Chapter 2 – Grease Gun War-Heroes

Starscream sat down on the front stoop with his stack of data pads for the day and started reading. Thundercracker wasn't outside yet, and the red mech wondered if the quiet blue mech would go back to playing by himself or come over and ask him to play. He never really had anyone to play with before and Starscream found himself hoping that Thundercracker would come over and at least talk to him. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Skywarp. Two days of having energon covering him and a huge grease fight had made the red mech suspicious of Skywarp and his antics.

Starscream tried to focus on his reading about protoforms, but his mind kept wandering and he kept looking over at the building where Thundercracker lived hoping the mech would come outside soon. He sighed and reread the same sentence that he'd been staring at for the past few kliks. He was able to read a few more lines down the page when he suddenly felt like he wasn't alone on the stoop…

"YARRGHH!"

Starscream jumped off the stoop with a shriek as his neatly stacked data pads tumbled down the stairs. The red mech held a hand over his spark, rapidly gulping large amounts of air through his intakes and glaring at the madly giggling mech who was now sitting in his spot.

The black mech was nearly falling over from laughing and pointing at the startled Starscream, thoroughly enjoying the reaction he got from the red mech. "You should have seen your face! And you screamed just like a femme!" The young mech finally tottered onto his side, laughing at the red mech's expense.

"That's not funny." Starscream growled and started to pick up his data pads.

"Oh yes it was, 'Screamer. You nearly emptied your fuel tank!"

"Did not." He stomped up the steps and glared at the black mech. "You're in my spot."

Skywarp looked around him for a moment before grinning impishly at Starscream. "I don't see your name on it."

"That's my spot. I always sit there." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well you aren't sitting here now." There was a mischievous smirk sliding across Skywarp's face as he stretched out across the step. "It's a pretty comfy spot."

Starscream sat down next to the offending mech with a snort and socked him in the arm. "Don't get too comfortable, the moment you get up I'm taking it back."

"I think I'll stay here forever, then."

"You can't stay on the step forever. You'll have to go home and recharge at some point." Starscream organized his stack of data pads and set them down on the step below him.

The mischievous look never left the black mech's face. "Nope. I'll recharge right here and you can bring me energon when you come out to do your nerdy stuff."

"I'm not going to bring you anything and I didn't invite you to sit on my step." He picked up the data pad he had been reading and glared at Skywarp. "Don't you have someone else to go terrorize?"

"Nope. You and that other guy are taking up my entire agenda this week." And as if on cue, Thundercracker's front door opened and he came outside. Skywarp jumped up suddenly and purposely knocked Starscream's data pads all over the stoop again. "HEY, THUNDERCRACKER! COME OVER HERE!"

Starscream, after quickly grabbing the data pads, pushed the annoying black mech off his step and sat down, a triumphant look spreading across his face.

Skywarp snickered and waved to Thundercracker again, who was cautiously making his way across the street.

The blue mech thought Starscream was a little on the geeky side, but he didn't trust Skywarp as far as he could throw him. He stopped at the bottom of the steps and folded his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"

Skywarp sat down next to Starscream and put an arm around his shoulders, with a disturbing grin. "We're going hunting today."

Starscream shoved the black mech and scowled while Skywarp picked up the data pads and held them out of the red mech's reach, shoving his hand into the face of the agitated mech. "'Screamer and I are going hunting and we want you to come too."

Starscream punched Skywarp and got up off the step to get his data pads back, to which the black mech scooted over smoothly into the 'coveted' spot on the step with a snicker.

Thundercracker eyed the two cautiously: Skywarp was snickering as the obviously tormented Starscream screeched and kicked at the offending mech. He shook his head and turned around, heading back for his own quiet side of the street; one that was devoid of the pranks of the black mech and the geeky squealing red mech.

Starscream stopped fighting with Skywarp as Thundercracker started to walk away. "Wait! Thundercracker! Come back. Don't leave me with him!" His small dream of being able to play with the quiet blue mech was quickly disappearing.

Thundercracker turned around and looked at the two, Starscream looking frazzled and Skywarp doing his best to pester the red mech and grin at the same time. They were the only other mechs in the neighborhood his age. He walked back over to them; Skywarp was grinning even more and Starscream was looking relieved. He crossed his small arms over his chest again. "So how do we play this hunting thing of yours?"

Two hours later…

"I don't know if this is such a good idea, Starscream." Thundercracker looked at the red mech next to him warily; both of them were nearly covered from head to toe in grease. Skywarp's idea of 'hunting' had started out as a three-way grease gun fight, but the rotten sparkling took the upper hand by attacking both repeatedly and teleporting away.

Starscream gave a pleading look to the greasy blue mech hiding with him in a small nook in a nearby alleyway. "He'll just keep ambushing us unless we team up. With two sets of optics searching for him, he'll have less of a chance to attack."

A wry smile crossed the shy blue mech's face. "And have you turn your gun on me the moment I turn around? I don't think so."

"I could have shot you twenty times over by now if I was lying, Thundercracker." The red mech said exasperatedly. "If you don't want to team up, then that's fine. But don't come crawling back to me when you can't even hold your gun up anymore." He let out a long sigh and slumped to the floor. "I shouldn't even be doing this. I should be reading and not worrying about that dumb sparkling and his stupid games."

Thundercracker held his grease gun up to Starscream's face and squirted him with a laugh.

The red mech pushed the gun out of his face and pouted. "I don't want to play this stupid game anymore."

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad." Thundercracker took aim at the whiney red mech.

Starscream sighed loudly. "Quit it. I don't want to play anymore."

Thundercracker put the grease gun to Starscream's temple and pressed the trigger repeatedly, barely able to contain his sniggering as the grease dripped down the grumpy mech's cheek.

Starscream gave another martyred sigh and struggled to his feet, slipping and sliding back down a few times. "I'm going home."

"Aw, come on. I'll team up with you, okay 'Screamer?"

"Stop calling me that." The red mech sulked.

"We'll go hunt for Skywarp and tag team him, okay?" Thundercracker stood in Starscream's way, trying to get his new friend to keep playing Skywarp's inane hunting game.

The brooding red mech looked at Thundercracker only to see Skywarp's grinning mug and grease gun appearing right behind him.

"Get down!" Starscream's grease gun was up instantly; the viscous liquid was in the air and moving towards the two targets.

Then the air split as if Primus had brought down his holy judgment on their little war game.

Both Skywarp and Starscream were on their afts, blinking rapidly and trying to grasp what had just happened and why their audio receptors were threatening to explode.

Eddies of dust floated down around the trio and there were angry shouts coming from the street beyond. The midair shots of grease seemed to have been completely obliterated. Skywarp's purple optics were wide in utter confusion as he scrubbed at his audios and all but shouted, "What the slag was that?!"

Thundercracker grinned nervously at the two mechs at his sides.

It only took a moment for them to realize that the blue mech was still standing and didn't seem to be fazed by what had happened at all.

"You did that!" Starscream pointed at Thundercracker incredulously realizing that a sonic boom had hit them; and that it came from the shy yet silly blue mech.

The blue mech shrugged and gave another nervous laugh as he turned his grease gun on Skywarp and started to shoot him in the face. "Not supposed to do it in the city."

The three walked back down the street awhile later after a long battle that ensued in the alleyway; all three grease guns were now spent, and each mech was so covered in goo that any onlooker would not be able to tell which mech was which. Skywarp was talking animatedly about how this was the best battle he had ever been in and if there was a history of the best grease gun wars, that battle would be the most remembered.

Starscream stopped in the middle on the sidewalk, leaving a halo of drip marks around him. "How many grease gun fights have you been in, Skywarp?"

The other two stopped and Thundercracker turned to look at the greasy black mech, who just grinned impishly. "Other than me ambushing you two yesterday? Two."

Thundercracker just shook his head. "You are one warped mech, 'Warp."

The black mech's optics widened as the mischievous grin plastered itself across the young mech's face in delight at his new nickname. He threw a greasy arm over Starscream's shoulders. "'Screamer and 'Warp, battle-hardened comrades!"

The greasy red mech rolled his optics and tried to pull away from Skywarp. "Stop calling me that."

Skywarp held on to him and stared at Thundercracker. "We need to find a nickname for Thundercracker, 'Screamer, help me think of one!"

Starscream gave another martyred sigh; no matter how much he protested, the others wouldn't stop calling him that. He looked at the strange mech who was now hanging on him and smirked, Skywarp's face was scrunched up as he tried to think up a nickname for Thundercracker. "Thinking isn't your strong suit, is it 'Warp?"

The black mech shot him a dirty look and whapped him in the back of the head. "If you're so smart then you think up a nickname."

Starscream looked at the greasy blue mech who was now grinning at him and the deranged mech that still clung to his shoulders. Given this shy mech's ability to create sonic booms, he realized the name 'Thundercracker' fit the blue mech perfectly. "How about we just call him TC?"

Skywarp clapped the red mech on the shoulders hard and pulled him over to the blue mech, tossing his other arm over his shoulders and proclaimed loudly to the air. "'Screamer, TC and 'Warp! Grease gun war heroes!"

Thundercracker shrugged with a smile and put his arm over the black mech's shoulders as they started back down the street. "Just remember that this 'war hero' kicked both of your afts."

Skywarp shot him a scandalous glance. "You did not!"

"Oh please. You nearly emptied your fuel tank in the alley, 'Warp." Thundercracker teased him.

"Did not!"

Starscream grinned. "You did too, 'Warp. You looked like you had just seen the Unmaker in that alley and were nano-seconds from emptying your fuel tank."

Skywarp tried to shove him, but the red mech shoved back, forcing him to knock into Thundercracker, to which the blue mech retaliated. The three kept arguing and shoving each other as they made their happy and still grease-covered way down the street.

And thus the lifelong friendship between the three was born.

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A/N: If you like my strange little tale about the young Seekers, please Rate and Review it! Creative criticism welcomed, but be warned that the youngling Seekers have reloaded their grease guns and are looking for new targets :D