((The writer's block has returned... this will turn ugly.

I don't own TF.))

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Jealous

"Aieee!"

"He's gaining on us! Run Jazz run!"

This was one of the rare times when Optimus sorely wished he could blast the Ark's resident pranksters and put them out of commission for a day or two. However, doing so would probably land him on the receiving end of Ratchet's temper. If that wasn't the case, it would land him on the receiving end of merciless pranks from the twins. It was a lose-lose situation... for him at least.

"Come back here and remove the snails from my desk!" Optimus called after Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Jazz.

"You'll kill us when you catch us!" Sunstreaker howled. The three of them zipped around a corner.

"I'm not going to hurt either of you!" Then, as an afterthought, he added softly, "Much..."

Unfortunately, the escapees heard him. They vanished into the lower reaches of the ship...

*****

Optimus carefully edged towards where he could clearly see Jazz and the twins lurking.

"Think we've lost him?" Sideswipe asked.

"Nah. You don't know the Prime. He's... dedicated," Jazz replied in an undertone. "He won't give up until he's caught us."

"You're right about that," Optimus interrupted as he made his appearance. "The three of you can cut the fugitive act."

The three culprites exchanged glances.

"Never!" Jazz fled towards a ventilation shaft.

Optimus stared with growing annoyance as Jazz and the twins crawled through the shaft, to their freedom. There was absolutely no chance he would be able to fit through such a small space.

He grumbled to himself, deeply envious of everyone else's nimbler sizes. True, he may be large and intimidating, but when it came to squeezing through ventilation shafts...

He was also beginning to feel a twinge of jealousy at Jazz's and the twin's creativity when it came to pulling pranks. He hated to admit it, but stashing handfuls of snails in someone's desk wasn't a half bad idea.

Oh well. At least the snails were "recyclable" so to speak...

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((Critique needed. My writing's getting sloppy... again...))