"Oh god. This is so good. Soooo good."
"You need a life."
"No. I need more of these sinfully delicious burgers. Seriously, these are awesome."
"Your uncle makes the best burgers." Ellie grinned, meat juice dripping down her chin as she held a burger with one hand and a soda with the other.
"I wish I could try one." Bee grumbled, pouting as he sipped. "You look like you're enjoying them."
"No kidding. Mid-grade with copper is great, but that looks pretty good. Even to me." Sideswipe nodded.
"And your holoforms won't work?" Leon asked, downing half a soda in one gulp.
"Unfortunately, our holoforms are not solid." Sunstreaker shook his head. "And my holoform cannot truly capture the greatness that is me."
"Sure, Streaker. Whatever you say." The mechanic rolled her eyes.
"It's true!"
"Uh-huh. The problem here is you think you're great."
"I am! I'm famous, you know!"
"Really?" Leon gave him a non-believing look.
"Any Autobot on this base can vouch for that." Bee nodded. "He's an artist."
"It's the artists that have the biggest egos." Ellie whispered.
Sunstreaker pouted.
Wheeljack hummed as he doubled checked his latest creation, watching the partially open door for test subjects. His day was made when Sunstreaker and his twin strode by, carting along their mechanic friend.
"Ah! Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Miss Lennox! Might I borrow you for a moment?" The tiny scientist asked, pressing his hands together with an innocent smile.
"Sure." Sideswipe grinned, stepping into the lab while Leon peered around.
"Never been in here before, and I've never met you. Hi." The human femme grinned up at him.
"Hello! My designation is Wheeljack, and I am an inventor." Wheeljack's hand patted his desk for the papers he wanted. "If the Twins would just take a seat over there, in those chairs and allow me access to their holoform data..."
"Maybe this will solve your crisis, Sides!" Leon laughed, as she was seated on the edge of the fairly safe table. Sideswipe popped open his helm and Wheeljack's fingers dove in and fiddled with a few wires.
"Sideswipe, would you activate your holoform beside Miss Lennox?" The scientist hummed, tweaking a final wire. Sideswipe nodded, activating the holoform.
Leon glanced at the forming male in fascination.
He was tall, with shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes. His shirt was black with a red Autobot symbol on the front and a pair of dark blue jeans sat on his lean waist.
"Like what you see?" Sideswipe gave a cocky grin.
"Maybe."
"Miss Lennox, you can touch him."
"I can!?"
Leon tackled Sideswipe's holoform to the desktop, causing him to grunt in surprise.
"Fantastic! It worked!" Wheeljack clapped his hands. "Sideswipe, I've programmed this solid holoform to be able to digest human food and change it Energon."
"Burger, here I come!"
"Sunstreaker?" Wheeljack turned to the second Twin.
"You frag my paint, I frag your face." The gold Twin warned, dropping into the seat previously occupied by a large amount of scrap metal and paper.
"I won't harm your paint."
Will hummed lightly to himself as he stretched, a headphone in his ear and the other held in the front of his t-shirt. Several other military men stretched around him, ready to try the newest obstacle course the engineers had constructed.
Several paintball guns sat to the side, hung on racks with ammo clips waiting to be used.
Will glanced up as three pairs of legs appeared in his vision.
"Leon, who are these...boys?" The commander asked, crossing his arms.
"Streaker and Sides." She grinned. "We're testing out Wheeljack's new holoforms. Mind if we join you?"
"You're going to get hurt though." Will gnawed his lower lip.
"Will, how do you think I practice at the range back home? I'm not a little girl. I've had a membership since my sixteenth birthday. The three of us will be a team, it's all good."
"Wait, you said that was Sunstreaker and Sideswipe!" The brunette finally clued in.
"Yeah."
"Let the kid play!" One of the rookies yelled. "Not like a girl can do much harm."
"Uh-oh. He's screwed." Sides grinned, wrapping his arms around Leon's body to keep her from mauling the man. "Get him back in the game, Lion. In the game."
She nodded, and then ducked under his arms to get gear for the three of them.
"Let go of my niece. I see anything not PG out there, and I'm coming after you while you sleep. Got it?" Will snarled, green eyes narrowed.
"Yes, sir!" Sideswipe saluted and then followed after Leon. "I want the red paint. It's the same colour as my old paint job."
"Then Streaker can have yellow and I'll have white!"
"Teams!" Will yelled, having finished grouping the rookies into groups of six. "Pick a colour each."
"White." Leon demanded. Will nodded.
She pulled on her gear and grabbed a rifle, followed swiftly by her Twin friends.
"Go get yourself a good spot in the course; you're gonna be the Cons." Will gave the Twins a slightly insane look.
"Great!" Leon laughed, grabbing Sideswipe's hand and darting into the cityscape that made up the course.
She darted down a street and into a building, tying her hair up as she pulled the goggles over her face. The Twins shared nervous looks as she climbed to the third floor of the building, far at the other side of the course.
"Lion?"
She hissed. "Boys, get down. Now."
"Yes, ma'am!" Sides grinned goodnaturedly. "What's the plan?"
"You see a guy, shoot him. Make sure it takes only one it. We're moving if nobody comes. And remember we're Cons, so act evil or something."
"Yes, Lady Lion!" Sunstreaker turned to the window next to the Leon.
"Lady Lion?" She frowned, looking confused.
"Yeah! Megatron likes to be called lord!" Sideswipe nodded, peering around outside. "We've got company. I'll take the two on the right."
"I'll get the two under the window." Leon cocked her gun, and propped it against the window, half hidden by the wall between her's and Sideswipe's.
"I got the last two. Did Major Lennox pull the start?"
A loud bell rang, and Leon nodded.
Six quick shots rang out at the six unsuspecting rookies, and they stared in surprise as white blossomed on the front and backs of their jackets.
Leon grinned, watching as they fell "dead".
"Hurry. We've gotta drag them into the building, and take their paint." Leon slung her rifle over her back.
"Hang on." Sunstreaker fished in his pocket and passed her a small communicator. "I'm staying here to keep an eye on the surroundings, but I can't contact you."
"Thanks. We'll see you in a bit." Leon and Sideswipe charged down the stairs. They reappeared several seconds later, dragging the rookies into the building. Sideswipe went to grab the last one, but Leon waved him off.
Sunstreaker shifted, watching his brother vanished before scanning the streets on either side of the buildings Leon was using as cover.
"Leon, you've got company. Two on the left, and four on the right. My suggestion: hide in the shop behind you." He murmured into the comm. in her ear.
"Watch this." Leon slid to the left, ducking into the building at the last second, and lowering herself out the window behind the two male rookies. The mechanic pulled a larger ball of white paint from the bag on her hip, and fiddled with it before sliding forward and pressing it against the back of the man on the left. His woman partner peered around the corner as Leon dove into the building, just as the paint grenade went off.
White splattered the man and his partner, and both sighed, falling dead. Leon was quick to raid them for paint, which was luckily white.
"Sneaky bitch."
"I'm Decepticon Lion, leader of the Terror Twins! I'd ask you to grovel if you weren't dead!" Leon laughed, turning to the corner and watching as the other four came around the corner. She ducked into her building again.
"Shoot 'em, boys."
Four gun shots later, she poked her head out and fired at the remaining man, who had dodged shot sent at him by a "Terror Twin".
"What happened to the other two?" Sideswipe questioned, appearing at the bottom of their building with a grin.
"Dead. Let's move. It ain't safe here anymore."
Sunstreaker poked his head out from behind his brother and the group of three "Cons" moved down the street, peering around the corner of Leon's cover building at the main street.
All three reloaded their guns, and fired with amazing aim into the remaining three of the yellow team.
Will narrowed his eyes, watching as the three remaining rookies of the team opposite him fell, white paint splattering their chests.
"Epps,"
The black man glanced over.
"We've got two Cons on the corner of Gamma-Eight."
"Who do you think it is?" The man questioned, shifting beside his niece.
"The Leader and her Terrors."
"Do I wanna know?" Ellie asked from beside her uncle. "I'm surprised that Leon didn't hear about this game. She'd be all over it."
The uncles shared looks and then ducked as another group appeared behind them, firing rapidly.
"Ellie, Anthony, take the two on the right." Will pointed out his instructions. "Epps, Sam, investigate the white painters over on Gamma-Eight."
Epps nodded. He and his American partner took off, leaving the six for the other four of their unit.
The black man edged around the corner, gun out and primed.
Will and Ellie ducked around the corner, intent on going for Epps and Sam. Sam was laying on the ground, "dead". White paint was splattered on his chest and ammunition was gone.
Epps was gasping dramatically against the building, white splattered on his leg and shoulder as well as his side.
"Uncle Epps! Are you alright!?" Ellie rushed over.
"The Cons...?"
"Dunno."
"Get revenge! They took my ammo and Sam's."
"Who was it?" Will asked, turning his face to Epps.
"It was-" White paint splattered his chest and face and Epps died immediately.
"Quick! Find them!" Will turned, and darted over to the window. Two guns sat alone, timed trigger on. "Damn. Those brats are smart. Let's go Ellie."
"It was white paint. Follow the trail."
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker grinned at each other from either side of the window, giving a thumbs up and striding through the designed mess.
"Look what I found!" Leon grinned, holding up rope. "Let's trick the next group."
"Right! You'll be tied up and we'll be the good guys!" Sunny nodded, snatching away the rope and grabbing her wrists.
Ellie wasn't sure who did it, but of her team, only she and Will were left, armed to the teeth. Apparently, according to the engineer in the booth above as well as Ironhide, who was helping them cheat, there was only three teams left; them, a group of four pink painters, and the Terror Cons with white paint.
Ironhide and Will wouldn't tell her who the Terror Cons were, but she had a bad feeling about them.
Two shots fired in rapid succession to their left, and the pair darted down the open street.
A single man was left, darting towards them, but was taken out by a single paintball from behind, leaving a smug looking, very handsome, male with brown hair.
"Sideswipe." Will growled.
"The Twins are playing. That makes no sense."
"They're testing the new holoforms Wheeljack has." Will explained, lifting his gun. Ellie lifted hers.
"Little Mexican stand off we got going here! Can't we talk this out!?" The front-liner asked, gesturing with his trigger hand. Ellie fired, and Sideswipe ducked, the shot grazing his shoulder. The blue paint in her ammo clip exploded on the face of the wall behind him. "That wasn't very nice!"
Ellie and Will winced, heads smacking together. They shared a look, and then reached for the side of their heads. White came away.
"HAH! TAKE THAT, YOU STUIPID AUTOSCUM! FEEL THE WRATH OF THE LADY LION!"
"Crap." Ellie snarled, flinching as Sideswipe shot across her chest and Wills.
"Nice!"
"These holoforms are great!" Sideswipe grinned, turning to his Twin, who had emerged from the building on his left. Leon climbed from the one on the right.
"Game over!" The engineer announced over the PA.
Groans filled the room, and Leon sped toward the main area firing a smiley face into the pavement at her feet for the heck of it.
"And then," Leon leaned forward, before smacking her hands on the table and gathering the attention she didn't have. She was currently located in the cafeteria with the Twins, Ellie, Will, Epps and the rookies from the game along with several others. "Streaker and I shot them in the head!"
"We won!" Sides bragged.
"Let's all get over my humiliation." Ellie grumbled. "And focus on my uncles. He was gasping like a dying fish."
"How do you know what dying fish sound like?" Epps hummed, face darkening in embarrassment. "Are you a fish murderer?! I bet you are!"
"Hey, it was better then the incident with the cat and whip cream."
"Don't ever mention that!"
"She just did!" Leon laughed, taking a swig of her rum which was promptly stolen by Sideswipe. "Hey! Give that back!"
"No. I'm gonna try it." He took a sip and then a gulp. "This is good."
"It's rum. Now give it back."
"You try, Sunny!" Sides passed it over Leon's head. Sunstreaker took a sip, and then grinned, downing the rest of it.
"Five..." Ellie held up her hand and watched her friend. "Four, three, two, one."
Leon tackled the yellow Twin, aiming a fist to his face.
"That was my rum!"
"Ow! I'll get you more! Ow! Lion! Get off!"
"Ha! Ow!" Sides yelled, rubbing his arm, which Leon had just punched on Sunstreaker.
"Ow!" Sunstreaker let out a howl. "Anybot! Help! Crazy glitch is attacking me!"
::Prime to Ratchet:: -Optimus
::What!?:: -Ratchet
::Prowl glitched:: -Optimus
::On my way. What was it this time?:: -Ratchet
::Apparently, Prowl was responding to a distress signal from Sunstreaker in the cafeteria and Leon was attacking him.:: -Optimus
::So? Sunstreaker gets attacked a lot around here::- Ratchet
::Leon was attacking him::- Optimus
The comm was quiet a moment.
::LEON WAS!?:: -Ratchet
::Optimus to Wheeljack:: -Optimus
::Ah! Optimus, sir! You'll never guess!:: -Wheeljack
::Wheeljack! This is Ratchet! Have you completed the solid holoforms!?::- Ratchet
::Why yes! Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are testing them! How did you know?:: -Wheeljack
::Prowl glitched when he saw Leon beating the Twins up:: -Ratchet and Optimus
::Ah. That makes sense:: -Wheeljack
Well, this is kinda a filler chapter. And I know nothing about paintball.