee was setting up patrols for the next week, and I came to see if you wanted to partner up. Solo recons are just so boring."
"Ah, I can't Grimlock." Sideswipe shook the chain in his hand. "I'm kinda busy right now."
"Oh." Instead of returning to Bumblebee, Grimlock took a step forward, optics tracing the length of the rattling chain. "Wha'cha doing?"
Sideswipe smirked and gestured to the rest of the set up. "I'm setting up the Scare-o-Matic 5000."
"Scare-o-what?" Grimlock used the tip of his claw to scratch the side of his hide. "Why?"
"You know how Russell was bragging about nothing scaring him?" Sideswipe waited for the Dinobot to nod before continuing. "Well, I'm going to prove that wrong."
"But he said—"
"That doesn't count!" Sideswipe yanked on the chain, and Grimlock took a step back, optics focused above Sideswipe's head. "He's gotta be afraid of something else, and I'm gonna prove—"
"Uh…"
"What?" Sideswipe glanced up and gapped at the rolling bowling ball he had set into motion with his yanking. "Oh…"
"Sideswipe, Grimlock."
Both mechs jumped back as Strongarm turned the corner of the aisle in front of them. She took only a few steps towards them before the first of Sideswipe's traps was sprung. The young cadet shouted as a sheet suddenly plunged towards her, and Sideswipe cringed at the shrieks he had recorded earlier.
Strongarm jumped back and tripped over the wire that activated the second trap. A tarp released above her, showering her with the many insects that Sideswipe had managed to collect throughout the day. Her shrieks were accompanied this time by gunfire as she pulled out her gun to shoot at the unexpected attack. Something creaked, and Sideswipe and Grimlock watched with wide optics as the shelves on one side of the aisle came loose and sent pails of paint sailing down onto Strongarm.
The mechs could do nothing but gape at the now rainbow colored Strongarm, who stared back at them with wide, startled optics. The silence didn't last long as Sideswipe burst into a fit of laugher. "Did you…I just…that was great! So much better than scaring the pants off Russell."
"Sideswipe."
Sideswipe froze, and Grimlock took a step back. Strongarm slowly stood up, sending pails of paint tumbling to the ground. Her glare made Grimlock step back again. "I, uh, just remembered something! See ya!"
"Grimlock!" Sideswipe stood stunned as he watched the Dinobot flee from the scene without looking back. He turned back to Strongarm and flinched when he realized she had started to shorten the distance between them. He eyed the pail of yellow paint she carried with her. "I, uh, you know, we're all gonna laugh about this later because none of this was actually meant for you!"
"You know, the humans have a way to solve situations like this: it's called 'getting even.'"
Sideswipe yelped and took off after Grimlock, barely dodging the pail of paint that was thrown at him.
Butterfly
Prompt: Nature
Characters: Boulder, Blades
Universe: Rescue Bots
Word Count: 208
Boulder locked his joints, staying completely still as the butterfly fluttered around his head. Tiny blue and black wings almost shimmered as the insect drifted in the light breeze. Boulder stopped his vents when the insect took his lifted finger as invitation to land; it shuffled around the length of his finger as if it were inspecting its landing pad.
Boulder slowly lifted his hand. The butterfly only hopped a little as it felt the slow shift. "Fascinating…"
"Boulder?"
The green Rescue Bot hummed and sighed when the butterfly took off in flight again. He turned to Blades and immediately reached out to stabilize the end of the beam he had been holding. "Have you ever wondered why some of Earth's species have wings while others don't?"
Blades sighed and relaxed a little when the weight of the beam had been redistributed. "More like wondered why humans would create vehicles to fly. The ground is much more stable."
Boulder hummed and snapped into "robot-mode" when one of Griffin Rock's human residents passed by. He stayed completely still and waited for Graham to give him a broad order to unfreeze him; but he couldn't contain his smile when the gentle insect landed on his finger again, wings gently fluttering.
